Featured news

Hello Care-A-Vanners,

This month's Why We Build article is about Morehead Habitat for Humanity in West Liberty, Kentucky.. I asked Dan and Carolyn Banks, our lead Disaster Rebuild team members on this project, to write an article about our success there. Back in 2012, not long after I took the reins from the retiring Mary Campbell as the RV Care-A-Vanner coordinator, I got a call from Greg Dike, the executive director of the Morehead affiliate. He was desperate for help after a devastating tornado had hit three counties in his area and who better to provide that help than skilled RV Care-A-Vanners who are self-sufficient and self-contained? The RV Care-A-Vanner Disaster Rebuild program was born. Dan and Carolyn began the rebuild effort in August of 2012. In March of 2013, we offered our first Disaster Rebuild team training and after the training, many of our newly trained Disaster Rebuild team members left Americus for West Liberty for the first build of the 2013 season. Our second Disaster Rebuild course was just held in Springfield, Missouri, in April 2014 thanks to a grant through the Disaster Risk Reduction Department at HFHI.

One of the things that is so special about West Liberty, is the RV Care-A-Vanners were the first rebuild help for the affiliate in 2012 and this summer, we will complete the last of the tornado rebuild homes. As you have probably heard me say many times, "We will stay until the job is done." But not only did we get homes rebuilt; we helped the affiliate build capacity. Morehead Habitat for Humanity now services three counties and is planning on building four or five houses a year, up from their pre-disaster one house a year. The RV Care-A-Vanner program will continue to serve this affiliate going forward.

Dan and Carolyn Banks now serve as our Disaster Rebuild coordinators, helping to take to load off of me. Their experience in West Liberty has certainly prepared them for the job and their personal experience of losing their rig and everything in it to fire in West Liberty has sensitized them to the to the plight of families that have lived through a disaster. Hats off to Dan and Carolyn for a job well done.
Thanks to all of you who have built in West Liberty. You made a difference to a lot of families.

God bless,

Mary Vandeveld
RV Care-A-Vanner coordinator
[email protected]
Facebook

Alice, Texas, build signup: This is a very popular build, so we like to give everyone an equal opportunity to get on this build. Sign up will be on Monday, August 25 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Both Lu and I will be available along with our support person in IT to handle any problems that might come up. If you have trouble with the login or signup, send Lu an email at [email protected]. That email will be time stamped which will put you in the cue of the signup. On occasion, our computer system does not update right on the half hour as we expect, so be patient. Good luck and remember, we have many builds out there that need our help and are great hosts!

WHY WE BUILD by Dan and Carolyn Banks

Our West Liberty Kentucky Disaster Rebuild opportunity

When "The Vortex" calls, you respond. Yes, I am talking about our lovely Mary Vandeveld. Mary contacted us with an opportunity to use our talents to help communities devastated by one of the worst tornadoes our country has ever experienced. She sent us an evaluation done by George and Diane Gravlee and the contact information for Greg Dyke, the executive director of the closest affiliate in Morehead, Kentucky. Greg emailed a description of the houses he had begun building.

We were hooked and made a commitment for three months (August – November). Not only were we going to a naturally beautiful area of our country, but we were aware that the area was part of the economically devastated Appalachia. We would learn to build homes that were truly designed to be affordable for some of the poorest people in our country. These homes are all about 900 square feet and so well designed and insulated that they can be heated and cooled for less than $200 annually.

We arrived in West Liberty and were astounded by the breadth of the destruction. Not only were most of the businesses destroyed or badly damaged, but available housing consisted of units that would never have been rented pre disaster. Six months post disaster, businesses and jobs had disappeared simply because building codes made it impossible to rebuild on the hillsides within the downtown areas of the city. The governmental infrastructure was obviously still struggling to recover.

Several churches were completely destroyed, families were displaced, but the people in the community were working together to recover. The shock was still evident through the stories that they shared with us. The displaced individuals and families had been taken in by families and friends, rented the few units available locally or moved to surrounding communities.

Greg was working with Mary Shearer, Kentucky State Support Organization, Kentucky Housing Authority, FEMA and other groups, plus his board of directors to develop a rebuild plan. Applications from the affected families were submitted, reviewed and determinations were made by that group. City lots were very expensive, small and often located on hillsides. They determined that the approved families must either own the land or purchase the land upon which their homes were built.

