Featured news

Hello Fellow Care-A-Vanners,

September is here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the leaves are turning and we just got back from a great build experience where we caught up with some old friends and made new ones. Dave and I were the team leaders, a job made easy by this terrific group of Care-A-Vanners. I never heard a cross word out of anyone and all were willing to do whatever needed to be done. The project was a rehab of a more than 100-year-old house that had good bones but nothing was plumb, level or square. That meant we did a lot of problem solving and to me that is the fun part of building. At the end of the build, the group gave Dave and me a gift that will keep on giving – a donation to the affiliate in our name. Thank you team!

Then it was back to Care-A-Vanner desk duties. We are busy and I would like to ask for everyone's patience. We are doing the best we can. The Mason builds brought 80 registrations in less than 10 minutes. All four builds filled in less than three minutes. The other side of that issue is every week Lu and I are canceling up to six builds because we have no one signed up. Think about those affiliates and families that aren't seeing the progress on their homes because we didn't have any Care-A-Vanners available to help. Take a chance and try a new build. I bet you won't be disappointed.

Finally, this month I would like to share a comment I received from a new Care-A-Vanner sent to me after their first build. They told me about the team complaining about the cost of camping and the fact that the affiliate did not provide free lunches. I think I covered this fairly well in last month's newsletter, but I wanted to share one thing this new Care-A-Vanner said in closing: "To other RV-Care-A-Vanners, I would suggest that you just enjoy the feeling of giving and don't look for a hand out."
It felt great this past week to give that hand up, not a hand out.

God bless,

Mary Vandeveld
RV Care-A-Vanner Program Manager
[email protected]
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Announcements

Good Sam Volunteers of the Year

This award goes to our very own Bill and France Moriarty! Congratulations to Bill and France for well-deserved award, and thank you to all the Care-A-Vanners who voted! There was a $3,000 prize that Bill and France directed to the RV Care-A-Vanner program. Even though we are an all-volunteer team at the Care-A-Vanner desk, there are still expenses that go with running the program. That money will go to good use. Thank you Bill and France.

Type of work
When you go to a build, you must be prepared to do whatever the affiliate needs help with. Building schedules change because of permitting, delayed or failed inspections, funding, weather or maybe the week before we came they had a work group that got more done than they expected. We try to get builds listed six to nine months ahead of time in order to allow you time to do your trip planning. For an affiliate to predict exactly where they will be in their build schedule that far ahead can be difficult. Remember, to be flexible in your work and your expectations.

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 drop box. Be sure to let me know how your presentation went!

Care-A-Vanner build page change
At the suggestion of the Marquette build team, we have made a change on our build listing page that will enable you to see how many rigs the affiliate is asking for and how many have already signed up. Feel free to give us feedback on the new look.

RV Care-A-Vanner promo video
We have updated the video and would ask if you have an old copy, that you delete it. You can download a new copy from my drop box.

A Care-A-Vanner team being flexible
This photo is from Dave's and my team from Manistique, Michigan, who even loaded up a porta-potty to take to our job site. Thanks Lowell Lamont for the use of your truck! Now that is a great example of a team being willing to do anything the affiliate and the team needs!

Featured builds:

GV15-0317 Stanford, Kentucky, November 8-22
This affiliate has a 40-by-80-foot building that they use for Habitat and community functions that needs ceramic tile put down. Camping is free. They have RV sites with 30/50 amps and water surrounding the building. This affiliate is an old friend of the Care-A-Vanner program and we are happy to have them back! Sign up today.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is back. Check out their three builds listed in spring 2016.

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! It is the partner families that keep us motivated, so send your stories and your hours to [email protected]

Tithing connections

Vulnerable groups – children who have lost one or both parents, people who have disease or disability, the elderly, and people suffering social exclusion because of the loss of a family breadwinner or their source of power or protection – have very limited capacity to escape chronic poverty by themselves.

