Featured news

Hello Fellow Care-A-Vanners,

It is time to share some stats with you on what we did for fiscal year 2014-15. You put in 105,051 hours that are worth more than 2.4 million dollars according to www.independentsector.org. Our hours are down from last year, but the difference was the 25th Anniversary Build and Rally the year prior. You completed a total of 202 builds, a record for the Care-A-Vanner program. The unfortunate side of that number is that I had to cancel 64 builds because we had no Care-A-Vanners signed up. I sure would like to see that number come down this next year. We added 215 new Care-A-Vanners, down a little from the previous year. That means I need all of you out there recruiting for us. I have brochures in my dropbox available for download or I can mail you some. Just drop me a note with your address. We had a total of 1,742 Care-A-Vanners on builds this past year serving 629 families during our builds. We built in 72 cities in 32 states. The Care-A-Vanner desk staff pulled their weight putting in 5,216 hours, close to three full-time staff equivalents. A sneak peek at our first quarter stats for FY2015-16 looks like we are headed for another banner year. Thank you!

We are adding new affiliates on our build list regularly. Check them out and give these new affiliates a warm Care-A-Vanner welcome. It is easy to get comfortable going back to the same builds, but try something new, especially you experienced Care-A-Vanners.

Our safety program is having an impact. I have been impressed with the change in the safety culture at affiliates and among the Care-A-Vanners this past year. We owe our Master Safety Trainers for a big part of that culture change. Since the inception of the safety program, our Master Safety Trainers have trained 418 personnel as Competent Persons at 161 affiliates and 279 Care-A-Vanners have gone through our General Safety Awareness Course. We have a long way to go, but this is a great start to this program.

Coming up this winter in November is our Decade of Dedication event in Covington, Louisiana, where we will train 16 new Disaster Rebuild Team members and build with our Disaster Corps volunteer partners. We have two builds scheduled in Americus in February and March which filled immediately. I am excited to bring that volunteer spirt of the Care-A-Vanners back to Americus and Dave and I are looking forward to the having some company! We are also training 14 new Master Safety Trainers here in Americus in December.

It is going to be a busy winter for all, including our Care-A-Vanner desk staff who are doing a great job handling the increase in our build numbers and our added program responsibilities with our disaster response and safety programs.

Thank you for all your hard work to help end poverty housing.

Mary Vandeveld
RV Care-A-Vanner Program Manager
[email protected]
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Highlands County Habitat for Humanity, known to Care-A-Vanners as Sebring, Florida, asked if they could give us an update on what is happening at their affiliate. They have been a great partner through the years and I always enjoy hearing what is new. Thank you Jennifer for taking the time to keep us up to date!

What's new in Highlands County
by Jennifer McGee

Wow! Lots of great changes are happening in Highlands County. John Hawthorne, former executive director, has retired. Sarah Pallone is the new executive director. Toni Joyce has been named the development manager. Mari Hill has been named finance manager, Fred Garrison has been named store manager and Frank Nelson has been named construction manager.

In addition to the changes in staff, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. In honor of this accomplishment, we are building our 25th anniversary home. This home is sponsored by First United Methodist Church and St John United Methodist Church. The Williams family is hopeful to be in the home before the first of the year.

Upon the completion of our 25th anniversary home, we will begin building yet another new house. This will be home to Shondra Crenshaw and her three girls. This house will be located in Lake Placid, so it will be close to your accommodations. We hope to have this family in their home before the end of May 2016.

Our affiliate thanks each of you for the help you've given us along the way to reach this achievement. We continue to ask for your help in building our homes. We still have RV sites at the Camp Cloverleaf 4-H Camp for Care-A-Vanners. This campsite does not allow for pets. If you need a parking spot and have pets, please contact Jennifer McGee at the affiliate.

If you have any questions about Highlands County Habitat or what the affiliate's needs may be, please contact Jennifer McGee at 863-385-7156 or 863-446-1046. Thank you for your continued support of the Habitat mission. May you always have safe travels and many blessings!

Announcements

Dennis and Marge Hagman are hanging up their RV keys and moving on to the next chapter in their life. They have given 13 years of service to the Care-A-Vanner program. Anyone who had the opportunity to meet and work with Marge and Dennis were blessed. Not only are they great builders, they are terrific people. Dennis assured me that they will stay involved with Habitat through their local affiliate. Thank you Dennis and Marge for all you have given!

