July 2016 RV Care-A-Vanners Update

Featured news

Hello Care-A-Vanners,

As Dave and I enjoy some beautiful Upper Michigan Peninsula summer weather walking, biking and playing golf, I can't help but think about how fortunate we are. The "for sale" sign sits in the front yard with lots of potential buyers looking at the house and our backup home parked in the driveway. That's all good and then I read this month's Windows on Washington column. It dawned on me how lucky we were to have a house to sell! Many low-income families are spending more than half of their income on rent/housing. That doesn't leave much for all of the other needs in your life like health care, groceries or education.

I agree with Piper; we need to take action. Take the time to find out where your local, state and federal legislators and the opposing candidates stand on housing issues and take their stand into the voting booth with you. Nowadays it is easy to contact your representative on the internet or by phone and they do pay attention to how many calls and emails they receive on an issue. Talk about housing issues with your friends and relatives so they too take the issue to the voting booth. We can make a difference in the lives of our partner families not only by building, but by influencing the political system. So don't ignore politics, get involved and take a stand!

Be sure to read the Windows on Washington column every month. It gives you a lot of great information about what we can do to help with Habitat's advocacy campaigns. Thank you for all you do to support Habitat and our mission. Together we can make a difference.

God bless,

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

Special thanks to Angela Sayler and Roxanne Draves who have stepped up as skilled Care-A-Vanner volunteers to help other HFHI programs with special projects. Angela helped with National Service AmeriCorps Build-a-Thons while Roxanne helped with a Campus Chapters project and continues her work with the U.S. Office Safety program. Part of my work going forward is to develop some long term volunteer opportunities for Care-A-Vanners who may have other interests that don't include the job site or for health reasons, cannot build anymore. Both Angela and Roxanne can do it all – building and special projects. Thanks you two!

Alice, Texas builds
Since these builds are popular, we will have signup on a specific date and time in order to give everyone an equal chance at getting on the builds. The sign up date for all Alice builds will be Monday, July 25, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. EST. Our webpage refreshes on the half hour and sometimes it is a few minutes late. Just keep refreshing the build list until you see the builds come up. All signups will be online. Lu and I will be standing by along with a member of our IT team to deal with any issues that come up. Please be sure to complete all of your waivers or you could be removed from the build. Also be sure to remember your username and password before the signup time!
The builds will be listed as the following:

  • GV17-0019 Alice, TX Jan. 8-29, 2017
  • GV17-0020 Alice, TX Feb. 26 – March 19, 2017

Mason, Texas builds
Since these builds are popular, we will have signup on a specific date and time in order to give everyone an equal chance at getting on the builds. The sign up date for all Mason builds will be Monday, August 15, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. EST. All signups will be online. Our webpage refreshes on the half hour and sometimes it is a few minutes late. Just keep refreshing the build list until you see the builds come up. Lu and I will be standing by along with a member of our IT team to deal with any issues that come up. Please be sure to complete all of your waivers or you could be removed from the build. Be sure to remember your username and password before the signup time!
The builds will be listed as the following:

  • GV17-0021 Mason, TX Feb. 5-19, 2017
  • GV17-0022 Mason, TX Feb. 19 – March 5, 2017
  • GV17-0023 Mason, TX March 5-19, 2017
  • GV17-0024 Mason, TX March 19 – April 2, 2017
  • GV17-0025 Mason, TX April 2-16, 2017

We are No. 1!
Builder magazine has ranked Habitat for Humanity as the No. 1 private homebuilder on Builder 100, its annual listing of the largest U.S. homebuilders. This is the second year in a row Habitat has been recognized as a top builder of affordable housing in the U.S. In fiscal year 2015, 9,888 individuals in the U.S. in nearly 1,400 communities partnered with Habitat to build or improve places they can call home.

Affiliate needs always come first
We do whatever the affiliate requests. I occasionally hear Care-A-Vanners who say they only do certain jobs. It is impossible to know what stage a house is going to be at in construction six to 12 months ahead of time when affiliates list. To me that isn't important what stage the house is at, because I do everything!

