U.S. Field Notes
With the addition of nine new affiliates in December and January, Habitat for Humanity has 1,587 affiliates in the United States (including the District of Columbia, the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) and also is represented in 75 other countries. In addition, there are 637 campus chapters in the United States and 14 other countries around the world.


CENTRAL ATLANTIC
(District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia): Rick Beech, 2201 Candun Dr., Suite 200, Apex, NC 27502, (800) 241-0285, RBeech@hfhi.org.

A partnership with a local travel agency has allowed supporters of Crystal Coast HFH (N.C.) to raise house-building funds by taking a vacation. This is how it works: When groups book tours, the tour company usually throws in a free spot for every certain number of paid travelers. Travelers can now opt to donate the value of that free spot to Habitat. One large tour group that went to Paris in November earned nearly $4,000 for the affiliate.

One of Durham County (N.C.) HFH’s building strategies received high marks for energy efficiency in a U.S. Department of Energy study. By moving heating and cooling ducts inside the insulation shell of the house, the affiliate has been able to reduce their homeowners’ energy costs. “This reinforces our strategy of affordability beyond a mortgage payment,” executive director Bob Calhoun says.

New affiliate -- HFH of Duplin County, Wallace, N.C.



MID-AMERICA
(Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana): Meredith Kostyk, 911 S. Brook St., Louisville, KY 40203, (502) 568-2656, MKostyk@hfhi.org.

One of the highlights of HFH of Morgan County’s 10th anniversary celebration was the premiere of a video about Habitat produced by Indiana University students Paul Molin and Andy O’Conner. The students donated their services to film and edit the 15-minute video, which explains Habitat’s mission of building houses and working with partner families. Executive Director Steve Main says the affiliate plans to use the video to increase awareness about Habitat in the community.

HFH of Evansville (Ind.) celebrated its 200th house dedication in November. The affiliate estimates that with the building of 200 houses, it has helped provide shelter for 700 people, including more than 400 children.

New affiliates -- HFH of Miami County, Peru, Ind.; HFH of Coshocton County, Coshocton, Ohio.



MIDDLE STATES
(Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas): Joe Gatlin, PO Box 3157, Waco, TX 76707, (800) 682-1980, JGatlin@hfhi.org.

When many people think of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their riders, they think of black leather and shiny chrome. In Kansas City, Mo., they also can think of tool belts and trusses. A group of Harley-owning Habitat volunteers built a house with Kansas City HFH, and a local Harley manufacturing plant presented a check to cover the cost of materials for the house.

The campus chapter at Tulane University built its first house with New Orleans Area HFH last fall. The students held concerts, organized bake sales and worked phone banks to raise funds for the house.

New affiliate -- HFH Claremore, Claremore, Okla.

New campus chapters -- Cowley City Community College, Arkansas City, Kan.; Hastings College, Hastings, Neb.



MIDWEST
(Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin): Bill Ward, 1920 S. Laflin St., Chicago, IL 60608, (800) 643-7845, BWard@hfhi.org.

Like many Habitat affiliates, Twin Cities HFH is building in partnership with their local Lions Club and Lions Club International to make accessible housing available to people with disabilities. This year they plan to use a Lions Club grant to build three houses with features such as ramped entrances, wider doorways and hallways, and wheelchair-accessible showers. This year also marks the affiliate’s 16th anniversary.

New affiliate -- HFH of Dodge County, Beaver Dam, Wis.



MOUNTAIN STATES
(Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming): Bruce Petersen, 1005 N.W. Galveston, Bend, OR 97701, (800) 365-4637, BPetersen@hfhi.org.

Not only are Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and first lady Frances Owens helping Metro Denver HFH build, but they have involved their staffs as well. All the construction volunteers for a house that was started in October came from the offices of governor and first lady Owens and other state agencies. The governor’s office of energy management raised funds for the house.

Butte, Mont., has been called “the richest hill on earth” because of abundant copper mines. But there also is a pressing need for affordable housing, and HFH of Southwest Montana has stepped in with its “Habitat Neighborhood Redevelopment Project.” The affiliate has received two tracts of land in a neighborhood targeted for revitalization and has completed eight houses there.



NORTHEAST
(Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont): Lisa Reitz, 200 S. Church St., West Chester, PA 19382, (800) 434-5463, LReitz@hfhi.org.

Jewish community leaders in Camden, N.J., have almost finished fund raising for the Shalom House, a Habitat house to be built by Jewish volunteers with Metropolitan Camden HFH as a commitment to the community. The seeds for this partnership were sown six years ago when one synagogue’s congregation began working with the affiliate on Sundays. Now, six congregations and a regional association have united to build the house.

HFH of Wayne Co. (N.Y.) is proving that a penny saved is a penny earned. The affiliate has received $5,657.36—enough to buy the framing materials for one house—by collecting loose change for the past several years.

New campus chapter -- Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Conn.



SOUTHEAST
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico): Dick Weber, 226 N. Laura St., Jacksonville, FL 32202-3502, (800) 637-9532, RWeber@hfhi.org.

Over the summer, HFH of Lee County participated in an energy conservation experiment by allowing Florida Power and Light and the Florida Solar Energy Center to install six different types of roofs on identical Habitat houses. Of the different roofing materials, which included dark gray shingles, white shingles, terra-cotta Spanish tiles, white Spanish tiles, white flat cement tiles and white galvanized steel, the white galvanized steel yielded the highest energy savings in preliminary results.

James Dowman and Ann Bennett were married in a Habitat house in Valdosta, Ga., in January. Bennett, a board member with Valdosta-Lowndes County HFH, traveled to New Zealand in 1999 to build with Habitat there and met Dowman on the construction site. After visits in both countries, the couple became engaged in November and decided it was appropriate to say their vows in a house still under construction, a symbol of growth and opportunity.

