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Hello fellow Care-A-Vanners,

In this holiday season, Dave and I have reflected on the many things we have to be thankful for: our family and friends, our health, our financial stability - something more than 3 billion people who live in poverty in this world don't have. We are also thankful for the opportunity to serve in the mission of Habitat for Humanity to end poverty housing.

Jonathan Reckford, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, recently announced that we have surpassed 1 million families served since our founding in 1976. With Neighborhood Revitalization (A Brush with Kindness and Critical Home Repairs) becoming an increasingly important part of the build program for many of our affiliates, Habitat for Humanity has served more than 300,000 families in this past fiscal year, touching nearly 1.6 million people. Think about that for a minute. If you put all those 1.6 million people into one community, it would be the fifth largest city in the U.S., the size of Phoenix, Arizona. Together we are making a difference.

I am sure you all know Psalm 127:1a: "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain."
In this season of joy and thanksgiving, let us remember who we serve. It is our Lord God. He draws us to this mission and sustains us as we serve. It is the holiday season that harkens us back to the passage from Acts 20:35, which says: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Our family has always loved getting "windows and doors" for Christmas, but we all know it is the story of the family behind those doors and windows that is the gift. Dave and I are so blessed to be able to give and have so much to be thankful for that I am reminded of the old adage that we try to live by: we make our living by what we get and make our life by what we give.

May your hearts be filled with love and joy in this holiday season. Thank you all for what you have given this past year.

Mary Vandeveld
RV Care-A-Vanner coordinator
[email protected]
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Habitat on the Hill 2015 early bird registration deadline is December 12

You can save $100 off the registration fee if you register for Habitat on the Hill before December 12. Join us in February for very exciting opportunities! Habitat on the Hill is an opportunity to develop your advocacy skills, learn more about Habitat's policy priorities, and meet directly with members of Congress and their staff members. You'll also get the chance to meet with officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and be one of the first to hear from leading experts on energy efficiency as Habitat launches the 2015 Shelter Report.
Email us at [email protected] with questions and don't forget to register before December 12!

Donations:

News from our partners: The Escapees Habitat for Humanity BOF has disbanded. This group helped to keep the Care-A-Vanner program going a few years ago when our membership and builds were decreasing due to lack of leadership. We at the Care-A-Vanner desk appreciate these Escapees for keeping things going for us while we got the Care-A-Vanner desk reorganized. The chapter donated its remaining funds to the Care-A-Vanner program. We welcome all the Escapees Care-A-Vanner builders into our fold and thank you for your generous donation.

Generous donation: A special thanks to the Flakey Flyers Camping Club of Battle Creek, Michigan, for their donation to the RV Care-A-Vanner program. Founded 30 years ago as an RV Club for the Kellogg's Company and now a Good Sam Chapter, they are three-time recipients of the Chapter of the Year Award. And thanks to our very own Chuck Ostrander, also a member of the club, who came home from the RV Care-A-Vanner 25th Anniversary Build and Rally and gave a presentation to the Flakey Flyers about our program. Watch for members of their group on Care-A-Vanner builds!

Support the RV Care-A-Vanner program: Although the Care-A-Vanner program is run completely by volunteers, we do have some expenses such as our laptops and the upcoming Affiliate Conference in March 2015 where we will have a booth. The conference enables some 2,000 affiliate personnel to stop by and talk with us, ask questions and find out if the RV Care-A-Vanners can assist their affiliate. You can donate by sending a check to the RV Care-A-Vanner Program, 121 Habitat St, Americus, GA 31709. Make the check out to the RV CAV program and be sure to put "Project Code 1108007" in the check memo. The other even easier way to donate is to go to our website and click on the "Donate to RV Care-A-Vanners" button.

Donations – Smile with Amazon
How many of us order from Amazon.com? Did you know that Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice? I hope that is Habitat for Humanity. All you have to do is log into your account through this portal: www.Smile.Amazon.com. Thanks for the tip, Greg!

Hours and stories needed:

We need our volunteers 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 the hours. If you are on a drop-in, those hours count too. 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 and I love to hear those "why we build" stories! It is the partner families that keep us motivated, so send your stories and your hours to [email protected].

Why we build by Clint Norrell

Lisa Littledog is the recipient of one of the eight duplexes that the Flathead Valley affiliate is building in Columbia Falls, Montana. Hers is the smallest and the only single-story. Lisa survived a serious automobile accident. Throughout numerous surgeries she has retained a positive, forward thinking disposition and she has been a pleasure to work and visit with.

Lisa has legal custody of her 5-year-old nephew, Malakai, who is a sweetheart and an active little boy. We were thrilled for her when we attended the dedication of her new home and saw her move in.

