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Hello Care-A-Vanners,

So what is on my mind this month? Something that is always on my mind, and that is your safety. When I hear of a Care-A-Vanner getting hurt on a job site, I take it personally. I want each and every one of you to have a great building experience and to leave just as healthy as when you arrived. Well, maybe just a little more sore than when you arrived!

Today, I want to talk about Personal Protection Equipment, or PPE. As Care-A-Vanners and regular builders, I think we should all carry our own PPE. Take a hard hat for example. It costs between $10 and $20 depending on the style. Affiliates might not always have enough hard hats available and besides, who wants to put on someone else's old sweaty hard hat? Trust me when I say that people can get injured not only by objects falling on their unprotected head, but by bumping their head on something above them. By wearing your hard hat on the job site, it will remind you that your safety glasses belong over your eyes rather on the top of your head where some seem to migrate to!

Speaking of safety glasses, eye injuries are the most common incidents that I see among Care-A-Vanners. Again, as a regular builder, it is best to buy your own safety glasses and carry them with you. That way you can keep them scratch free! Many of the safety supply companies, like Cooper Safety Supply, have safety glasses that are bifocal, with reading lenses in the bottom and a clear one at the top. The big box stores carry them also. I have a pair that cost $11. If you need a prescription for distance, you can get some fairly inexpensive bifocal safety glasses from Wal-Mart. Unless your current glasses have Z87 imprinted on the temple of the glasses, they are not safety glasses and will not protect you from a penetrating eye injury. The side shields on safety glasses prevent debris from getting into your eyes. Remember, you only have two eyes and you need to take care of them. That is your responsibility, not that of the affiliate.

Also, don't forget the gloves. Ladies, you might have to hunt a little harder to find good work gloves that fit. It seems the work gloves in the tool section of the big box stores are meant only for men. Check out the garden section. I have gotten some good leather gloves that fit properly in those sections.

Finally, let's discuss footwear. I don't have to give the no flip-flop lecture to Care-A-Vanners, but I do want to put a plug in for some good steel-toe boots, especially when you are framing. Although not required by OSHA, my steel-toe boots have saved me from a broken toe on more than one occasion. Invest in your feet and it will be worth it.

So, if you haven't already, please go out and purchase your own PPE. Not counting footwear, your own PPE will cost you $25-$30. A trip to the ER? Much more.

Be safe and have fun.

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

Email addresses on rosters
Many of you would love to have both spouses' email addresses on the roster. Well, unfortunately, that is not possible with our current computer system which is old and cranky. HFHI does intend to replace it in the coming years, but it will cost thousands of dollars, so we live with what we have for now. The email address on the roster has to be the same email address that you use for your login. As a team leader, I always ask in my first communication with the team if there are any additional email addresses you would like added to my team distribution list. This will not change the roster but only the communication from the team leader for the current build. Or, as another option, I would suggest you work on your communication skills with your spouse as a temporary "patch" until we get a new software package. Seriously, Lu and I do appreciate your patience with this.

Amenities at RV Care-A-Vanner builds
I am running across comments on evaluations of what people expect for camping. The Care-A-Vanner program requests the affiliate provide a minimum of 15 amp electrical with each rig on its own breaker, access to water, a dump station in a reasonable distance and a safe environment to park in. We do not require Wi-Fi, sewer hookups or 30 or 50 amps electrical. Many affiliates provide us with much more than just 15 amps and many even have Wi-Fi available. I have also seen requests for affiliates to build bathroom facilities. When we have them, they are nice, but I don't think we should be asking affiliates to make a major expenditure for our comforts. We are supposed to be self-contained. Please be grateful if you are provided with more than the minimum. We are trying to keep the costs of camping down and adding sewer, 50 amps, restrooms and Wi-Fi only increases the cost.

Lunches
We do not require affiliates to provide meals. We are all capable of making our own and probably will eat healthier when we do. Some affiliates do provide some or all lunches. This is always much appreciated, but never required. For affiliates who host multiple builds, it is hard for them to get that much support to provide a daily meal. Welcome dinners can be anything from just a meeting, to a meeting with snacks to a full meal. It is very appropriate for the Care-A-Vanners to help host by offering to do a potluck for the welcome dinner. Remember, we are there to help the affiliate, not create more work for them.

T-shirts
Ah yes, we all love our Habitat T-shirts and we all have too many! Some of you make quilts out of your shirts, others just let them pile up in their storage bin. Many affiliates do give us T-shirts for building and in fact there is an old Care-A-Vanner saying, "We work for T-shirts." However, not all affiliates can afford to hand out T-shirts. So if you work at one of those affiliates, just dig in your bin for one of those "way too many T-shirts" you have and wear one of them.

Alice, Texas builds
Instructions and the date for sign up for the two Alice winter builds will be in the July newsletter. Alice has always been a popular build – they feed you well! – so we do registration on a pre-announced day and time and this year will be toward the end of July. The dates of the builds are January 8, 2017, and February 26, 2017, and both builds last three weeks. Start tuning up your logins!

