Featured news

Just like many of you, we are on our annual spring migration north. Spring flowers are in bloom – well maybe not yet in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we have a home, but in most parts of the country. The flowers remind me of a passage from one of Millard Fuller's books:

I have always felt that a house is to a human family what soil is to a plant, we all seem to know this deep down. You can pull a plant up out of the soil, pour all the water in the world on it, give it plenty of sunlight, and it will eventually die because it is not rooted. A plant needs to be rooted. A family is like that. If a family is not rooted, it will not flourish. It will not grow, will not blossom. But once a family is well-rooted, all kinds of wonderful things will begin to happen.

Think about that. On your builds, you are helping families to grow roots, which is kind of ironic from a group of travelers who pride themselves on not having roots down anywhere. Studies of low-income families have shown that children's grades and behavior improve and the overall health of the children improve when they are "rooted." So think of each home you help build as a beautiful flower with a good root system that you helped to nurture.

God bless and safe travels!

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

Care-A-Vanner safety grants
We have awarded two more grants this month of $2,000 each to Genesee County HFH in Flint, Michigan, and HFH of Wisconsin River Area in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This brings the total grant awards from the RV Care-A-Vanner program to $32,148. Thanks to our Master Safety Trainers who working hard training affiliates and making these grants possible.

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 it's 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, which is why we require Care-A-Vanners to have self-contained rigs. Many affiliates provide us with much more than just 15 amps and many even have Wi-Fi available. 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 and Wi-Fi only increases the cost.

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.

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.

Missing links
Last month the link in the newsletter did not work for setting a note to your representative about the payday lending bill. Support the regulation of payday lenders.

The Care-A-Vanner desk is back on the road. Please feel free to stop through Americus and see the newly refurbished Global Village & Discovery Center. If you get in touch with me prior to arrival, I can contact guest housing for you and see if an RV spot is available for you to park overnight. We will be returning to Americus in the fall.

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

RV CAV promo video
You can download a copy from my dropbox or our website and share it will all of your RV friends.

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

Featured builds:

GV16-0306 Alanson, Michigan, June 5-19, 2016
Because of a late start to the build season, this build was moved from a start date of May 22 to June 5. This is a beautiful area of Michigan and you will be staying at one of the nicest campgrounds in the state for only $15/night.

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 April team leaders. They are: Cindy and Brian Hopkins; France and Bill Moriarty; David Barber and Terry Eggert; Mark and Suanne Moon; Dick Thomas and Jeanette James; and Kim Hansen.

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
Team leaders, it is your responsibility to contact the affiliate for information required for the welcome letter. With the number of builds currently scheduled, it is impossible for the Care-A-Vanner desk to do this. A checklist is provided in the team leader information packet to help you collect this information.

Also, 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 a 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.

Who's in charge?
Please remember that when it comes to matter of construction, the affiliate's construction supervisor is in charge. The team leader and construction supervisor can work together to assign jobs, etc., but when there is a difference of opinion as to how to do something, the Care-A-Vanner must defer to the construction supervisor. In very few situations, a Care-A-Vanner has been assigned as a crew leader or construction supervisor at the request of the affiliate. As a team leader, you will be advised of this. That person(s) makes the construction decisions, not the team leader. If you have any questions about your role as a team leader, please contact me at any time.
Finally, team leaders are needed for the following builds. If you are available and willing, please contact me

June 12 - 26	Durango, Colorado
June 12 - 26	Port Angeles, Washington
July 10 – 17	White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

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 – Sooner or Ladder

By now you have noticed the "push" on safety. This is a "shout out" to Brenda Sawyer for her continued effort in the team leader section to make sure that team leaders are on board and have guidance. Of course, there is Mary V. – the safety vortex! There are others – so thanks to all that make the effort on safety.