Lisa had walked several of us through her home as it was being painted. She told us the personal stories behind her color choices. Shortly after she moved in, she shared a photograph of Malakai sitting atop his new bunk bed, in his very own room, the color of which he was allowed to choose. Malakai loves penguins, which explains why he chose a cool blue very close to the shadows on Antarctic ice.

We waved as Lisa walked Malakai to his first day of kindergarten at the nearby elementary school. He practically strutted, penguin lunchbox in hand. On her return, Lisa said that night had been the very first time Malakai had slept all night in his own bed without waking and tiptoeing down the hall to join her. Lisa admitted that she'd gotten up to check on him.

Accomplishments

Remember: Send us photos of your builds and newspaper articles. You have been lax lately and I want pictures! If you would like to submit anything to the newsletter – a good story, a new way to do things, a construction tip or an update on a build – please do. I love to get homeowner stories. This is your newsletter, and we welcome your input. Besides, you have got to be getting tired of hearing from only me! Send your contributions to [email protected]. I want to hear from all of you!

Team leader corner

Hello team leaders,

A special thank you goes out to our November team leaders. They are Stuart and Lois Luedtke; Scott and Nancy Hoag; Carol and Michael Vincent; Kent Cunningham; Loren and Donna Burkett; Dyana Todd; Robert and Rosemary Lockhart; Jake Newell; Bob and Sharon Hammer; and Doug Augustine.

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. Lack of construction experience is not a reason to pass on being a team leader. Organization and people skills are what are important. So don't forget to check the "team leader interest" box on your registration if you are willing to lead the build.

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.

This month I would like to remind team leaders about a few responsibilities you have involving safety. 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. If protective eyewear is needed and not available, tell the construction supervisor. We do not like to get surveys back that indicate safety equipment was not available. 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. 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.

January 25 – February 8	Hobbs, NM
February 1 - 15	Macon, GA
February 1 - 15	Thibodaux, LA

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 just pasting this link into an email or just print out and give to fellow RVers in campgrounds.

Disaster Response

Superstorm Sandy: Recovery efforts from Sandy continue to be slow. Funding is the struggle for the affected affiliates. I have listed a build in Toms River for next spring. Toms River was ground zero for Sandy and they really need volunteer help, so consider signing up. If you would like to be on my email list for Sandy recovery, please send a note to [email protected]. I will notify Care-A-Vanners on my list first about build opportunities for Sandy recovery.
Colorado 2013 floods: We had six affiliates in the flood-affected areas in Colorado. There was a huge need for low-income housing in the area with a rental vacancy rate of 1 percent before the floods. There were also some mobile home parks that were destroyed in the floods. The six affiliates are working closely with the Colorado State Support Organization and they already have a plan to work together and rebuild 100 new construction homes and do 100 Critical Home Repairs. I recently did a site visit to Colorado and met with representatives of two affiliates and the SSO. We are in the process of lining up some projects to start next spring, so watch the newsletter and our website for updates. I have an email list for the Colorado flood rebuild effort, so if you would like to be on the list and hear about build opportunities first send a note to [email protected].
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Tuscaloosa is still building homes for people who lost their housing in the 2011 tornado. Tuscaloosa loves the Care-A-Vanners and has builds listed throughout the year. It is a very nice place to work.

Safety corner

Merry Christmas everyone,

There are a couple of safety concerns that have come up recently which I'd like to talk about to help you start the New Year safely.

The first is related to the common exterior sheeting most affiliates use, OSB. It is the most commonly used sheeting product as it is much cheaper than plywood. One particular safety concern is the amount of chips that fly off when cutting OSB. Please wear safety glasses that are a close fit around your eyes when cutting OSB. I have a pair of prescription safety glasses but they don't protect my eyes sufficiently when cutting OSB. I have had chips fly off and ricochet off my face into my eyes. So far I've been lucky. Just a word of caution when cutting this product is to keep your glasses close to your eyes. Other options for eye protection are goggles or a face shield. If you have a designated cutter on your job site, make sure that person is well protected around the eyes. In my travels I have found that not all affiliates have eye wash handy for floating out chips or dust that gets in your eyes. So, be careful and watch your co-workers as well. It only takes one encounter with a chip from OSB in the eye that you can't get out to send you on that inevitable trip to the emergency room.

