Habitat World Online


	Starr Mayer is director of Habitat for Humanity International's Rural Initiative.

Behind the Scenes:
Hitting the Road to Find Rural Treasures

By Starr Mayer

Editor's note: In March 2003, a group of 35 experts in rural housing issues gathered in Atlanta to brainstorm activities and suggestions to improve the outlook and productivity of rural Habitat for Humanity affiliates. From that collaborative effort was born Habitat's Rural Initiative, a two-and-a-half-year discovery of what works and what doesn't based on almost 100 affiliate assessments. This month, Rural Initiative director Starr Mayer will report on the findings to the U.S. Council, an advisory panel to HFH's international board of directors. Following are some of her impressions of the journey.

I live in a rural county on an unpaved road, and I know the joys and peculiarities that are part of rural life. Working with the Rural Initiative has been challenging and rewarding--in ways I anticipated and in ways that I didn't.

Our assessment teams have been in every region of the United States. We have been in small towns in Oregon all the way east to rural Florida. We traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and to the Missouri River. We visited towns that had a "downtown" and we've been in towns with a population of less than 1,000. Every town or small city or county is different. Many are dying economically and watching their sons and daughters leave after graduation. Some are losing their unique character, which had included campgrounds or small foundries. Some are adapting to unexpected resources, like wealthy professionals who have chosen their little scenic spot for retirement.

We have learned a lot. Rural affiliates really are different from non-rural affiliates. There are about 1,000 affiliates and each one really is unique. But they also share the same vision of all affiliates and require the same tools (even if on a smaller scale) to reach the goal.

We've learned a lot about what seems to work and what seems to get in the way of meeting the goal of housing more families. One thing we can say with certainty: Everyone wants this ministry to work, even if they're just not always certain how best to go about making it happen. Sometimes we've concluded that the complexity of what we've become as a housing organization in 2005 requires more than a few volunteers, no matter how committed they might be. We may have underestimated how difficult and time-consuming and skill-requiring the job is.

We were surprised and overwhelmed by the hundreds of people who willingly spent hours with us--who fed our bodies and our souls with their cookies and coffee and tales of why they do what they do. We heard the frustration of having sold not enough tacos at the community parade, followed by moist eyes as those same weary volunteers described a small boy's delight in his new bedroom-to-be. We are confident that the ideas rural Habitat folks gave us will make us all stronger as we continue to work toward building houses in rural areas with families who depend upon us.