Sooner or later however, you may run into a situation where an affiliate or others may not be responsive to your safety concerns. Hopefully this should be a rare occurrence thanks to our CAV Master Safety Trainers, who continue to spread the word in the Competent Person Safety Training program for affiliates. My wife and I just got back from doing one in Cleveland, Ohio with attendance from as far away as Colorado and New York. Everyone practiced good safety. But, what would you do if you are confronted with a safety issue and you get no response when it is raised?

As Brenda has suggested in her team leader piece, if you have raised it to your team leader, who will have raised it with the site supervisor or affiliate, and they have not been able to get a good response, the team leader can call the CAV desk for assistance. But seek the help of the team leader first. In the process, remember that "honey" works better than "vinegar" – try to have a solution to propose to the affiliate to solve the problem. Most importantly, don't be the problem – do your work in the safe way!

Sooner or ladder – yep, ladders are one of our problems – you will run into a ladder issue. Remember a few general things:

Don't lean stepladders – use them only fully open and on level surfaces. Don't try to build up under a short leg – dig out under the other leg(s) to get level.

Don't use the top two steps or the backside of a single side stepladder for footing or support – and only one person to a ladder!

Extension ladders should be at about 75 degrees – with your toes at the base. If the body of the ladder is at arm's length from you it is close to that angle.

Extension ladders used to access roofs should be blocked and tied so they cannot move and should extend at least 3 feet above the roof for safe access and egress.

For all ladders, do not exceed the weight limit for the ladder, which, by the way, includes you and any tools that you may have. All ladders should have stickers on them specifying the weight limit for the ladder.

This is by no means a complete ladder safety list, but sooner or "ladder" you will run into some of them and you need to be aware and remain safe.

Thanks again Brenda, Mary V, team leaders and all the rest of you for working to keep safety in front of us all the time and to keep our work environments safe. We want everyone to go home from the builds with everything in the same condition in which they arrived!

P.S. – Here is the link to the stretching poster that was missing from the piece last month.
http://www.barbre-ergonomics.com/files/Stretching_Poster_9-2015.pdf

Alan Davis
Master Safety Trainer
[email protected]

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

There isn't anything new to report in regard to Collegiate Challenge builds for winter 2017 yet, but I thought I would mention that the evaluations that were completed and sent on to David Vandeveld and then on to me for all the 2016 Collegiate Challenge builds were read and appreciated. You may not think they are of value, but they are looked at carefully. Your comments will be taken into consideration for future Collegiate Challenge builds, so continue to fill out those surveys/evaluations after all your builds and don't discount their importance.

Hope your spring activities are revitalizing your spirit as you travel, build or find your way back home.

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Robert and Donna Carr, Ben Gross, Debbie Kutner, Joseph Lemm, John and Cindy Maxwell, Bryan and Kimella Modrall, Jerry Little, Stephen and Tanya Riley, Jeff and Viki Schecter, Alexa Simone, Joe and Diane Spanier, Bob and Sharon Van Fossen.

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. Initial reports from the affiliates in the area are that no Habitat families were affected. Initial assessments are underway.

Tithing connections

Global Village is a great way to get involved in Habitat's global ministry and see firsthand the impact of affiliate tithe. Hear from one affiliate leader about their first Global Village trip this past February.

By Kevin Smith

During the week of February 20, HFH of New Castle County in Delaware made its first Global Village trip and had a wonderful experience. Our team included four staff members from ReStore, Construction and Administration, two board members and several volunteers and donors, including some people we had never met before. We flew into Liberia, in the northwest part of Costa Rica, and worked in Liberia about 15 minutes from our hotel.

We were hosted during the week by a duo of HFH ambassadors, Woody and Mauricio, and the national director welcomed us on Sunday morning. Even before building we got a chance to experience one of Costa Rica's wonderful beaches!

We dove into the hard work at the construction site on Monday morning. Our efforts were boosted by a surprise visit to the site by the homeowner named Magaly and her daughter, Maria. She was very appreciative of us, and was very moved when she met three women from our crew. The week went so well that we finished the planned work, and helped the Costa Rican crew move onto the next phase of work.

