Habitat for Humanity - May 31, 2008

Habitat For Humanity is an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness by building houses together in partnership with families in need.

Habitat invites people of all backgrounds to come together as volunteers to work on home building projects, and the organization has built more than 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

In May, 2008, I helped with a volunteer crew from the LaFarge corporation to work on a duplex in Aurora, Colorado. We spent the better part of the day painting the interior and exterior of the home and installing soffits under the eaves of the garage.

We met the single mother who would be moving into the unit we were working on, and who was also helping that day with the project. In addition to a down payment and the monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor into building their Habitat house and the houses of others.

Mission to the Yucatan - October 2002

Following devastating Hurricane Isadore in the Fall of 2002, I participated in a missions trip from Boulder to provide food, clothing, and medicine, and to help rebuild homes on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The team joined other volunteers from California, Texas, Georgia, and Ohio, and we traveled to remote Mexican villages to repair homes and to deliver a truckload of clothing and food for distribution by local churches. In addition, the medical team provided free medicine and counseling to over 400 patients in a 3-day period.

We stayed in a local Cancun church while collecting and organizing supplies and loading a delivery truck before driving across the peninsula to some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Isadore. It was here that we delivered the food and clothing and helped repair homes in nearby villages. In some cases, the homes were not much more than one-room huts with tar paper roofs. We then traveled back across the Yucatan to the island of Holbox where we delivered more medical supplies and clothing.

The people we met were always warm, friendly and extremely grateful for the donations and help that we were able to offer. The trip was an important reminder to me of how fortunate and blessed most of us are in the United States to have sturdy and solid shelter, and excellent emergency aid at the ready. My heart goes out to these wonderful people in Mexico.

More Pictures here.