New affiliates -- HFH of Marion County, Guin, Ala.; Wilkinson County HFH, Irwinton, Ga.; HFH of Gordon County, Calhoun, Ga.



WEST
(Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada): Dick Kuegerman, 1440 Broadway, Suite 205, Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 286-8960.

To celebrate her 35th birthday, Habitat volunteer Kris Hanna requested a six-hour work shift with San Gabriel Valley HFH (Calif.) in lieu of gifts. Ten family members and colleagues came out to the work site to help build a fence.

Two radio stations in Fresno, Calif., approached Fresno HFH last year with an idea for sponsoring a Habitat house. Listeners and Habitat supporters donated almost all of the necessary materials and labor for The House That Rock Built. The affiliate, which has built 27 houses to date, expects the house to be completed in April.

New affiliate -- HFH Lake County, Lower Lake, Calif.

New campus chapter -- Cathedral City High School, Cathedral City, Calif.

— by Rebekah Graydon


Habitat Around the World


AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST
(Harry Goodall, PO Box 11179, Hatfield, Pretoria 0083, South Africa, Tel. 011-27-12-430-9200, kkennedy@hfhi.org)

Habitat for Humanity Ghana celebrated its 2,000th house in February with a dedication ceremony at Assinman HFH, the first affiliate in the country. Just three years earlier, HFH Ghana celebrated the completion of its 1,000th house during its 10th anniversary year. At the time, HFHI founder and president Millard Fuller challenged those gathered to build the next 1,000 houses by the end of 2000. “The journey toward this goal has not been easy, but there was always confidence it could be achieved,” says Emmanual Kwaa, HFH Ghana program officer. Indeed, that confidence resulted in 2,042 houses completed by the end of December 2000—42 houses over the goal.


ASIA/PACIFIC
(Steve Weir, Ocean Tower 1, 22nd floor, 170/68, Soi Sukhumvit 16, Rachadapisek, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand, Tel. 011-66-2-261-3270, office@hfhap.org)

Fifteen students from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., traveled halfway around to globe to help build in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in January. The group participated in building two houses with the new affiliate in the northern part of the country. The students put their shoulders to tough tasks, such as moving earth, digging septic pits, mixing cement, and digging and pouring footers and foundations. HFH Thailand's first duplex is constructed of hollow cement blocks with tile roofs. Each unit is 40 square meters.


CANADA
(David Beckerson, 40 Albert St., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3S2, (519) 885-4565, habitat@habitat.ca)

Habitat for Humanity Canada’s annual Ed Schreyer Work Project scheduled for July 6-13 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will launch Habitat for Humanity’s upcoming World Leaders Build. A former Canadian governor-general, Ed Schreyer joins hundreds of volunteers annually to help build houses with Habitat affiliates. This year, 10 houses will be blitz built with HFH Winnipeg as part of its inner-city rejuvenation program. The World Leaders Build is a global event that will see current and former heads of state building Habitat for Humanity houses simultaneously in their capital cities this summer. The World Leaders Build will be led by Habitat for Humanity’s most famous volunteer, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and will coincide with the 2001 Jimmy Carter Work Project in South Korea.


EUROPE/COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
(HFHI, 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA 31709, (229) 924-6935, ext. 2495)

Having just completed its first nine houses, Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan welcomes its first Global Village team in June to help start work on the next seven houses. The team will lay foundations and pour cement, in addition to working with local volunteers and homeowners, and experiencing immersion into the Kyrgyz culture. Habitat houses here are built on a concrete foundation and typically consist of one to three bedrooms, wooden floors and ceilings, and a corrugated roof. House cost depends on the size of the house and range between US$3,500 and US$5,000.


LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN
(Torre Nelson, SJO-2268, Unit 101-C, PO Box 025216, Miami, FL 33102-5216, Tel. 011-506-296-8120, LAC@hfhlac.org)

In a partnership with Project for the People of Paraguay, Habitat for Humanity Paraguay completed six houses on the outskirts of the capital city of Ásuncion. The six families formerly lived in “Chacarita,” a slum located along the Paraguay River near Ásuncion’s city center. Because land in urban areas is scarce and expensive, Habitat usually can only work with families who have title to their own land. Typically, the Chacarita families lack title to land and would not be able to participate with Habitat. But through this partnership, PPP donated funding to HFH Paraguay for purchase of the land as well as cost of materials and labor, thus enabling HFH Paraguay to work with families living in Chacarita. As a result, the families moved to the new site, helped build their houses in partnership with each other as well as a Global Village work team in order to complete their houses in April


— by Milana McLead



Habitat Affiliate Countries— Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Armenia · Australia · Bangladesh · Belize · Bolivia · Botswana · Brazil · Burundi · Canada · Central African Republic · Chile · China · Colombia · Costa Rica · Democratic Republic of Congo · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Egypt · El Salvador · Ethiopia · Fiji · Germany · Ghana · Great Britain · Guatemala · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hungary · India · Indonesia · Ivory Coast · Jamaica · Japan · Kenya · Kyrgyzstan · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Mexico · Mongolia · Mozambique · Nepal · Netherlands · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Nigeria · Northern Ireland · Pakistan · Papua New Guinea · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Korea · Romania · Samoa · Singapore · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · South Africa · Sri Lanka · Tanzania · Thailand · Trinidad and Tobago · Uganda · United States, Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico · Venezuela · Vietnam · Zambia · Zimbabwe


Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, April/May 2001.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2001 Habitat for Humanity International