Gordon and Frances Kraus are also hanging up their RV keys after 13 years and more than 30 Care-A-Vanner builds. In their retirement message to me they wanted me to remind folks that Habitat was launched as a ministry for Jesus. Sometimes that gets lost from our message. Thank you Gordon and Frances for your years of service.

RV Care-A-Vanner "Travel with a Purpose" PowerPoint presentation: If any of you are doing a presentation and would like a PowerPoint about Habitat for Humanity and the RV Care-A-Vanner program, you can download the latest version of RV CAV: Travel with a Purpose from my dropbox. Be sure to let me know how your presentation went!

RV CAV promo video: You can download a copy from my dropbox and share it will all your RV friends. It is also on our website.

Featured builds:

All of our Florida builds are looking for help in November and December. If you are in the area, please consider signing up and giving them a good start to their build season.

Hours and stories needed:

We need everyone to report their hours to the Care-A-Vanner desk. If you are on a build without a team leader, be sure that someone is assigned to keep track of the hours. If you are a drop-in, those hours count, as do ReStore volunteer hours. Affiliates do not report your hours to the desk. I need hours worked and number of houses worked on. This data is very important for grant applications and grant reporting. We also love to hear those "Why We Build" stories! They are always so touching to read. It is the partner families that keep us motivated, so send your stories and your hours to [email protected]

Tithing connections

In the last issue, I had mentioned that I would share about the recent Malawi Orphans and Vulnerable Groups build that consisted of 15 Habitat staff from 12 different affiliates. We will push that feature back one month in order to share the great news below.

The Tithe team is excited to announce the first-ever recipient of the Orphans and Vulnerable Groups fund in fiscal year 2015 supported by U.S. affiliate tithe: Habitat for Humanity Malawi.

With the support of 35 U.S. affiliates, the funds raised for the OVG fund, which was launched at the affiliate conference in March 2015, totaled a little more than $50,000 in fiscal year 2015. This support is incredible. These funds will be used by Habitat Malawi in their critical work with orphans and vulnerable children.

The beneficiaries
The funds will be used by Habitat Malawi to improve the housing conditions for 100 orphans and other vulnerable children in the Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Salima, Blantyre, Mulanje and Chikhwawa districts of Malawi by June 2016. This project known as "Abwenzi Athu Orphans and other vulnerable groups project" aligns directly with Habitat Malawi's strategic plan for fiscal years 2014 – 2018.

We can't thank affiliates enough for supporting Habitat in our work with the most vulnerable.

Katie Grover
Tithe specialist, Habitat for Humanity International
[email protected]

Windows to Washington - November

Let people give of their time and talents!
As you know, one doesn't have to be an expert in construction to raise a hammer on a build site, nor does one need to be a millionaire to help meet the expense of serving families and communities across the country. Further, you don't have to be registered lobbyist to have a big impact on your lawmakers' support for smart housing policy. If we all pitch in our combination of talents, time, funds and voices, together we can realize our shared vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

If we told you that Congress passed a law making it illegal to share your talents with Habitat for Humanity, well, I bet phones would be ringing off the hook here in Washington to get that law changed! Unfortunately, that's what happened to fee appraisers. Amendments to federal law in the aftermath of the housing crisis inadvertently changed the rules for this group of professionals, who have been donating their services to Habitat affiliates across the country for several decades.

By law, appraisals are required for every mortgage issued. An appraisal informs homeowners of the value of their home and assures Habitat affiliates of longer-term affordability and financial sustainability for their partner families. Last year, Habitat made more than 5,000 mortgage loans in the United States.

Most of the appraisals that Habitat receives are gift-in-kind donations; donated appraisals are an opportunity for the financial community to contribute to our work and enable Habitat to allocate funds to other critical services. The ability to continue receiving donated appraisals is a key issue for Habitat because if local affiliates must begin paying appraisal fees, the cost of every home will increase and Habitat affiliates will ultimately serve fewer American families each year.

