Featured news

Hello fellow Care-A-Vanners,

What takes 73 gallons of paint, 52 loads of wash and 2,135 hours to complete? If you said the restoration of the Global Village & Discovery Center, you would be right. Since our last newsletter, our second team arrived here in Americus and completed every task on my list. Wow, what a makeover for the village. This team was as good as the first team! Thank you to all of the Care-A-Vanners who participated in the Americus builds.

This whole project has me thinking about volunteerism and its rewards. Did you know that April is National Volunteer Month? The definition of volunteerism is "the practice of volunteering one's time or talents for charitable, educational, or other worthwhile activities, especially in one's community." As a noun, the definition is "the principle of donating time and energy for the benefit of other people in the community as a social responsibility rather than for any financial reward." Yes, that means that we might have to pay something towards our camping or make our own lunch. But remember, we make a living by what we get and we make a life by what we give. Volunteerism is not cheap, but the rewards are priceless.

I would be remiss if I failed to remind you that all of the Care-A-Vanner desk staff members are volunteers. I can't thank them enough for their dedication towards running this program. In this National Volunteer Month, let's remember to thank the volunteers we serve with. Thank the volunteers who make this program possible, from the Care-A-Vanner desk staff to the volunteer coordinator at the affiliate to your partner for the day on the chop saw. That thank you energizes us for the next task.

Thank you to all who participate in this mission to end poverty housing in the world.

God bless,

Mary Vandeveld
RV Care-A-Vanner program manager
[email protected]
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Announcements

Art and Mary Ann Mavis are retiring after a long service to Habitat for Humanity and the RV Care-A-Vanners. We wish Art and Mary Ann the best in their next retirement. You will be missed!

Proper build etiquette
Arrival day for builds is Sunday. If you would like to arrive early, you must clear it with your team leader first. Often we have back to back teams at a build and there is not a campsite open until Sunday. The same holds true for staying late. It is your responsibility to find your own campsite in the area if you arrive early or stay late.

Our office has moved!
We are now located in the Rylander Building at 322 Lamar Street in downtown Americus. We are two blocks from the Global Village & Discovery Center. If you are passing through Americus, stop and say hi. We have RV sites in town and if there is one available, we would love to have you come and stay a day or two. Dave and I are here from late October to early April every winter.

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!

RV CAV promo video
You can download a copy from my drop box and share it will all of your RV Friends. It is also on our website.

Why We Build stories as always so touching to read. Share your Why We Build story with fellow Care-A-Vanners by sending your stories to [email protected].

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

Featured builds:

GV16-0306 Alanson, Mich., May 22 – June 12, 2016: This is a new affiliate for us. They are located in the beautiful Harbor Springs area on Lake Michigan. This build is three weeks long, but they would welcome any Care-A-Vanners for less time. Let's get some builders there!

GV16-0264 Caldwell, Ohio, May 8-28, 2016: We had great builds at this affiliate last year. Camping is free! Sign up today!

GV16-0281 Carneys Point, N.J., May 8-22, 2016: They need some help. They just received a sizable grant and they need builders.

Lansing, Michigan is joining us as a new affiliate. They have listed three one-week builds through the summer with us beginning in early May when they need supervision help with their Women Build project. Go to our build list and sign up today.

Team leader corner

Hello team leaders and team leaders-to-be!

A very special thank you goes out to our late February and March telm Leaders. They are: Brenda and Jay Guild, Dyana Todd, Harry and Nancy Olthoff, Bob and Sharon Hammer, Tony and Mary Campbell, Dave and Mary Vandeveld, Larry and Diane Mock, Roy and Carol Barriere, Jake Newell and Angela Sayler, Judy and Chuck Sambs, Frank and Fran Cornwell, Roger and Joy Rossman, Ty and Larry Jones, Kim and Scott Maltman, Tom Garcia, Barbara Ludwig, Joe and Jane Gano, Randy and Pam Warner, and Maria Small. Many of these people were first-time team leaders and I especially appreciate your stepping up!

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 serve as team leader at least once during the year you will receive a very nifty team leader T-shirt!

Welcome letters
When sending your welcome letter to your team, please try to remember to send me a copy. If you are leading more than one build in the same location, no need to send me more than one. I am starting a file of information from the various affiliates so that I will have it to send to teams that have no team leader.

Rosters
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.

Devotions
I have been collecting devotions and would be happy to send you what I have. If you have a favorite devotion, please share them. I would especially appreciate receiving sources of devotions, especially those available online.

