Habitat for Humanity

After doing relief work in Louisiana post-Katrina, I returned home with a vow to make more time for similarly meaningful work in my own back yard. This summer was my second volunteering for the “Good News House” project of Huron Valley Habitat for Humanity.

“What church to you go to?” asked Donna, Good News House webmaster. “Oh, I don’t attend,” I told her. “I guess you could say I’m the token pagan.” “You’d be surprised,” she responded, “I think we have quite a few of those here.”

The Good News House is sponsored by a coalition of churches in Washtenaw County, primarily Methodists. This year’s project house is located on Harvest Lane in Ypsilanti, and Diana Valencia and her three children are the partner family. With the economic situation in Michigan, you would think that Habitat has families lined up around the block. However, I learned at a steering committee meeting that there’s a difference between applying for a Habitat house, and successfully becoming a partner family. One of the biggest obstacles is debt – in order to qualify for a house, a family must be debt free.

“Many of the families have so much credit card debt,” a board member explained. “And student loans that haven’t actually been used for college. That’s a huge debt problem for many.” Habitat can’t assign a build to someone who hasn’t learned to manage their money well enough to have a reasonable chance of keeping the house. Some Habitat organizations partner with local financial institutions to offer programs to help applicants organize their finances.

Last year I was on the paint crew, and this year in addition to that job I signed up to be a “short notice” volunteer. Starting in June, projects at the Good News House are staffed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday by volunteers from each participating church, and sometimes from local businesses. Monday through Wednesdays are usually for the skilled trades, but often there’s work for volunteers, too – that’s when the short-notice crew is contacted.

Bob Whitacre is the man who puts out the call via email to the short-notice team. A retired school administrator, Bob is the “house leader” or project manager and this is his eighth Habitat house. He is totally organized, but most importantly he’s PATIENT – probably the most important trait for anyone managing so many volunteers. Working year-round on planning, starting in May Bob routinely puts in many twelve-hour days. “Someone should nominate Bob for the Ann Arbor News Citizen of the Year,” a fellow volunteer pointed out to me.

Diana closed on the house on Harvest Lane on October 11, and her family is in the process of moving. Many good wishes to them, and hoping that they're another Habitat for Humanity success story!