Our first tasks were to find places for other enthusiastic Care-A-Vanners to join us and to develop an effective communications system, as cell phone coverage was limited. Because construction was evident everywhere, there was little hope we could park our rigs close enough to easily work in the area. A local family, Johnny and Suzi Blevins and Paul and Erma Stamper, offered their family campground for us to use and we opened up the build. Mary funded a landline and Internet access at the campground with money from a grant.

The building area covered a circuit of more than 100 miles. When we arrived, Greg had started three homes and that number grew while we were there. Care-A-Vanner teams were soon building in Frenchberg, Moon, Morehead and West Liberty. Needless to say we were spread thin. Flexibility was immediately called for and became the mode of operation. Tools were scarce and many in disrepair. Care-A-Vanners brought their own tools to save the day!

In addition, we had to learn new construction techniques. Most of the Care-A-Vanner team members had never seen this type construction before, much less attempted to build that way. As is typical for all our builds, opinions were plentiful, and often expressed, but Care-A-Vanners know "we build it the way the affiliate wants," and so we did.

Family interactions that we had were good, but sometimes we did not see the partner families. One man who lost his wife seemed to not be able to face his loss and was still receiving counseling and physical therapy. Others had jobs that kept them from the worksite. Local volunteers were likewise scarce; they had their own homes to repair, plus extended family members also needed their help. So we were mostly on our own. While it is often a blessing for us to see and meet with partner family members, that was not the primary focus. The partner families we did interact with were absolutely fantastic. They were eager to help us, and at the same time they understood how stretched we were in trying to help everybody.

Just as we were packing to return home, our motorhome burned to the ground. We then learned how devastating it was to lose everything we had in our motorhome. We personally were struggling with the method of providing housing to people who could receive these houses by only owning the land. Now I understood. They had lost everything they had accumulated in their lifetimes in seconds. These houses were offered to families with limited ability to recover without significant support from the city, state and federal programs.

We agreed to return to West Liberty the following year right after the disaster response course in Americus. So in April, we returned to West Liberty with another Care-A-Vanner team. In addition to destroying our RV, the fire badly damaged the family campsite. Carolyn immediately began to inspect the Blevins' campsite to see what was needed to make it usable. It became clear we would need another place for the Care-A-Vanner rigs. Dan began looking and found a county fairgrounds on West Liberty's outskirts.

Discussions with the County Judge Executive led to an offer to provide materials if Care-A-Vanner could build a campsite for 15 rigs. God does provide! We had an excellent electrician, Bill Gott on our Disaster Rebuild team. He and Dan designed an RV park. With the assistance of County Road Department equipment and workers, the area at the Fairgrounds was scraped with a road grader, loads of gravel were brought in and packed; the electrical utility company brought poles and an auger truck to set the poles. They also strung the wire to the poles. Bill Gott assembled the electrical connections for the rigs. This RV park has since been available to Care-A-Vanner build teams (except during the week of the county fair). It is still in use today! Thanks to the county and its judge executive.

The RV Care-A-Vanner program awarded a grant for West Liberty Habitat to purchase some tools and safety equipment. Those efforts have expanded West Liberty's ability to build homes safely.

To date, 23 tornado rebuild houses have been built and families are living in them. Only three more remain to be completed. The three counties affected by the tornadoes have now formed a coalition to continue building homes in the area. Morehead Habitat for Humanity has always struggled to build capacity to meet the housing needs of our poorest citizens; therefore, this is a significant improvement.

"Habitat gives a hand up, not a hand out" and the work of our Care-A-Vanners provide housing that these families can afford so that they can begin to provide for themselves instead of being forced to rely on handouts. These are proud families who deserve that hand up. Greg Dyke still serves as executive director for Morehead Habitat for Humanity and they are now chartered to cover three counties. The affiliate has a long range plan which includes building four to five regular Habitat houses each year. They are also in discussion with Mary Shearer, the Kentucky SSO, on a program to convert transportation containers into small homes for single people.

The challenges were many but the rewards were awesome. Thank you Habitat for giving us this opportunity to serve.

Donations – Smile with Amazon
How many of us order from Amazon.com? Did you know that Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice? I hope that is Habitat for Humanity. All you have to do is log into your account through this portal: www.Smile.Amazon.com. Thanks for the tip, Greg!

Accomplishments

Remember: Send Mary Vandeveld photos of your builds and newspaper articles. You have been lax lately and I want pictures! If you would like to submit anything to the newsletter — a good story, a new way to do things, a construction tip or an update on a build — please do. I love to get homeowner stories. This is your newsletter, and we welcome your input. Besides, you have got to be getting tired of hearing from only me! Send your contributions to [email protected]. I want to hear from all of you!

