The Brick and Mortar March 2015
1st Quarter
~ The Davis-Murphy Family and Houston Methodist Hospital~ By Jerry Kovaly
The Houston Methodist Hospital staff has been volunteering with Houston Habitat for just a little over a year, but their impact has proven to be a great benefit for families like Danna Murphy and Anthony Davis. Parents of two small daughters, they relocated to Houston from Indianapolis for a better life with more opportunity. But homeownership seemed out of reach until they learned about Houston Habitat. After being accepted into the program, they joined forces with Houston Methodist to make their dream a reality. In September 2014, Houston Methodist volunteers came out for 5 days to build on the Davis-Murphy family home in Harrel Park. Each build day the volunteers from their hospitals and at least one member of management, usually a CEO, came out to build with Houston Habitat and the Davis-Murphy family. On the last day Dr. Marc Boom, President and CEO of Houston Methodist came out on the build site to lend a hammer. During those 5 days they finished raising the walls. They installed the windows and blue board. Then they installed the trusses. Next came the roof decking, roof felt and the start of shingles. Along with the shingles the volunteers installed all the exterior trim, finishing off the underneath side of the trusses. The Houston Methodist volunteers, working alongside Danna and Anthony, completed almost all of the work necessary on the home. “The gift of homeownership is but the tip of the ice berg, habitat creates villages with each community they build; that village then pours into the lives of each family,” Said Danna, “Habitat is not in the housing business for they are in the life skills business; because what they offer goes above and beyond homeownership. As a family partner I am beyond humbled and forever grateful.” Jerry Kovaly is a Corporate Relationship Manager for Houston Habitat for Humanity
Coming Soon!
http://houstonhabitat.org/womenbuild/
3/10/2015
www.houstonhabitat.org
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~A letter from Haiti~ Habitat affiliates are not only eliminating poverty housing from their own communities but also eliminating poverty housing in communities around the world. Through Habitat for Humanity’s Tithe Program, Houston Habitat designates part of their giveback to earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Recently, we received a heartfelt letter from Habitat for Humanity Haiti, and we would like to share it with you: Dearest friends at Houston Habitat, Thank you for taking part in the life-changing movement of Habitat for Humanity Haiti through your prayers and tithe. Your recent gift allows us to continue to transform the lives of thousands of Haitian families. I am deeply grateful for your faithful partnership in the work that God has called us to undertake. Having reached our post disaster recovery goals to serve more than 50,000 families affected by the 2010 earthquake, we are now looking ahead to reach even more families with the deepest need. Our focus today is on an area known as “Canaan”. Just along the northern edges of Port au Prince, has become home to more than 30,000 families, many of whom were displaced by the disaster. We have put together our project team and are forming partnerships to assist these families and the broader community. I welcome your support of this very important project. It’s a joy for me to lead Habitat Haiti on its mission to help families along their pathways to permanent, affordable and safe housing. We find strength on the hardest of days and blessed on our best days, knowing that we have you as a friend, partner and supporter. Thank you again for taking part in changing lives and building hope in Haiti.
Claude Jeudy National Director Habitat for Humanity Haiti
In Canaan, Habitat sees a window of opportunity for applying community development lessons learned in Santo, Simon-Pelé and elsewhere. See more of the story: 5 YEARS LATER: THE NEW STORY OF HAITI http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/2015archive/1-12-2015-Haiti-Five-Years-Later
PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.habitat.org/sites/default/files/14.41548.haiti_5year.pdf
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~Habitat Family Benefits from MISSION 1:8~ Meet Hattie Mitchell. A young working mother who wanted a stable place to live and to call home. She understood Houston Habitat for Humanity’s homebuilding program and was willing to put in the time and the work it took to be a full participant in the process. She knew that Habitat could make it possible with the help of their charitable sponsors. Because of the generosity of the Houston’s First Baptist Church Family in Giving to MISSION 1:8, we were able to build a home for Hattie and her child. They have made it possible for us to build 2 homes as part of their Mission 1:8 to help the poor, widow, orphans and missionaries. The first home was built in 2013 with Demetrise Brown, and Hattie Mitchell was supported in 2014. The transformation in the lives of our family partners have been nothing short of miraculous. The children have benefitted the most. We are so grateful for the relationship we have built with Houston’s First!
On Thursday, March 5, 2015, Houston Habitat, along with our long-time sponsor and friend, Apache Corporation, celebrated our Partner Family, Ms. Debra Cooper at her Habitat Home Dedication at Apache’s beautiful headquarters in the Galleria area of Houston. Ms. Cooper came to Houston Habitat with hopes of finding not just a house, but a home to call her very own. With the support of Apache Corporation, we were able to help Ms. Cooper fulfil her life-long dream of home ownership. Congratulations!
3/10/2015
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Development Director, Angela Birch Cox, headed to Washington last month for Habitat on the Hill, Habitat for Humanity International’s annual legislative conference. She and more than 200 other Habitat International and local affiliate representatives made congressional visits on Capitol Hill in support of affordable housing. “At Habitat on the Hill, I engaged lawmakers representing Houston Habitat and their staffs about legislation important to us and affiliates nationwide. Sharing our passion for our mission face to face; letting them know that we care enough about the issues impacting affordable housing to travel to meet with them was very impactful for the lawmakers, the staff and for me,” Angela stated. Once a year, advocates of safe, decent and affordable housing from Habitat affiliates all over
Angela with Jonathan Reckford, CEO Habitat for Humanity Int’l
Angela Cox with U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (18th District)
the U.S. gather in Washington, D.C., to meet with federal lawmakers to develop skills that will help them make an impact at the federal, state and local levels. “Meeting and sharing experiences and best practices with other Habitat affiliates was the icing on the cake.”
3750 N. McCarty St. Houston, TX 77029
Houston Habitat for Humanity, with thousands of sponsors and volunteers, has built over 950 homes for hard-working, low-income Houstonians. Habitat Partner Families contribute 300 hours of “sweat equity” and complete training on home ownership to purchase homes at cost with zero-interest mortgages. For more information about Houston Habitat for Humanity, and the Houston Habitat ReStore – a nonprofit home improvement store and donation center open to the public, go to www.houstonhabitat.org, or call 713-6719993. Houston Habitat for Humanity is a tax-exempt 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
3/10/2015
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