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.

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:

GV16-0364 Phenix City, Alabama, Oct. 16 – Nov. 6, 2016: Jim has a slab down and now he needs help getting a house dried in. Camping is free. This is a nice area of Alabama/Georgia.

Mankato and Eagle Lake summer 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 per night.

Pittsboro, North Carolina builds: They have scheduled two builds with us, one starting on Sept. 11 and the other on Oct. 9. This is a new affiliate for us, so let's give them a warm CAV welcome and sign up for their builds.

Walla Walla, Washington builds: This is a new affiliate for us and on the West Coast. Parking is on-site and free. Builds start July 3 and run through the summer.

GV16-0361 Charlottesville, Virginia, July 31 - Aug. 14, 2016
This is a new affiliate for us recruited by Care-A-Vanners. This affiliate needs help finishing up a house, including work on cabinets, trim flooring, etc. They are looking for two rigs and camping is free.

Team leader corner

Hello team leaders and team leaders-to-be!

A very special thank you goes out to our May team leaders. They are: Bill and Gae Bradley, David Fisher, Larry and Margot Durham, Tom and Judy Fox, Terry and Dee Tome, Lee Blayden, Mike Wilber and Marie Ishida, Glenn and Carol Dunn, Fred Winslow and Sharon Adair, and Mike Humes.

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 "nonreligious" or some system that makes sense. Please let me know if you are willing to help with this project.

Expectations
To follow up on Mary's comments about managing expectations, as team leaders it is important for us to remind our team members about reasonable expectations. In that light, I would like to share my first experience on an international build. It was in Nicaragua in 2000. We shared a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment with 16 people. River water flowed from the tap at unpredictable times every five days or so. When it did, we filled every container we could find in order to have water for bathing, washing clothes and flushing. On the work site, water was brought in by truck and placed in a large plastic "swimming pool" to use for mixing cement. At the end of the day, after we left, the cows would come in and drink the rest of the water. The next day we would have to wait for the water truck to come back and fill the pool before we could mix cement. It remains one of my favorite trips of all times and set me up to believe that any running water, hot or cold, is a luxury; buckets with handles and without holes are worth their weight in gold; and waiting around for the water truck is a great time to get to know the locals, play soccer with the kids or blow bubbles with the adults.

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

July 10 – 17	Ashton, Idaho
August 7 – 21	Durango, Colorado
August 7 – 21	Ashton, Idaho
August 14 – 28	Frederic, Wisconsin

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

To GCFI or Not to GCFI – That is the question!
What a "shocking" concept. But, to borrow from the Bard, a worthwhile question and one suggested as a topic by Richard La Brake. Thanks, Richard! When do we need to GFCI, or even, for some, what the heck is GFCI?

GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, which is a "backup" to the circuit breaker system in certain circuits in the home. Most notably, they are found in areas where water might have an impact – bathrooms and kitchens being the most common. You will find them in the middle of a set of plugs – two little buttons, one for test which is normally red, and one for reset when popped. We don't worry about them all that much, most of the time – the "electrical folks" take care of them. But, should you ever be the one who needs to test them, there are a couple ways of doing that safely.

One way is to push the test button on the plug set, which should pop the other button out and then reset the button and make sure the power is once again available. If it does not pop the button or does not reset, call the electricians! Another is with the use of a circuit/power tester that has a GFCI tripping function in it, in which case we are testing in an even more robust way with an "eternal" fault being applied to the circuit. Again, the circuit on the plug should trip and then we should be able to reset it and restore the power.

Do we have that protection before the electrical power to the home under construction is made? We should, and that is the point of this article. Normally, when the temporary power is set up for the construction site, GFCI should be provided as part of that set up – and we should know whether it is there or not, and if so, test it daily. How many of you ever remember doing that on-site?

We sometimes use a generator on-site, either before the regular power is available or to supplement the available power or plug-in points. The portable generator should have a GFCI Protection System as part of it, and we need to find out if it does – and test it daily. If it does not, there are in-line GFCI units that can be put at the generator and then we plug into that unit – and test it daily. Are we starting to see a pattern here? We should find out what the nature of our power is and work/test accordingly.

So, if one GFCI is good – are two even better? The answer is no, as two GFCIs on the same circuit will render the system inoperative and the protection will be gone. It's like medicine – one pill is good, two are not necessarily better!

The next time you are on a site with temporary power, ask the site supervisor to show you the GFCI and then make sure that someone is assigned the task of testing the system daily.

This column is for you. What questions do you have that we can help answer? Please let us know at the email noted below, so we can make this a real "you" experience

Alan Davis
Master Safety Trainer
[email protected]

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

Collegiate challenge builds mostly take place during the months of February and March with a few in April. The Care-A-Vanner program can be asked by an affiliate to provide people to help supervise the students they are hosting. These are called Collegiate Challenge builds on the Care-A-Vanner build list and have [CC] after the city's name and are usually just one week long. If you enjoy working with college students or just want to see if you would enjoy it, keep this in mind as you are planning your builds for next winter. These builds aren't listed yet, but will start coming in during the fall.

