I'm hoping to send a few blog entries this week from Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras where I am spending the week working on Habitat house with 19 others from the Triangle area.  We arrived late Friday and began work yesterday.  Our group is split between working on two new homes.  Our group began by helping local masons mix mortar, pour footings, and tie re-bar.  The home is being built in partnership with Enma and her children on property owned by Enma's family and right next to her parents home.  This is a very common situation in Central America.  The ho

Since Habitat’s inception as an organization all affiliates (like us!) are expected to tithe to Habitat for Humanity International by giving 10% of all undesignated donations—not for administration and overhead, but for the building of homes in other countries. At Habitat Wake, we have tithed for the past 25 years, supporting the construction of homes for families in need around the world in addition to the 375 homes that we have built in Wake County.  This is something for which we are very proud.

Americorps, the domestic version of Peace Corps, is in the news lately.  It’s in the news because some lawmakers in Washington have proposed eliminating the entire program.  This past weekend the House of Representatives passed a measure eliminating the program as part of a deficit reduction strategy.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative that Habitat has organized in SE Raleigh’s Long Acres and Apollo Heights neighborhoods is making great progress.  A resident-led coalition of over 20 organizations and city departments is meeting regularly to address the needs of the neighborhoods.  Habitat is getting ready to break ground on the first of nine new homes thanks to a City of Raleigh Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant.  There is a sense of positive change in the air.

From gospel.com, a brief definition of redemption from a Christian perspective:

Redemption is simply the forgiveness of our sins, and restoration to a relationship with God. Through his sacrifice, Jesus redeemed us and brought us into the kingdom of God, rescuing us from the kingdom of sin and darkness.

Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) seeks to apply a holistic, asset-based redevelopment approach for challenged neighborhoods.  In Wake County, we are pleased to be one of 55 local Habitat efforts across the U.S. selected to be in the initial working group to pioneer this new strategy.

World Habitat Day will be celebrated on Monday, October 4.  This annual event is an effort to call attention to the substantial housing needs that exist around the world and to highlight the great efforts that are underway that make a difference in correcting the pervasive problem of inadequate housing across the planet.  This event is organized globally by UN Habitat, a programmatic arm of the United Nations and supported by many organizations worldwide, including Habitat for Humanity.

Back in 1988, as we were launching Habitat for Humanity in Lynchburg, Virginia, I met a builder who was eager to help.  In fact, on our very first build day on December 1, he was there with some of his crew helping to build Stella Culpepper’s home.  Tom Gerdy is his name.