Habitat for Humanity is committed to serving the most vulnerable in countries around the world. Meeting their housing needs alone is not enough though. In addition to providing the vulnerable with shelter at little or no cost, Habitat also designs interventions that focus on:

Aiding the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children with caregiving, social services and medical support to enable them to remain in their communities rather than be placed in institutions.
Working with a network of public, private and community partners to facilitate access to jobs and skills training, food, health care, education, legal aid and mental health programs.
Helping beneficiaries gain long-term security of tenure – the legally defensible right to occupy their home – by educating them about property and inheritance rights.
Engaging with policymakers to address any laws that discriminate against or further disadvantage vulnerable groups.

Through Habitat's diverse and comprehensive programs, the lives of vulnerable groups are transformed. Their levels of poverty, discrimination, abuse and insecurity are greatly reduced. Ultimately, they are able to live their lives with dignity.

I recently led a group of 15 Habitat staff from 12 different affiliates to Malawi to learn about Habitat's work with orphans and vulnerable groups. Our experience was truly transformative, and I look forward to telling you more about the trip in the next issue.

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

Windows to Washington - October

Good things come in threes
Late last month, Pope Francis visited the United States, world leaders adopted a set of global goals designed to end poverty by 2030 and, in celebrating its 70th anniversary, the United Nations refocused on the three pillars of its work: peace and security; development; and human rights. Each of those events is exciting in its own right and all of them will have an impact for years to come. In his address at the United Nations, Pope Francis spoke these words to one of the largest gatherings of heads of state in history:

"…government leaders must do everything possible to ensure that all can have the minimum spiritual and material means needed to live in dignity and to create and support a family, which is the primary cell of any social development. In practical terms, this absolute minimum has three names: lodging, labor and land."

Upon hearing this guidance for governments from such a well-known and respected religious leader, Habitat's Government Relations and Advocacy team cheered. Habitat has known for many years that the world cannot fully address the lack of decent housing without smart housing policies in place and it's encouraging to hear this message from the Pope himself. Habitat also recognizes the critical role of land – and land policies – to decent housing which, in turn, opens doors to opportunities in education and employment. For these reasons, Solid Ground, Habitat's first global advocacy campaign focuses on the third item in the Pope's list: land.

Next in his address, Pope Francis turned to the global goals that world leaders just adopted. These goals, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Post-2015 Development Agenda, consist of 17 goals and numerous targets and indicators to measure progress toward ending poverty by 2030. With a subtle acknowledgment of the suggestion that so many goals, targets and indicators might be confusing, the Pope reminded leaders:

"For all this, the simplest and best measure and indicator of the implementation of the new Agenda for development will be effective, practical and immediate access, on the part of all, to essential material and spiritual goods: housing, dignified and properly remunerated employment, adequate food and drinking water, religious freedom and, more generally, spiritual freedom and education."
In other words, the best measure of success will be whether individual people are able to fulfill their basic needs, like the need for decent housing. How can we as a planet accomplish this? In the same way that Habitat will handle Solid Ground: action at the global, national and local levels. Though the goals aren't binding, they are consistent with U.S. priorities and Habitat is already recognizing opportunities at the state and local level.

As we celebrate World Habitat Day this month, we begin to put the ideas, words and goals from September into action as we continue toward our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Realizing that vision requires using our voices and not just our hammers. Use your voice today to call for implementation of the global goals and an end to poverty by 2030.

For more information:
If the word "sustainable" gives you pause, read more here. To learn more about the goal for which Habitat advocated for more than two years, read CEO Jonathan Reckford's recent blog post. If you'd like to read more of the Pope's address to the U.N., the full text is available here.

Team leader corner

Hello team leaders,

A very special thank you goes out to our September team leaders. They are Ty and Larry Jones; Roger and Linda Harvey; Ron and Jean Gratz; Lavern and Sue Clarke; Dave and Mary Vandeveld; Tom and Judy Fox; Bob Gillespie; Roxanne and David Draves; Larry and Libby Charvat; and Michael and Carol Vincent.

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.

Kit and I will be out of the country for most of October. Mary and Lu will be keeping an eye on my inbox but I will be checking in as Internet service allows.
Finally, team leaders are needed for the following builds. If you are available and willing, please contact me.