Another option to working with college students is to think about inviting a grandchild to come on a build with you this summer. They must be 16 to work at the construction site and if they are under 18, they can't use power tools or work on the roof or up higher than 6 feet. But there are many tasks that don't require any of these and it is a great opportunity to enjoy your grandchild for a couple of weeks. The grandchild would need to register as part of his/her grandparent's rig and do a waiver. George and I are doing the North Platte, Nebraska, build the end of June and one of the Care-A-Vanners is flying in a grandson to come and work with him. We look forward to meeting this young man and using some of his muscles to do some of the lifting!

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Rusty and Patty Brandenburg, William Clendenning, Michael and Pam Daley, Jose and Viv Figueroa, Brian and JoLynn Forney, Tom Girard and Helen Charlton, Delbert and Diane Goff, Gaylord and Mary Hauschildt, Paul Horvath, John Orlowski, Randal and Ruby Palmer, Betty Peachey, Levon Smith and Anita Jean, Dick and Wardene Statham, James Towery, Chad Withycombe, Ellen Zadoff.

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.
Joplin, Missouri: It was five years ago this May 22 that Joplin was hit by a devastating tornado. To date, they are building their 108th house since the disaster, a remarkable feat for an affiliate that was building four houses a year six years ago. Care-A-Vanners formally and informally participated in the rebuild. Joplin is a wonderful example of how an affiliate can build capacity, servicing more families after a disaster. Job well done Joplin! Tuscaloosa is another great example of this.

Tithing connections

By Cyndi Hueth, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County in Port Angeles, Washington.

Washington Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County celebrates our 25th anniversary this October having served nearly 200 family members in Clallam County since our incorporation in 1991. We are an intermediate-sized, rural affiliate located in a remote area 2 1/2 hours northwest of Seattle. Historically, tithing to HFHI has always been a priority to HFHCC. Over the past 23 years, we have been blessed with the ability to tithe more than $226K to HFHI designated for El Salvador. That tithing has "touched" about 70 international families.

Certainly tithing on a regular basis has kept us in good standing with HFHI, and that status has enabled us to receive various grants and/or technical assistance from HFHI over the years. Tithing has also given us the opportunity to partner beyond our service area impacting a little more than three times the number of families we have served locally. While many HFHCC supporters are unaware of the tithing program, once informed, they seem genuinely pleased to learn of the additional impact their donations are having beyond their local support.

In 2015, HFHCC experienced changes in leadership, and strategically decided it was time to make a change in tithing priorities. Not only are we more committed than ever to tithing on a quarterly basis, we have decided to support international priority countries with the greatest housing and funding needs, as well as programs such as the global mission fund and disaster relief fund. As we "tithe forward," we are excited and blessed to learn of the positive impact we continue to have around the world. God is good all the time!

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

Windows to Washington - June

It's like déjà vu all over again
The Habitat team in the Washington, D.C., admires the Care-A-Vanners for countless reasons – your dedication, creativity and housing knowledge are just a few. Another big one is the fact you diligently read your newsletters, including our column! This means you'll likely remember from the April update that Habitat has joined the fight against predatory lending practices that keep people trapped in financially unstable debt.

This month, we're talking predatory lending – again. Before you have a Yogi Berra moment, rest assured that we have new news – and it's important!

On June 2 in Kansas City, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, held a field hearing to announce a proposed nationwide regulation. That rule would set minimum standards to make sure borrowers get a fair deal regardless of the city or state in which they live. Several Habitat affiliate leaders spoke at the hearing about the problems that high-interest loans that disregard a borrower's ability to repay have caused Habitat family members, potential homeowners and entire communities across the country. Other affiliate leaders helped create this short video to explain the issue: http://bit.ly/StopTheDebtTrapVideo

The regulation would still allow lenders to make a profit, just not in a way that traps borrowers into needing additional loans again and again and again and again and… ok, you get the idea! Under the regulation, a state could still set higher standards to guard its citizens from lending abuses; the national rule would simply be a floor below which lenders wouldn't be allowed to sink.

Habitat wants to see three important things in the final rule:

A national standard that does not undermine existing laws where states have already regulated payday lending.
A requirement that the lenders don't stick borrowers with loans they very likely can't repay. This goal can be met with a reasonable ability-to-repay test.
A requirement that lenders not make an excessive number of consecutive loans to the same borrower, sticking them in the debt trap over and over.

If you already took action at this link: http://bit.ly/StopTheDebtTrap, don't worry – you can do it again! We've replaced the letter to your members of Congress with a message that goes directly to the CFPB. If you haven't taken action since June 2, time's a wastin'! The period for public comments is only 90 days long, so use your voice today. Once you do, share the two links in this email to invite your friends and family to join you in stopping the debt trap that is harming people across America, including people who could otherwise qualify to partner with Habitat for Humanity for a place they could call home.

Thank you!

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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