Text messages to Care-A-Vanner desk personnel
Although we love to hear from you, we prefer email especially if you are reporting hours or have a question. That way we have a record in our computer system of your contact with us. Plus, with email, most of us at the desk share our email boxes so we can cover for each other if one of us is unavailable on a particular day. Besides, if you text Evaluation Coordinator Dave (husband Dave to me), he will not get it since he is still hanging on to his flip phone for as long as he can! One smart phone in this family is enough.

Build names
Since we are listing more than 300 builds a year and multiple builds at the same affiliate, in all correspondence to the Care-A-Vanner desk please include at least two of the following: The build number (GV16-0000), the city and state and/or the start date of the build. This is a huge help to us, as we are terrible mind readers!

Having password or login issues?
Contact Lu Tillotson or Mary Vandeveld. Although we can't fix every issue, we can unlock your account and reset your password and we are quicker to respond than the webmaster!

Pet policy at Sebring, Florida builds
Camping for the Sebring builds are at the 4-H camp which is owned by University of Florida. The University has a no pet policy that is non-negotiable. The plus to the 4-H camp is it is only $12/night. There is nothing else in the area that can offer that cheap a price for camping. If you have a pet, Blair, the volunteer coordinator at Sebring, will attempt to get you reservations at the local state park, but during January, February and March, reservations are hard to come by so you may have to find your own accommodation or chose a different build opportunity. I remember not all that long ago when pets were not allowed in any Florida state parks, so for us pet lovers, things are improving in Florida!

Vero Beach/Fellsmere builds
Because of the expansion of the Vero Beach ReStore, we will not be scheduling any builds for the Vero Beach location this coming winter. We will however be scheduling builds in Fellsmere. Please go to our build list to sign up for the Fellsmere builds.

Is your RV Safe?
Glenn and Pat Tanis, Master Safety Trainers, asked me to share their story. They were recently awakened in their coach by the smell of smoke. The cooling unit on their refrigerator had overheated and ignited spontaneously. They were able to get out of the coach safely and extinguish the fire, but their "home" received extension damage. Their safety message to all of us is check your smoke alarms and fire extinguishers frequently to be sure they are in proper working order. Make sure everyone onboard knows how to operate the fire extinguisher. Have an escape route planned remembering it is a long jump out the bedroom window on many RVs. Also, be sure to check the recall notices on RV refrigerators. We are grateful that Glenn and Pat are safe!

Reporting hours
If there is no team leader on your build, Brenda will ask someone to report hours. I see comments on surveys saying the affiliate will report your hours. Affiliates never report hours, so I need to depend on the Care-A-Vanners to let the desk know the hours. Our statistics are an important way we monitor how our program is doing, so please report them. You can send them to the [email protected] or report them to Mary, Brenda or Lu. Don't forget to report any drop in hours you might do also.

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 your RV friends. It is also on our website.

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


Featured builds:

The GV16-0326 Stanford, Kentucky build has been moved from a start date of Sept. 4, 2016 to a start date of Sept. 11, 2016. The build is still scheduled to last two weeks and we need more builders.

Marquette, Michigan builds
This is a great affiliate and they depend on Care-A-Vanners. This year they are building their 100th house right next door to their first house. They have two builds listed, one starting on August 21 and the other starting on September 4. Camping is free and the build is in the center of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a beautiful place to visit!

GV16-0363 Woodland Park, Colorado, July 31, 2016
We need some Care-A-Vanners for this build. Great place to build. Go to our build list today and sign up.

Vero Beach is asking for help in their ReStore this summer. Work is all in air conditioned space and parking with full hookups is steps away from the ReStore.

Mankato builds
Mankato has been a good partner for a long time. We need to get some builders there! They have reduced their camping rate to $9/night.

We have many summer builds that need builders. Please consult our build list for building opportunities. Also many of our winter builds are posting now, so start making your winter plans for the south. We have many building opportunities. Remember to check back regularly for any updates.


Team leader corner

Hello team leaders and team leaders-to-be!

A very special thank you goes out to our June team leaders. They are Clint and Kathy Norrell; Roger and Linda Harvey; Fred Winslow and Sharon Adair; Darnell Caffoni; Don and Judy Crane; Ron and Jean Gratz; France and Bill Moriarty; Bonnie and Jeff Miller; Richard and Linda Stewart; Diane and George Gravlee; Ann Christman and Kenneth Krueger.

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. Also, 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.