After the housing crisis, the law was changed to require that fee appraisers receive a "customary and reasonable" fee for their services. A few federal lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have already recognized the unanticipated impact that requirement has on Habitat and have introduced bills with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate to make the needed technical clarification. If passed, the clarification would allow Habitat affiliates to continue to accept donated appraisals, save them millions of dollars annually and maximize the impact of funding for affordable housing across the country.

Take a moment today to tell your lawmakers that you want these bills to be passed!

Learn more about the bills in Habitat's statement and find out how to send a letter to your local lawmakers to support the bills.

If your lawmakers are already supporting either the House version or Senate version of the bill, send them a note of thanks instead. As of the time we're writing to you, the co-sponsors include U.S. Representatives G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C.; and Mark Meadows, R-N.C.; and Senators Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

Team leader corner

Hello team leaders,

Kit and I are back in Maine for one week after spending three weeks in Europe. The first week was seeing the sights and the last two weeks were spent participating in an international build in Armenia. What a rich history they have!

This will be brief as I am still struggling to catch up while dealing with a nasty case of jet lag.

A very special thank you goes out to our October team leaders. They are Rick and Paula Huls; Dyana Todd; Greg and Karen Harbage; Roy and Judy Ginn; Bob Gillespie; Jane and Joe Gano; Frances Harless; and Ty and Larry Jones.
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.

If you are already a team leader, and identify someone on your team that you think has what it takes to be a team leader, please consider talking to them about it and perhaps mentoring them during the build. Remember, construction skills are not as important as communication and organizational skills

If you are unable to read the roster I send you, or things appear to be on the wrong lines, chances are you have a Mac or iPad and Word documents do not format correctly. Just let me know and I will send them in PDF. Also, please remember to include the GV number or at least the date of your build when contacting the CAV Desk about a build. It makes it so much easier to find the build you are referencing.

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

January 3 – 17	Fellsmere, Florida
January 3 – 17	Fort Meyers, Florida
January 10 – 24	Thibodaux, Louisiana
January 17 – 31	Fellsmere, Florida

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 pasting this PDF into an email or just printing it out to give to fellow RVers in campgrounds

Safety corner

Let's take a look at OSHA

You hear the safety folks talk about OSHA a lot, so I thought this month we could take a closer look.

OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Its mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and protect the health of America's workers, which means volunteers too!

OSHA was created in 1970 and covers all commercial and residential construction.
What does OSHA do exactly?

Develops job safety and health standards and enforce them through worksite inspections.
Maintains a reporting and record keeping system to keep track of job-related injuries and illnesses.
Provides training programs to increase knowledge about occupational safety and health.
Develops and enforces standards that both employers and employees must follow.

In 1995 the National Home Builders Association assured OSHA that it could self-monitor safety compliance of residential home construction. OSHA agreed and allowed a special exemption for residential builders, including Habitat for Humanity. Due to an increasing number of fatalities and injuries in residential construction, OSHA rescinded the special exemption in June 2011. Since then, all residential construction must follow the OSHA regulations, including Habitat for Humanity.

How can you find your way around the website www.OSHA.gov?

If you are looking for something specific, ladder safety for example, the search feature in the upper right hand corner is a great place to start. This query returned 29,100 results. You should find your answer in the first few lines.

I'll go over a few key pages on the site. For the construction regulations, click Regulations, then the Construction tab. Construction is broken up into eight subparts.

Subpart C: General safety
Subpart E: Personal protection
Subpart F: Fire protection
Subpart I: Tools
Subpart K: Electrical
Subpart L: Scaffolds
Subpart M: Fall protection
Subpart X: Ladders and stairways

For more information on ladders, you would scroll down to subpart X and you would see section 1926.1053 - Ladders. Clicking on this link will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about ladders and more. You will notice that some of the section headers are blue. This is a link that will take you to Letters of Interpretation. These are questions asked by businesses to clarify or seek exemption on specific standard.

You will find accident descriptions under Data and Statistics as well. Go down the fifth line for Fatality and Catastrophe Investigation Search. If you type in ladder falls under description, you will get 562 results. Click the link under summary for details of each accident. This description gives a brief summary of what happened, what went wrong and how it could have been prevented. These are great training tools when you want examples for people who say "I've been doing this for many years and have never fallen off a ladder." Note – if it was a fatal indecent there is an X under the column Fat.

