Habitat for Humanity starts work on home
By Tamara Fudge
It clearly represents the life cycle.
On Saturday, Habitat for Humanity-Quad Cities broke ground for a new dwelling in Rock Island just hours before a new, completed Habitat home was dedicated several blocks away — allowing yet another deserving Quad-Cities family to begin life anew.
With sunny weather, a foundation already under way and the sound of busy
hammers, a brief ceremony was held in the morning at 739 14½ Street.
“We’re laying a foundation, to give a family a home and stability,” said Habitat executive director Kristi Crafton. A ceremonial picture using a golden shovel and a useful gift of a hammer for future home owner Ashanti Hall and her 8-year-old daughter Alana thus marked the official birth of Home No. 40.
“My dream is coming true today — definitely, definitely,” Hall said.
The house is becoming a reality largely due to Habitat’s alliance with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. “We have a very exciting new partnership which allows us locally to increase our building capacity and provide an additional family with a simple, decent and affordable home,” said Kathy Anderson, public relations chair and Habitat board member.
“The Thrivent Builds program increases our national capacity to build, with 312 homes for 200 communities in 43 states planned with their help just this year. That’s an approximately $21.7 billion investment,” she said.
Thrivent Builds does stipulate that 50 percent of volunteer work to be performed by Lutherans. “We have worked with Habitat for Humanity since 1991,” said Thrivent media relations specialist Tara Perre from the home office in Appleton, Wis. “The reason why is that we’re both Christian organizations. This is a great way that we can take the energy of our members and direct them to doing something good.”
Thrivent is providing 70 percent of the necessary resources to build 10 homes in this region, including this one, according to Christine Scheffler of Thrivent Builds. “In 2007, we also plan to help Habitat rebuild neighborhoods in large cities,” she said.
Wells Fargo’s Community Reinvestment Program, the Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation and the City of Rock Island also assisted with these recent homes.
The mission of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit and non-denominational organization present in 100 countries, is to rebuild communities, one family at a time. Partner families must be able to pay a modest mortgage and perform hours of “sweat equity” to qualify. Most continue volunteering well after the required hours are completed.
And while the Halls work toward building their dream home, Moses and Yosava Robinson’s family are seeing the end phase of their construction efforts and are now able to move in to their Habitat-built home at 924 6th St. in Rock Island.
A ceremony there at noon honored this family with presentations of a quilt, bible, gift basket and the house key. The Robinsons, with their children, Jeffery, 9, T’Nauzhae, 7 and Jahmeir, 4, will occupy the 38th home in the area completed by Habitat since 1993.
“It’s been three years of hard work,” Moses Robinson said. “Now my foundation is set for our kids to grow on.”
For more information about Habitat for Humanity or to volunteer, call 563-359-9066.