Team leader corner

Hello from Maine,

Last month, I got ahead of myself and thanked the July team leaders. Looking back, it appears that I have not yet thanked our MAY team leaders, so I would like to do that now. They are Darrell and Ellen DeVault; Ron and Jean Gratz; Larry and Margot Durham; Clint and Kathy Norrell; Stephen and Jan Scully; Michael and Gloriann Kramer; Harry Fritts; Jim and Kris Langley; George and Diane Gravlee; Tom and Judy Fox; Glenn and Carol Dunn; and Larry and Ty Jones. I am happy to see more people volunteering to be team leaders. Thank you.

Remember, if you've been thinking about becoming a team leader but are not sure what's involved, contact me at [email protected] and I will send you the guidelines. Lack of construction experience is not a reason to pass on being a team leader. Organization and people skills are what are important. So, don't forget to check the "team leader interest" box on your registration if you are willing to lead the build.

When contacting the desk about a build, it is very helpful to have the build number and date, in addition to the location. Also, rosters are usually sent as a Word document. If you have trouble opening it, or it does not format properly, just let me know. I will send it in PDF, which usually solves the problem.

Finally, team leaders are needed for the following builds. If you are available and willing, please contact me

September 7-21	Brookings, SD
September 7-21	Sheridan, WY
September 7-21	Sebring, FL
September 7-21	Durango, CO
September 14-28	Loveland, CO
September 14-28	Adrian, MI
September 21-October 5	Durango, CO

Thank you and happy hammering!

Brenda Sawyer
Team leader coordinator
[email protected]

Spread the word
Send your RV friends a Care-A-Vanner brochure about this wonderful mission by just pasting this link into an email or just print out and give to fellow RVers in campgrounds.

Disaster Response

West Liberty, Ky.: Our rebuild effort is almost complete. We have three homes to finish this summer and then West Liberty will be hosting regular Care-A-Vanner builds going forward. But we still need help finishing up those homes, so sign up for a build this summer or fall and let's finish the job. Go to our website and sign up for a West Liberty DR build.
Superstorm Sandy: Recovery efforts from Sandy continue to be slow. Funding is the struggle for the affected affiliates. I had hoped to have more building opportunities this summer, but the building has been slow. I think we may still get some requests this fall so if you would like to be on my email list for Sandy recovery, please send a note to [email protected]. I will notify Care-A-Vanners on my list first about build opportunities there.
Colorado 2013 floods: We had six affiliates in the flood affected areas in Colorado. There was a huge need for low-income housing in the area with a rental vacancy rate of 1 percent before the floods. There were also some mobile home parks that were destroyed in the floods. The six affiliates are working closely with the Colorado State Support Organization and they already have a plan to work together and rebuild 100 new construction homes and do 100 Critical Home Repairs. We have started our first project in Lyons, Colorado, by sending six Disaster Rebuild team members as house leaders. At this time, we are not sending Care-A-Vanner Teams, but I expect that will follow at some point. I recently listed a build in Loveland, Colorado in September. This is not a flood recovery build although families in Loveland's service area were affected. This build will give the affiliate a chance to see how much Care-A-Vanners can help in the future. I have an email list for the Colorado flood rebuild effort, so if you would like to be on the list, send me a note to [email protected].

Featured Builds

Affiliates in need:
Franklin, WV: I have listed the following build: GV14-0336 Franklin, West Virginia from October 19 – November 2, 2014 at Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity. This is a new affiliate for us, so let's go to "Almost Heaven" and do some building!

Marquette, MI: We need some help on this build! Marquette has been a great supporter of the RV Care-A-Vanner program for years, so let's support them now. The Upper Peninsula is beautiful in September. The build number is GV14-0143 and it starts on September 7.

Virginia, MN: GV14-0215 Virginia, Minnesota, needs some help starting September 7, 2014! This Hibbing affiliate has been a long time partner of the Care-A-Vanner program, so let's support them and sign up for their build. You can't beat Northern Minnesota in the fall.

Safety corner

Ladders are one of the most common tools used on a job site, and sadly, one of the most misused. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a step ladder leaned against the wall instead of opened up properly, I could probably fund an entire house. To be honest, I would no doubt contribute a small fortune for the times I've done it myself. We need to work together to change the safety culture. Let's set the example on how to do it right, not "how I've always done it". Below are a few of the most common OSHA rules regarding ladders. If you want to know more, go to OSHA.gov 1926 sub section X – Stairways and Ladders.

