Habitat World Online

In November, Habitat for Humanity celebrated a major milestone, raising walls on the homebuilding organization’s 300,000th and 300,001st houses since it was founded in 1976. The 300,000th house — located in Naples, Fla. — will be the home of Medelsonne and Rose Garraux, whose family of five has been living in a two-bedroom apartment that costs about 40 percent of the family’s income. Their housing costs will be reduced by nearly a third when they move into their new Habitat home.

A day after Habitat for Humanity of Collier County began the Garraux family’s house, volunteers in Zacapa, Guatemala, broke ground on the 300,001st house, signaling Habitat’s ongoing commitment to creating simple, decent housing around the world. Everson Galdamez and his wife Wendy Liliana Pérez will be the owners of the Guatemala home. The family’s current bamboo-frame house will come down so that Habitat staff , donors, volunteers and homeowners can build a sturdy and attractive cinderblock home in its place.

One milestone, many meanings
By Phillip Jordan

House No. 1

Habitat’s milestone homes

On a sunny build site in warm Naples, Fla., amid the celebration of Habitat for Humanity’s 300,000th house, Medelsonne Garraux walked into a sea of media and Habitat supporters wearing a broad smile on his face and flashing a thumbs-up in the air.

For while the landmark house is special to Habitat supporters worldwide, it is uniquely important to Medelsonne and his wife, Rose, as well as their three children. This house will be their home.

On Nov. 13, 2008, Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity of Collier County President Sam Durso, and more than 200 supporters joined the Garraux family to raise the walls on Habitat’s 300,000th house, a milestone 32 years in the making.

The celebration comes at a time when Habitat is serving families at the fastest pace in its history. In 2000, 24 years after Habitat began, the nonprofit built its 100,000th house. Five years later, the 200,000th house was commemorated. Now, just three years later, the 300,000th home.

Reckford opened his remarks in Naples by reminding the crowd of a quote by Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Reckford then looked over to the build site behind him: “Now look what can happen when a large group of people commit themselves to change the world.”

Impact of No. 300,000
For the Garraux family, Habitat’s 300,000th house is much more than a milestone. It is a safe, decent and affordable place that she and her husband, their son Elysee, 7, and daughters Lory, 4, and Medney, 1, will call home.

Owning the 300,000th Habitat house is an honor the Garrauxs would never have imagined a few years ago. In 2004, the family fled Haiti after they were targeted in attacks by the government due to Medelsonne’s employment at a television station that was reporting news not sanctioned by the government.

Once granted asylum in Florida, the Garrauxs moved into a two-bedroom apartment. However, with a growing family, the space quickly grew cramped, and they could not afford the $930 in rent each month. As it has for 299,999 other families, Habitat provided this family a solution, too.

“We have struggled to keep a roof over my children’s heads,” Rose said. “But today, with God’s grace and your help, I can say we are going to be homeowners. In helping us, you have changed our lives.”

For Sam Durso, the wall-raising celebration was especially meaningful. Habitat’s 300,000th house is being built in remembrance of Sam’s wife, Mary Ann Durso, the affiliate’s former executive director, who died in May 2008. Mrs. Durso spent 15 years working, alongside her husband, as a full-time volunteer to grow the largest annual-producing Habitat affiliate in the United States.

“Building this house on Mary Ann’s legacy of passionate advocacy for the working poor provides tremendous momentum for all those involved in Habitat,” Sam said. “With all of our success in Collier County, there still remains a tremendous and critical need. We at Habitat are committed to work until that day when there is no child who sleeps on a cold floor, whose whole family lives in one room, who suffers from terrible asthma because their trailer is covered with mold, or who goes without food to pay the rent.”

Looking to the future
The resolve to do even more was a sentiment shared by many at the celebration. That commitment is why — long before the morning celebration even started — local volunteers were already working on three other Habitat homes in the neighborhood. And it’s why, once the ceremony ended, everyone immediately went back to work.

“As much as we have to celebrate, we are equally humbled by the extent of the housing problem worldwide,” Reckford said. “We’re looking toward the future and that’s why tomorrow, in Zacapa, Guatemala, the walls will be raised on the 300,0001st house in Habitat’s history.”

Everson Galdamez and his wife, Wendy Liliana Perez, are partnering with Habitat to construct house No. 300,001 for their family. Fittingly, their house is being built thanks to tithe funds donated by Habitat of Collier County.

It’s a way hundreds of Habitat affiliates help build even more houses across the globe — and a way to ensure that the Habitat story continues, as more families experience the same joy of homeownership that the Garrauxs now feel in Florida.

Habitat’s second Youth Leadership Conference shared skills, support in St. Louis
By Shelly Whittet

In early November, the second annual Youth Leadership Conference brought together nearly 350 young people, advisers, affiliate representatives and Habitat for Humanity International staff in St. Louis.

Young people involved in the Campus Chapters, Collegiate Challenge and Youth United programs — and those who support them — gathered to develop skills and find new ways to support Habitat. HFHI staff and youth group representatives presented more than three dozen workshops on fund-raising, membership engagement and retention, advocacy, service-learning, and more.

Representatives from State Farm, the underwriter of Habitat’s youth programs, attended the conference to lead workshops on topics including development of corporate partnerships and financial literacy and also presented awards during a banquet recognizing outstanding campus chapters, Youth United groups, chapter liaisons, State Farm Matching Grants winners and Collegiate Challenge MVPs. Twelve-year-old A.J. Holland, a Habitat Durham Youth United member whose family became Habitat homeowners in 2006, and 10-year-old Kaitlin Thorpe, a Youth United member who helped raise funds for the Hollands’ home, inspired the audience with their enthusiasm and commitment to Habitat. “If we can do it, you can do it,” said the young pair.

“The past three days have been an amazing experience for me,” said Habitat Greater Los Angeles’ Youth United chairperson Kate Sim. “It was an opportunity for me to see that three hundred other people cared about the things I was passionate about.”

New area vice president named for Habitat’s Africa/Middle East office
By Teresa K. Weaver

Greg Foster, new area vice president for Habitat for Humanity’s Africa and the Middle East office, brings to the job more than 20 years of experience in international development and a tireless passion for serving the poorest of the poor.

A native of New Zealand, Foster began his career as a program coordinator for at-risk youth in Christchurch. For the next 15 years, he worked with the Mennonite Central Committee and other relief organizations, managing development work in Bangladesh, Iraq, Jordan and Tanzania. Among many honors, he received the 1990 New Zealand Commemorative Medal, awarded by Queen Elizabeth for his services to young people.

For the past year and a half, Foster has been regional director of Habitat’s East Africa and Middle East region, which exceeded all targets for the number of families served in 2008.

In his new role, Foster will oversee operations in the Africa/Middle East office, based in Pretoria, South Africa, and provide support to all the national organizations.

“I just see so much potential to grow the program,” Foster says. “I see a very positive future. We have good housing programs in Africa and the Middle East. Now we have to be sure we challenge ourselves, internally and externally, to become a more cutting-edge housing provider.”

Foster replaces former area vice president Matthew Maury, who has taken on a new challenge as CEO of TEAR Australia, a Christian organization that works to empower poor people in their communities. Maury had been with Habitat since 1991, beginning as a field project manager in Kafue, Zambia.

“In the region that birthed Habitat for Humanity,” Maury said, “it is exciting to see how we have been able to continue to find new and innovative ways to reach out to some of the poorest communities in the world and offer them tangible expressions of hope.

“While I am leaving full-time employment, I look forward to continuing to find ways to get involved volunteering with HFHI’s global mission,” he added.