Volunteer needed
I have been collecting devotions that people send me. I would appreciate having a volunteer willing to organize them in some fashion. Perhaps "Religious" and "Non-religious" or some system that makes sense. Please let me know if you are willing to help with this project.

"I'd rather be a follower than a leader" is the most common reason I get from someone declining my request to serve as team leader for a build. But, let's face it, that's true for most people. Many of us had positions of authority or responsibility in our previous lives, and would prefer to hang back. The problem is we need someone to take the lead on each build. The RV Care-A-Vanner program is growing nicely due to the effort of all of us volunteers on the Care-A-Vanner desk, as well as all of you in the field that let affiliates and potential Care-A-Vanners know about the program. If you are asked to be a team leader for a build, there is a reason why you have been chosen. Factors I consider include whether there is someone on the team who has experience as a team leader, whether they have recently led a build and should, therefore, get a "pass", how many newbies are on the build, how much Care-A-Vanner experience a person has (at least three builds is best) and whether the affiliate has experience with Care-A-Vanners which can make the team leader's job a lot easier.

If each volunteer served as a team leader just once per year, we could make it work. It's not hard; ask anyone who has served as a team leader. Please contact me to learn more.

With that in mind, team leaders are needed for the following builds. If you are available and willing, please contact me.

August 7 – 21 Ashton, Idaho
August 14 – 28 Frederic, Wisconsin
August 14 – 28 Baraboo, Wisconsin
August 14 – 28 Alpena, Michigan

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, safety and more safety – and GCFI Part 2

Do you start to get the idea that this safety thing is a big deal with the RV Care-A-Vanner desk? Mary hits it, Brenda hits it, I "try" to hit it – yes it is a big deal – a really big deal! No one wants an injured volunteer, and making sure that safety and safe procedures are followed is our best weapon of prevention!

Last month we talked about GCFIs and I asked for people to respond – and Mark Slattery did. Here is what he sent – and no, I am not an electrician.

"Each GFCI uses an electronic monitoring loop that only measures the current flow downstream from the GFCI between the hot and neutral. This circuit works fine when the current flow out (hot) and the current flow back (neutral) is identical and the GFCI remains in service. If there is an imbalance between these lines, i.e., ground fault or shock to user, the GFCI will trip if the current imbalance is above its listed trip level.

The current flow in a "downstream GFCI" to operate the sensing loop is taken between the hot and neutral wires and will not disturb or interfere with the operation of an "upstream GFCI" if both are within factory specification operating limits. In fact, the GFCI that has the lower sensitivity will trip first no matter where it is located in a circuit.

This is important to resolve, because many pieces of equipment are now required to have factory installed GFCIs in their power cords. Vending machines, portable air conditioners and handheld hair dryers are examples. Portable power tools used on job sites may be next. If you plug a cord equipped GFCI hair dryer into a bathroom GFCI outlet have you rendered the GFCI protection useless? No, it works just fine!

"Two GFCI's don't work together" comes from the mistaken attempts on some job sites to tie two GFCIs together in a "multi-wire circuit" with a common neutral. Such a circuit will trip either or both GFCIs 99 times out of 100.

Also, all buildings with 480/277 volt service above a certain limit have operated with a "system GFCI" to protect the service equipment from ground faults since 1971.

Mark Slattery
Master Safety Trainer
Licensed Electrician since 1970

Thanks Mark! I would still like to hear from folks about other topics that they would like to see covered here. Don't be bashful!

Alan Davis
Master Safety Trainer
[email protected]


trips Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

I was going to write about the new Collegiate Challenge build that was listed recently in Lafayette, Louisiana, that starts January 22, but it is already full! If you are interested in working with college students this coming winter, you might want to check the listings frequently, looking for the builds with a CC after the name of the city. Remember, they are usually just one week long, but you can sign up for as many weeks as you want and you should have enough building experience to be able to teach skills to the students.

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]


Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Jared and Jenn Barnhart, Helen Charlton, Kevin and Karen Dickinson, Joe and Penny Gavin, Leon and Nanci Gilbert, Rob and Cathy Graebe, Ken and Carola Kier, Lisa Lemieux and Jan Ruta, Frank McGarry and Brenda McGarry/Smith, Joe Mahoney, Paul and Barbara Nelson, Steven Papadopoulous, Jackie Smith, Jan Ward.