Ladders - Extension

Extension ladder base legs must be secure.
Appropriate end of ladder feet must be used (point for dirt, rubber for concrete).
Extension ladder base legs and feet must be on level ground.
Use L on extension ladder label for proper angle of slope.
4:1 ratio of 4 feet up 1 foot out for positioning extension ladder.
Extension ladder must extend 3 feet above upper level deck, roof, etc.
Tie off extension ladder at upper level or scaffold deck is used for access.
Do not use top two steps.
Do not substitute step ladder for extension ladder.
Do not load the ladder above the maximum intended load displayed on the ladder sticker.
The area around the top and bottom of the ladder are to be kept clear.
Non-conductive ladders must be used around electrical wires or equipment.

Ladders - Step

Always inspect ladder before use.
Always face ladder when climbing and descending.
Step Ladder feet must be on level ground.
Do not carry material up step ladder.
Use three points of contact for climbing and descending.
If used to access scaffold must be tied off to scaffold.
Do not use top two steps.
Do not lean against walls and use as extension ladder.
Do not load above the maximum intended load displayed on the ladder sticker.

Frank Peccia
Care-A-Vanner safety coordinator
[email protected]

Windows to Washington

An August Thanksgiving – with 92 guests

Imagine that you have a friend in your neighborhood who constantly asks you for favors – to borrow a cup of sugar, to mow his lawn, a ride to the airport, to watch his dog while he's out of town – any number of things that friends and neighbors do for each other. Imagine as well that you oblige every time you are able. How would you feel if he never said thank you? Not even once! What if he kept repeatedly asking without ever showing gratitude for your efforts? That would likely put a strain on your friendship to say the least!

Unfortunately, when it comes to our lawmakers, it's easy to be that person who repeatedly makes requests and then forgets to say thank you. Naturally, there are differences between your relationship with your friend who lives down the street and your lawmaker in Washington! But we think you'll agree that saying thank you to both when they look out for your interests is a good idea, which is why we're suggesting a thanksgiving this month while lawmakers are home for August recess.

Earlier this year, we asked you to help us spread the word about the Water for the World Act (H.R. 2901). With nearly 800 million people lacking access to safe water around the world and 2.5 billion lacking access to proper sanitation, the Water for the World Act would ensure that existing investments in water programs around the world are put to their most effective use. Happily, with your support, this bipartisan bill now has 92 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives! Check out this list to see if your Representative is among them.

Don't worry, we're not asking you to swap out hot dogs and barbeque for cranberry sauce and turkey! For this "thanksgiving," we're simply asking that you drop a line, make a call or post a message or tweet to say thanks to lawmakers who have supported this important piece of legislation (and thank those who haven't cosponsored yet for considering it, which you can do in-person, over the phone or by using our easy online form).

And lest we on the Government Relations and Advocacy team be that ungrateful friend, please accept our heartfelt thanks to you for all you do for Habitat for Humanity, including supporting our advocacy efforts. You are the hearts and voices of our work and WE THANK YOU.

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

If you think you might enjoy mentoring college students at a Habitat for Humanity build next February or March, check out the build list for those cities with a CC after their name. These affiliates could use your help supervising the students they are hosting. Many of these CC builds are already full, but a few still have a slot or two and some affiliates haven't listed themselves yet, so keep checking the build list often.

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Douglas and Loretta Anderson, Barbara Clarke, Bob and Joyce Daugherty, Tom and Karen Hartley, Ron Johnson and Pamla Martin, Larry and Lynnae Marsing, Jacques Martin, Paul and Lisa Mitchell, John and Beverly Nussbaumer, Kathy Petersen, Pete and Wendy VanderVelde, Rick Wirth.

Our apologies if we have included a seasoned Care-A-Vanner, or if this is duplication. Habitat for Humanity is grateful for the work that you do!

Questions, cancellations or concerns?
1-800-HABITAT, ext. 7534
1-229-410-7534 (direct)
[email protected]
RV Care-A-Vanner staff contact info

Register for a build online
Step-by-step instructions

Roster updates
Please email updated roster information to [email protected] or [email protected] or call 1-229-410-7534. begin_of_the_skype_highlighting

Report Care-A-Vanner hours
Help us keep track of total volunteer hours contributed, and partner families served. Please email these stats from your drop-in or ongoing builds to [email protected].

Donate to RV Care-A-Vanners
How to donate money or vehicles