Safety
First, I would like to thank all the Care-A-Vanners, especially the team leaders, for what appears to be a heightened awareness of safety. The comments we receive on the surveys show that people, for the most part, are taking safety seriously. We still have a long way to go to get everyone on the same page. As a team leader, here are some things you can do: First, when you send out your welcome letter, please attach the safety handout that is in your team leader information packet. Also, safety should be mentioned every day at the job site. It can be a combination of general safety tips as well as those specific to the day's work. Encourage people to ask questions. Coordinate with the construction supervisor about who will do the safety talk. If safety equipment such as glasses, gloves, hard hats, etc., is needed and not available, tell the construction supervisor. If the affiliate is not responsive, call one of us at the desk to get it addressed immediately. In the meantime, do not let people work in unsafe conditions, such as using saws without protective eyewear or working on roofs without fall protection. If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to ask. Also, given the changing weather, please be sure to have a safety plan in the event of extreme weather, whether it be flash floods, hurricanes or tornados. Thank you for your role in protecting our volunteers
Finally, team leaders are needed for the following builds. If you are available and willing, please contact me.

May 29 – June 12	Durango, Colorado
June 5 – 12	Hinsdale, West Virginia
June 12 – 26	Brookings, South Dakota

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

Here are other things you can think about to enhance your own safety on the work site.
By Anne Christman

Are you ready, Freddy?

It's here again, another Habitat build day. I'm ready. Oh, wait a minute! What happened to those limber joints and taut, flexible muscles?

Before leaving the rig, spend a few minutes doing some gentle stretches to warm up muscles and loosen joints that need some encouragement these days. Wear comfy suitable clothes with good socks inside those sturdy work boots. Bring plenty of water to stay hydrated.

My knees need a soft garden pad for sustained "on the floor" work; it's in the work bucket. Otherwise, add kneepads to the work bucket. Is the sunscreen in there too?

Now, finally, I'm at the site. Take my time, remember, haste makes waste. No trips and falls desired, nor trying to be the "tough guy" and carrying too large a load. Ask for help. Take frequent rest and hydration breaks. I'll work better with both. This is going to be a fun, worthwhile and safe Habitat build day!

To help you, here is a link to some great stretching moves that you can use to help out. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to help make sure that you are ready, Freddy!

Alan Davis
Master Safety Trainer
[email protected]

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

Spring break for students is now over and the Care-A-Vanners, who signed up to help supervise students for affiliates requesting them, are to be thanked for their help, patience and teachings. Those who graciously signed up for spring 2016 were:

In Beaumont, Texas: Greg and Karen Harbage, Bob and Betty Gillespie, and Sheldon and Ruth Gustafson
In Corpus Christi, Texas: Dennis Klein, Jerry and Diana Moore, and Bob Gillespie
In Macon, Georgia: Larry and Janet McClintock, Clark and Bonnie Miller, and Richard Rogers
In Taos, New Mexico: Barry Mansfield and Mica DeAngelis, Bob Pauls, Darnell Caffoni, Rick and Paula Huls, and Scott and Kim Maltman
In Winder, Georgia: Jay and Joyce Rush

It will be a while now before next year's 2017 Collegiate Challenge one-week builds are listed, but I will be mentioning them in this column as soon as they are posted online.

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Welcome Robert Baumann and Audrey Paisley, Darnell Caffoni, Carol Calhoun, Greg Heath, Mark and Sue LaCroix, Dennis and Connie Meier, Cameron and Paula Michaud, Don and Kathleen Miller, Jim Oshersky and Sandy Moran, Chloe Poole, Mike and Sandi Przybysz, Rick and Eva Sanders, Lonnie and Deborah Taylor, and Tom Wilkie.

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!

Disaster Rebuild

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 Recovery, 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.

Central Illinois: The community of Kincaid, Illinois, has 1,400 residents and 600 homes. A total of 40 homes were critically damaged. The homeowners did not have flood insurance nor do they have the resources to get their home repaired. The community came together and gutted the 40 homes but now need help putting them back together. Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County in Springfield, Illinois, is mobilizing to help. There are some things that have to come together before we can deploy the Disaster Rebuild Team. These include the affiliate expanding their service area to include the Kincaid community and working with local agencies to determine the lead agency for the repairs. Then permitting has to occur. I will send out an email blast when we are ready to mobilize help.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Tuscaloosa is still building homes for people who lost their housing unit in the 2011 tornado. To date, they have completed 55 houses, and yes, 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.
Gulf Coast flooding: Flooding occurred in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas in March. Initial reports from the affiliates in the area are that no Habitat families were affected. Initial assessments are underway.

Tithing connections

The following is a letter from Habitat's national director of Lesotho, a country landlocked by South Africa:

Greetings from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa with a population size of 2.1 million people. Allow me to first thank you for the great support you have been to our Orphans and Vulnerable Groups program in Lesotho. We have made great strides and your consistent gifts over the years have made an immense difference in the lives of more than 1,200 families served in the past eight years since the inception of this program. About 4,000 children in Lesotho today have a place to call home and access to clean sanitation facilities with no fear of being evicted from their homes. We are changing lives in Lesotho one family at a time, giving them decent shelter, sanitation facilities, security of tenure and allowing them to thrive in all aspects of their lives.

