Amy Morris (center) was happy to discover a lasting sense of community in her new Habitat neighborhood.

JCWP 2000, Two Years Later
New York City, New York, U.S.A.

With the many steps involved in becoming a Habitat homeowner--from the selection process to the construction--the homeowners of the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2000 in New York City found one common experience: relationships.

A year before the country would come together to grieve for the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, volunteers from across the country came to New York to build and to celebrate. Those memories remain strong.

"Everyone that was here had a humble sense of wanting to give, just for the fact of doing it and not getting anything in return," Habitat homeowner Amy Morris says. "That's what I liked about Habitat, was that sense of community. People want the same things--good schools for the kids, a decent living. People that work for something are going to maintain it."

	Leon Gelzer and his family are among the Habitat homeowners in Brooklyn who built new lives and new houses together in the summer of 2000.

People who work together will maintain relationships, as well. Through working long days of sweat equity before and during the build, Leon Gelzer built relationships with his fellow homeowners as well as their houses.

"[Habitat] allowed us to work together before we became neighbors," he says. "We know their personalities; we know them on a first-name basis. We're protective of each other. If we see one person having a problem, we're in it together."

Sometimes, the relationships formed between homeowners and volunteers provide a context for understanding Habitat's Christian identity. Mercedes Baynes was at first skeptical of her chances of being approved for a house without professing Christianity.

"I thought, 'Why should they bother with us?'" she says. "I thought they would be biased. But Habitat is doing a good job. How many of these volunteers have a place of their own? And yet they were spending their time here. It changed my outlook a lot."

Habitat for Humanity New York City, like the other thousands of nonprofit organizations working in the area, has the task of building a relationship with volunteers, donors and corporations in a very competitive environment. Mary Pat Holtgrieve, HFH NYC's development director, says the affiliate has found that partnering with effective neighborhood groups has helped gain access to community leaders.

It is no small matter to build 20 to 30 houses a year, especially in an expensive urban environment. However, the need for affordable housing in New York--estimated at 250,000 units--can seem overwhelming.

"So what can we do?" asks executive director Roland Lewis. "We can be an advocacy organization, keeping people's attention focused on housing.

"This organization is a magnet for people of good will. People come out in the rain and work crazy hours. They love the city and humanity. It cuts across everything--Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic. This city has a giant heart."

--Rebekah Graydon

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