(Transforming continued)

"All the groups fit together in this like cogs in a wheel," she says. "It's one thing to say, 'yes, we have a housing problem,' but it's another to quantify it, then to work together to address it."

In 2001, Valdosta State University conducted a housing survey, which identified 921 substandard units within the city limits. Since then, Habitat volunteers alone have built 41 houses (88 houses since the affiliate's 1988 founding).

The housing coalition in Valdosta must build about 50 units per year to reach its goal. Last year, the effort resulted in 96, including new construction and rehabs. A coordinated approach, Register says, positions the coalition on a more competitive plane when it comes to securing grant funds, and that will only expand the capacity with which the community can eliminate its substandard housing.

In terms of the JCWP in particular, Register says it has spotlighted the issues of substandard housing and resulted in a substantial dose of community awareness, among families needing better housing and among volunteers wishing to build it.

"The people of Valdosta see how serious our commitment is to eliminating substandard housing here," Jackson says. "People believe it's possible."

In the last four years, the city of Valdosta has provided four grants totaling $1.5 million--$1.1 million of which went directly in support of this year's project. While Habitat affiliates do not use government funds for actual house construction, they do accept monetary donations to help set the stage for that construction by building infrastructure and meeting other preliminary requirements. Local businesses have been no less enthusiastic. Local real estate development company, the J.N. Bray Co., for example, donated the 14-acre site on which the JCWP took place--a gift valued at $260,000. Ultimately, the site will accommodate 40 Habitat houses. Church congregations have sponsored houses, hung siding and prepared lunches for other volunteers, while individual donors and volunteers continue to rally support of the Challenge initiative.

"The whole community knows about us now," Jackson says. "Community interest is really strong, and we want to take advantage of that. It's a whole new ball game."

Through commitment and collaboration, Valdosta-Lowndes County HFH and the KeyWe Affordable Housing Coalition are on the offensive in their match against substandard housing. And one need look no further than 1766 Jimmy Carter Drive to glimpse the intangibles of winning.

That's where the Doe family lives. It's where Victoria and Jasmine no longer wake to the crack of gunfire, and their safety is a mother's answered prayer; it's where routine settles in every morning and a family no longer fears things that go bump in the night.

--Shawn Reeves is managing editor of Habitat World.

	Thanks to her new Habitat house, homeowner Patricia Peak of Valdosta, Ga., has reunited with her three sons.

Habitat Home Reunites Family
by Shawn Reeves

When a fire raged through the Peaks' house on Thanksgiving morning two years ago, the family's housing security went up in smoke as well.

Peak's job did not pay enough for the mother of three sons to afford a decent place to live. Fortunately, the Peaks had family members in the area, but none had enough room to shelter them all. Consequently, Peak and her sons DeAnglo, 19, Joseph, 16, and Gerod, 14, were forced to separate.

Save for a brief time in a small, leaky apartment, the family remained separated for one and one-half years.

Almost one year to the day after the fire, Peak learned she had been approved for a Habitat partnership. She immediately began fulfilling her sweat-equity obligation and completed it during the Jimmy Carter Work Project. And, while she eagerly anticipated reuniting her immediate family under one roof, she also found an extended family in the volunteers who helped build her house.

"Everyone has shown so much love, taking time out of their schedules," she says. "It's not even like we're strangers. We're just one happy family working on this house."

And their combined efforts have provided another family the opportunity to go home ... together.

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Capture the excitement:
JCWP 2003 video now available
You can now experience the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003 through video. The video (item #1102VHS, #1102PAL, #1102DVD) costs $8 plus shipping and can be ordered by calling (800) 422-5914 or, if calling from outside the United States, (706) 565-2107.