Our enthusiasm for the progress on-site was tempered with the view of the house adjacent to the site, a literal shack with holes in the roof, exposed wiring and an outhouse. This reminder that there is more work to be done here has given us even more inspiration to continue our tithe commitment and our partnership with HFH Costa Rica.

We look forward to working with Habitat Costa Rica in the future!

Kevin Smith in the chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County in Delaware.

To learn more or get involved, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

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

Windows to Washington - May

National Service is critical to Habitat's mission – but you don't have to take my word for it

The AmeriCorps programs that support communities across the country begin with Habitat for Humanity advocating for funding for the federal agency that runs those programs. But rather than hear from Habitat's advocacy team about National Service, we're bringing you a message this month from someone who personally served with Habitat for Humanity's AmeriCorps program. Alyson Harding spent two years serving communities in Colorado and South Carolina. Here's what Alyson has to say:

"I look back on my two service years with Habitat AmeriCorps with great pride and fulfillment. I learned and accomplished so much, worked with so many volunteers and partner families and impacted so many lives. I spent my first year at Habitat Metro Denver, helping host the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, working on both new construction and repair projects and being part of a large affiliate. I chose to spend my second year of service with a smaller affiliate, Sea Island Habitat in Charleston, South Carolina, and was fortunate enough to work with numerous other affiliates throughout my term.

When I became an AmeriCorps member, I looked forward to serving partner families. That was undoubtedly one of the best things about my experience with Habitat for Humanity. In Denver, while working on Critical Home Repairs, I met a sixth-grader living with a broken glass window and a ripped screen in her room. Habitat installed new windows throughout the house and afterward, her parents took her to get new curtains and a matching bedspread for her room. She was beyond excited to feel safe in her room and embrace it as her own.

As much as I loved serving our wonderful homeowner families, being an AmeriCorps member gave me a unique opportunity to serve volunteers on construction sites too. I loved teaching volunteers how to work with power tools like the chop saw. I enjoyed working with corporate groups and church groups, helping people move beyond their comfort zone and try new things. As an AmeriCorps member, I grew to love empowering volunteers. My years of service were spent teaching people to use tools and build, sharing my passion for affordable housing, and showing people what can be accomplished when we come together.

I particularly enjoyed my seasons working with Collegiate Challenge groups. My first experience of volunteering with Habitat was on a Collegiate Challenge trip when I was in college, and I spent all four of my college spring breaks on Habitat trips. These trips made me fall in love with Habitat and service. As a Habitat AmeriCorps member, working with current college students provided me the opportunity to instill a passion for Habitat in the next generation of Habitat supporters. I enjoyed the conversations and laughs we shared.

I felt incredibly close to one college group I worked with at the Sea Island affiliate. Although I only worked with them for three days, they really touched my heart. When they left, they gave me a paper bag full of notes about how much they enjoyed meeting me, and how I had inspired them. Working with this group and receiving these notes meant the world to me. It was a great reminder of the volunteers I was able to serve as an AmeriCorps member and the impact that I had on others through my AmeriCorps position.

I also loved my AmeriCorps experience for the incredible community. At two National Service Leadership conferences and two incredible Build-a-Thons, I developed deep connections and made memories to last a lifetime. Being surrounded by other service oriented, impassioned people fostered strong relationships, along with so many laughs. I met my very best friends at these events. Being part of the family is just one of the perks.

I highly recommend serving as an AmeriCorps member with Habitat for Humanity to anyone and everyone. The experience had such an amazing impact on my life. After two years of service, I was fortunate enough to be hired as a site supervisor at New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. I love my job because I strongly believe in the work of Habitat for Humanity. I did. You can. And you should!"

Since Habitat partnered with the Corporation for National and Community Service in 1994, more than 9,025 AmeriCorps members have served with Habitat for Humanity. They've helped Habitat serve more than 24,000 U.S. families, contributed more than 15 million hours of service, raised tens of millions of dollars in cash and in-kind resources and engaged more than 3.3 million volunteers. Take a moment to tell your members of Congress to support National Service: http://bit.ly/HFHService

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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