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 rebuilding 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 and April. Initial reports from the affiliates in the area are that no Habitat families were affected. Houston which was one of the most affected communities by the flooding report no damage to Habitat homes.
  • Georgetown, South Carolina: This area flooded in October of 2015. The long-term recovery group in partnership with the Georgetown affiliate is making plans to do repairs on 250 low-income family homes that were damaged by the flooding. A nonprofit is funding the repairs and sending 2,000 volunteers to do them in October. The catch is that many of these houses need roof repairs before mold remediation can be done and the mold remediation needs to be done before flood repairs can happen. We are looking at bringing in some of our Disaster Rebuild Team members with Care-A-Vanner teams to do those repairs. There are lots of issues we have to work through before this is going to happen, the most important being getting enough safety equipment to work on a number of houses at one time. Thanks to our partners at HFHI, we have funding to put in RV sites. Dan and Carolyn Banks are taking the lead on this project in their role as the Care-A-Vanner desk disaster response coordinators. When we are ready to take signups, you will get an email from us with details. I will also put updates in the newsletter.

Windows to Washington - July

Making housing part of the national conversation

It's safe to say that this campaign season has been an unusual one, full of twists and turns and ups and downs, much like the current housing market in the United States. Only, unlike the political candidates, the issue of safe, healthy and affordable housing isn't getting much media attention and thus hasn't been a main focus for lawmakers in office – and those wanting to be in office.

We need to change that.

The homeownership rate is currently at its lowest point in 20 years. A record number of households, 11.8 million, spend in excess of 50 percent of their income just on rent. That means fewer dollars for other essentials like medical care, nutritious food and education. In short, the lack of safe, healthy and affordable housing is of critical importance for the well-being of people across the country.

To be sure, the issue of housing has been noticed at the local level and, increasingly, at the state level as well. Given the upcoming election, 2016 is the perfect time for affordable housing to be part of the national conversation.

The national conventions this month present an opportunity to put housing on the national stage. Two Habitat affiliates are hosting builds in Cleveland and Philadelphia, where the Republican and Democratic National Conventions will be held, respectively. Lawmakers from all levels of government will participate, raising awareness about the national housing crisis while building a Habitat home for local families.

In Cleveland, approximately 14 percent of all households spend at least half of their annual income on housing costs, according to the Center for Housing Policy. People who rent are even more at risk to be burdened by housing costs – about 26 percent of Cleveland renters spend more than half of their income on housing. In the Cleveland metropolitan area, a person must work at least 1.8 full-time minimum wage jobs just to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Philadelphia faces many similar housing challenges. Due to affordable housing shortages, there are currently over 100,000 people on the public housing waitlist in Philadelphia alone. The city housing authority is just now approving applicants from 12 years ago. Over 360,000 households in the Philadelphia metropolitan area pay more than half their income on housing costs.

Housing problems are by no means unique to these two cities; nationwide housing statistics are quite similar. A decrease in the resources that the federal government allocates for housing, from programs like HOME, the largest federal block grant program designed exclusively to create affordable housing, and SHOP, the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program, means that low-income families will have even more difficulty in the future accessing the resources they need.

Housing isn't a partisan issue; regardless of party, everyone needs a decent place to live. We invite you to join us in making housing a national conversation. As a nonpartisan organization, Habitat is in an ideal position to ensure that the strength and stability that housing provides is recognized across the country. We are calling on both parties to make housing a priority this year and beyond, regardless of who is in the White House next January.

Please take a moment today to let your lawmakers at every level of government know about your support for housing issues. If you'd like to join the call for housing finance reform, add your voice here. Consider attending a candidate town hall meeting in your area and asking about their plan to ensure that everyone has a safe, healthy and affordable place to call home. For a fun, DIY activity, create a reverse door knocker. When canvassers come by to leave materials about a candidate on your door, leave information on your door for them stating that you want their candidate to make housing a priority. Or, more broadly, look for voter registration opportunities in your area to encourage more people, regardless of party, to exercise their right to vote. The more voices involved and the more visibility that housing gets over the course of this campaign, the easier it will be to advocate for important policy change in the months and years ahead!


Questions, cancellations or concerns?
[email protected]
RV Care-A-Vanner staff contact info

Current list of active builds
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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].

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