Looking for training tools? These can be used to inform yourself or used at topics for the morning briefing or even more in-depth training for your team. Click the Publications tab then the Topics tab. Click L and go down to Ladder Safety. Here you will find a PDF fact sheet that goes over ladder safety.

For more training tools, go to the Publications tab and click on the type tab. Here you will find a wealth of information, there are brochures, posters and fact sheets you can hang on the job site or in tool shed. You can download guidance documents if you want to read up on "Mold: Preventing Mold-Related Problems in the Indoor Workplace,"for example. Pocket guides and pocket cards are great for quick reference.

The last section to cover is the Small Business tab. Click on the blue Small Business Resource and the second link for eTools. This section gives you more information about specific topics, such as Lockout/Tagout Interactive Training Program. You will see a link to the regulation, 29 CFR 1910.147, a tutorial and hot topics page as well as some interactive case studies.

OSHA is a user-friendly website and the information is easy to understand. Spend some time finding out how you can make your job site safer.

Lisa Crawford
Master Safety Training program coordinator
[email protected]

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

Planning on being out west this winter? Here is an opportunity for you to enjoy New Mexico while helping to supervise college students on their winter breaks. Taos, New Mexico, has just scheduled five weeks of Collegiate Challenge builds. They are requesting three rigs for each week. Remember that these CC builds are just a week long, but you can register for as many as you wish. The weeks are as follows: February 28, March 6, March 13, March 20 and March 27.

You should be familiar with building techniques so that you can teach and show the students how to do tasks. There will be a local construction person on-site who can help you pick up a particular task if needed and will let you know how this affiliate wants want something done. Look for Taos with the CC after the city on the build schedule list.

If you are staying in the east, check out Macon, Georgia. There are still two openings for this CC build March 6-13 as I write. The other option that still has openings is Vero Beach, Florida. These are a bit different in that they are two weeks long, but there is a good chance you will be working with college students during that time period. They do not have a CC after the city, but do include a description that includes this possibility.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Rosalie Arcadi, Doug and Chris Chartrand, Thomas and Cherie Cox, Kenneth and Marty Enders, Cliff and Joyce Frank, Dave Grimmer, James and Kathleen Holland, Neal and Marion Jackson, Mary Johnson, Lorna Jordan, Skye King and Joy Bondy, Paul Proctor and Christy Silvas, Deryck Richards.

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

Disaster Rebuild

Hurricane season is upon us and as we all pray for no landfalls, we are ready if needed. Remember our mission in disaster response is to come in at the time of the rebuild efforts and to stay until the last house is replaced or repaired. A lot has to happen before rebuild begins, including permitting, fundraising, FEMA grant application and awards, building capacity at the affiliate, family selection, etc. It is easy to remember the disaster that just happened, but where we need the help is the disaster that happened two or three years ago.

HFHI Disaster Risk Reduction and Response, our partners, are also working with affiliates to do fortified building to reduce injuries and damage to homes when a disaster does strike. This includes building safe rooms in tornado area, hip roofs in hurricane zones and using anchoring systems appropriate for the risk. If you are interested in learning more about fortification standards, please review IBHS Fortified for Safer Living Standards. Your knowledge can help our affiliates learn more about these new building practices.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Tuscaloosa is still building homes for people who lost their housing units in the 2011 tornado. There are tornado victims who still have not gotten into homes. Our mission continues there as we stay until the last home is replaced. Tuscaloosa loves the Care-A-Vanners and has builds listed throughout the year. It is a very nice place to work.
South Carolina flooding: Initial assessments show Georgetown having a number of Habitat homes that were affected by flooding. The number is eight or nine. None of the homes have received mold abatement, something that has to happen before we send anyone in to rebuild. The Habitat affiliates in Columbia and Myrtle Beach are either not responding to the disaster or do not need HFHI volunteer help at this point. That could change, so stay tuned.
Fire season out west: As you have seen from the news broadcasts, this is an epic fire season out west. Preliminary reports indicate that there are low-income families that have been affected and we will offer to help when the rebuild begins. Right now, the ground is still smoldering. Keep all the families and firefighters in your prayers.

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

Current list of active builds
Builds list

How to 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

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].

Support the Care-A-Vanners
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