I would like to extend to you an official invite to be part of the Lesotho Orphans and Vulnerable Groups trip happening in September 2016. It would be an honor to host you but most importantly, offer you a firsthand opportunity to meet some of the families whose lives have been changed under the Orphans and Vulnerable Groups program as well as see the vast need in the country for more intervention in the area of shelter and access to land for housing. The country has the second highest HIV and AIDS adult prevalence at 22.9 percent and this is the biggest reason children become orphaned in Lesotho. There are an estimate of 150,000 orphans in Lesotho due to HIV and AIDS many of them have been forced to become caregivers for their younger siblings. There has been a lot of effort in the country to revert the trend and some positive outcomes have been realized but progress remains slow due to a poor economy as well.

We have recently expanded our OVG program to focus not only on orphaned children and their families but also on the elderly and disabled persons in the country. These groups are most negatively affected when it comes to matters concerning housing and access to land for housing in Lesotho. It is our hope that through our fully-fledged advocacy program, also a recent addition, we can scale up our reach to help more families as we influence policies that enable easier access to land for housing and shelter for these groups.

We will definitely share much more during the visit and invite any questions you may have ahead of the trip to ensure we make it worth your time and resources as well. Looking forward to seeing most of you if not all of you in September 2016!

God bless you!

Regards, Mathabo Makuta, national director of HFH Lesotho

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

Windows to Washington - April

Let's stop the debt trap!

Have you ever started to pay for something only to realize that you forgot your wallet? It's such a lousy feeling and it happened to me just last Friday. In a rush to the office, I left my wallet on the kitchen counter, right next to the lunch I'd also forgotten. Thankfully, one of my co-workers loaned me $10 so I wouldn't go hungry.

You won't believe what happened the following Monday.

When I tried to repay the $10, he told me there was interest on the loan. I owed him $90, he said, but would take my $10 and apply it entirely toward interest. At that kind of rate, I let him know that I wanted to pay off the entire debt immediately, but didn't have $90 handy. Would you believe he had the nerve to offer me another loan to pay off the $90?

If that sounds outrageous, that's because it is. While I did actually borrow $10 recently, my wonderful co-workers would never charge interest, much less at an abusive rate. Unfortunately, an alarmingly large number of lenders across the country are issuing loans without regard for borrowers' ability to repay and charging interest rates documented as high as 400 percent and rumored as high as 1,000 percent.

These loans go by many different names. You may have heard of payday loans, car title loans and mortgage title loans. While they are marketed as a one-time "quick fix" for people facing a cash crunch, there's another name for loans that disregard a borrower's ability to repay and charge shockingly high interest rates: predatory loans. These loans prey on borrowers who don't understand the terms or don't have other options. The high interest often means borrowers need another loan just to make their payments; half of payday borrowers take out more than 10 loans in one year alone. In short, predatory loans create a long-term cycle of debt that quickly becomes unaffordable, leaving people stuck in a debt trap and unable to escape poverty.

Habitat is weighing in to end these lending abuses for a number of reasons. For one, it is our mission to end poverty. Predatory lending has serious negative financial consequences and poses a threat to housing security for families and a threat to our economy as a whole. But more than that, predatory lending undermines everything we stand for: stability, strength and self-reliance. Predatory lending takes advantage of people, particularly those in need, which violates the core principles on which our organization was founded.

Predatory lending is just plain wrong.

As you know well, Habitat partners with people to build or improve a place they can call home. You've built alongside countless Habitat homeowners who, thanks to your work, will have a mortgage they can afford. Unfortunately, Habitat is seeing many potential homeowners unable to qualify because of other loans they have taken out that keep them trapped in debt. While Habitat affiliates are working hard to provide financial counseling and assistance, we don't want to just treat the symptoms; we're addressing the cause, too.

Many cities and states are taking action to ban predatory lending. While that's a good start, it can't stop predatory lenders from simply setting up shop across the city or state line or finding loopholes, like changing their names but not their practices. The nationwide problem of predatory lending needs a nationwide solution. There's an agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB , that wants to provide just that. If allowed, the CFPB would propose a regulation that would set minimum standards nationwide. Under the regulation, lenders could still make a profit, just not in a way that takes advantage of borrowers. If any state wanted to set higher standards, they still could; the national rule would simply be a floor below which lenders wouldn't be allowed to sink.

Congress is hearing from the payday lending industry on this issue and, as you might guess, that industry isn't talking about the people that predatory lending practices harm. For those stories to reach Congress, we need your help.

Take one minute today to sign this notice and tell your members of Congress that a cycle of unaffordable debt that keeps people trapped in poverty has no place in this country. By using your voice, you will be part of stopping the debt trap that is harming people across America, including people who might otherwise qualify to partner with Habitat for Humanity for a place they could call home.

Questions, cancellations or concerns?
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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].

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