The second reminder regards that favorite tool, the nail gun. Everyone wants to use one. It does make the work go quicker and prevents sore arms. However, dangers you need to watch out for may occur when nails ricochet off the intended board and hit your hand or fly toward a co-worker. You never know when this will occur. Two ways we would recommend avoiding any potential injuries from occurring include: First, keep your hands at least 6 inches away from the business end of the nail gun. Secondly, make sure that if somehow the nail ricochets off the board there is no one in the line of fire directly in front of the gun. And of course, never, ever place your hand behind the location where you aim the gun.

Keeping these tips in mind increases the odds that you will be safe and end your volunteer workday without incident.

Frank Peccia
Care-A-Vanner safety coordinator
[email protected]

Windows to Washington

What makes you come alive? What can we do to help?

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Instead, ask yourself what makes you come alive – and then go do that. For what the world needs is more people who have come alive." That saying, while good advice for recent college grads, is only partially applicable to advocacy. After all, Habitat's advocacy is all about what the world needs – namely, more decent and affordable housing! But it's the second part of the quote that is our focus this month: picking an issue that makes you come alive.

To fulfill our vision – a world in which everyone has a decent place to live – we must address the policies that limit our ability to serve more families and communities. Let's take an extreme example: if building a home for a family was made illegal, we would not just shut down and go home. Our job would be to change the law to make it legal! That's the essence of advocacy: not accepting shortcomings in current policy, but rather working to shape it in a way that supports people in need of adequate housing.

With so many facets to Habitat's work, there are a lot of policies out there to shape. At the international level, we're looking to make housing a global priority. Early next year, we will launch a global campaign addressing slums, gender and land, secure tenure and disaster resilience. At the national level in the U.S., we're focused on weatherization programs to keep energy costs low, on National Service programs and affordability programs that help keep our affiliates running, on mortgage regulations that impact the core of our operations, and on making homes affordable, including for military families, among other policies. At the state and local level, there are even more policies that impact housing, such as zoning and land availability, as well as laws relevant to Habitat ReStores.

The work we are doing is exciting! Starting in 2015, we'll be sending very short weekly examples. But with so many priorities, you may wonder, "How can I keep up with them all?" The good news: you don't have to. Unlike college, there are no "required courses" in the housing movement and you needn't be an expert on everything to be an A+ advocate. Advocating with Habitat to end poverty housing should be something you enjoy. To be sure that's the case, we encourage you to pick the issue that makes you come alive – and then advocate for that!

As you set goals for 2015, we encourage you to make "Advocating with Habitat" one of them. All you need to do is to pick a topic that makes you come alive. Then use your voice to make change happen.

A favor to ask: This holiday season, the Government Relations and Advocacy office has only one item on its wish list: feedback. You've kindly given us space in your newsletter each month and we want to be sure that we are providing the updates you want and the information you need. Please consider sharing your thoughts: [email protected]. We welcome all questions, suggestions and ideas – including responses to the following questions:

How could the advocacy updates be more helpful to you?
What topics would you like to see addressed in the advocacy updates?
Would you like to hear more about work outside of the United States? (Last year, 31 Habitat national organizations engaged in advocacy.)
Would you like to receive our very short "Good News" email about advocacy every week?

We sincerely appreciate your time.
From the Government Relations and Advocacy family to yours, we wish you a blessed Christmas, a happy holiday season and a joyous 2015!

Links
Global petition
Military
Weatherization/Energy
Service
Water
Affordability
Good News subscription

Collegiate Challenge and Care-A-Vanners

There are still opportunities to help mentor college students this winter. These builds are just a week, but you can sign up for more than one week. Check out those listed with CC (Collegiate Challenge) after the city. George and I want to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas with family and/or friends and have a great 2015 too!

Diane Gravlee
Collegiate Challenge coordinator
[email protected]

Welcome new Care-A-Vanners

Bryce Christensen and Christine McCarthy-Christensen, Elly Cramer, Robert Deisenroth, Judi Gates, Mike, Kim and Matthew Gross, Debbi Hayes, Edward and Stacy Hoche, Kerry and Patrice Kempf, Martin and Carolyn Kleiner, John Letton, Marcel and Joan Lindert, Paul and Ruth Metzler, Jason and Jessie Springer, Kevin O'Brien, Joan Thompson, Tom and Connie Unsicker, Lee and Susan Winton.

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!

Questions, cancellations or concerns?
1-800-HABITAT, ext. 7534
1-229-410-7534 (direct)
[email protected]
RV Care-A-Vanner staff contact info

Current list of active builds
Builds list

How to register for a build online
Step-by-step instructions

Roster updates
Please email updated roster information to [email protected] or [email protected], or call 1-229-410-7534.

Report Care-A-Vanner hours
Help us keep track of total volunteer hours contributed, and partner families served. Please email these stats from your drop-in or ongoing builds to [email protected].