October 10 – November 1	Bel Air, Maryland
November 22 – 29	Sebring, Florida
November 29 – December 13	Dade City, Florida
December 6 – 20	Vero Beach, Florida
November 1 – 15	Goldsboro, North Carolina

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

Safety corner October 2015:

Let's talk about openings, as in a hole in the floor or roof. According to OSHA, a hole is anything with a void of 2 inches or more at its least dimension. Simply put, if any part of a hole is 2 inches or more, it must be protected either by a cover or a barricade. Covers must be able to support at least twice the weight of employees, equipment and materials. It must be secured to prevent accidental displacement from wind, equipment or workers' activities and must bear the markings "hole" or "cover."

Consider this hypothetical scenario: One volunteer asks another volunteer to hand her a sheet of plywood. The volunteer walks over to a sheet lying on the floor, picks it up, takes a step or two forward in the act of standing the plywood up and goes sailing right down through the hole in the floor, sustaining serious and disabling injuries. Why did it happen? Because the plywood lying on the ground was neither secured nor marked, it looked like the next sheet for the job at hand. Even if the hole isn't big enough to fall through, it still must be secured to prevent a tripping hazard. Imagine the same example used above. Instead of falling through the hole, what if he just stepped in it or tripped? He could have easily twisted or broken an ankle or fallen face first into the edge of the plywood.

Openings in the ceiling or roof present a second hazard. Not only can someone fall through, objects can be dropped onto unsuspecting workers below. Of course those workers are wearing hard hats, because they read September's newsletter.

If your opening is an area meant to be used, such as a stairway to the basement or upper level, you obviously wouldn't cover it up. For this opening, you would use a guardrail on all unprotected sides. When a guardrail protects a hole used for the passage of materials, the hole can have removable guardrail sections on no more than 2 sides. When the hole is not in use, it needs to be covered or the guardrail must go back around all edges. When the guardrail is around holes used as points of access such as ladder-ways, the guardrail needs to have a gate, or be so offset that a person cannot walk directly into the hole.

Of course there are OSHA standards for your guardrail system. The top rail must be between 39 and 45 inches high. It must withstand 200 pounds of force applied downward and outward. The surface must be smooth enough to prevent punctures, lacerations and the snagging of clothing. Your mid-rail is halfway between the ground and the top rail and must withstand 150 pounds. Screens, mesh or other material may be used instead of the mid-rail.

Wood, chain, wire or rope may be used for top rails and mid-rails. If wire or rope is used:

It must be flagged at 6 foot intervals with high visible material.
It must not deflect below 39 inches when 200lb force is applied.
It must be inspected regularly for defects.
It must be at least 1/4 inch in diameter.

Whenever there's a possibility for objects to fall on workers below, you must install toe boards:

Toe board capable of withstanding 50 lbs applied downward and outward.
Toe board at least 3 ½ in high and no more than ¼ inch clearance above working surface. It must be solid with no openings over 1 inch.

For more information on floor and roof openings or guardrails, see 1926 CFR Subpart M – Fall Protection, 1926.501

Lisa Crawford
Master Safety Training program coordinator
[email protected]

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

There are still some openings in Vero Beach, Florida, this winter if you enjoy working with college students. In Vero Beach you will be parking near the office and ReStore in one of the six new RV parking spots. These builds will be regular two-week Care-A-Vanner builds with a team leader, rather than the usual one-week Collegiate Challenge builds I normally talk about in this column.

Hopefully, we will be offering more of these one-week CC builds in the near future so keep checking the build schedule. As I write, George and I are enjoying some early fall weather in Connecticut, but it doesn't make us want to move back up north anytime soon!

Safe travels everyone!

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Marvin and Donna Becker, Bill Berlinghoff and Phyllis Fischer, Larry and Connie Braisted, Donald and Erika Combs, Roger Dickinson, Jon and Linda Draper, John Fini and Penny Rusch, Stanley Hunton and Krystina Deren, Jeffrey and Karen King, Thomas Klebar, David and Donna Kohut, Daniel and Diane McAlister, Paul Miller, Sherry Munion, Beverley Plummer, Jean Prophett, Jacques Rousseau and Dominique Martel, Jen Warren, Donna Weathers and Gail Woods.

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/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 and 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 unit 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.
High Falls, Alberta: Our team just returned from this build. Early reports are it went very well and if funding is available for more building, we will be asked to return next build season.
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].