A Place to Call Home

Dear Friends,

A day does not go by where I take a deep breath and engage the faith that is needed to lead our affiliate.  We have been called to a big task.  Building a home for a family in need takes the combined efforts of many people.  It is not easy.  A big vision requires an extra ordinary amount of faith. 

Just two years ago, my wife and I adopted a little 2 year old boy from Russia and this journey of adoption seems to mirror what we are experiencing here at Habitat...And the ending has such a powerful and similar outcome.  Our little guy loves to be home.  He often comments about how much he loves his bed, his backyard, his sippy cup, his dump truck and his house.  Last week he laid down in our family room and declared that he loves the carpet.  What I think he is really saying is how much he loves a home!  A place for him to call home...     

Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County has the same outcome.  We work with low income families that have a need.  We spend up to a year preparing them for homeownership.  We work with hundreds of community partners to build a house but make no mistake; it is our families that make it a home.  Today I write to you because we have a need and you have the opportunity to be a part of the solution.  We are in the process of building four different homes with the potential for two more in the next month or two.  Two weeks ago, we hosted a family orientation session and we now have 30 families moving forward in the process of homeownership and many more working to get to the place where they qualify.

One of the homes we are completing is located in Upper Dublin and is in need of $60,000 to complete this home.  We are stepping out in faith to ask each of you to consider a financial gift that would allow us to complete this home and three others we are working on.  As much as our partner families make a house a home, you are the partner that allows for the home to be built.  Please click here to donate online or you can simply send a check.  We have witnessed tremendous growth here in the past 6 months and we are grateful to each of you for your continued support.

Warm regards,

Billy Dunn

Executive Director

bdunn@habitatmontco.org 

Women Build Updates 

Women Build Week Kickoff
5:00-7:00 PM Thursday April 7 

All are invited to attend our kickoff event and show support for Women Build! Join us for a fun happy hour evening at Iron Abbey in Horsham - the registration fee is $10/person and includes light appetizers. Cash bar with drink specials ($4 craft beers/house wines/martinis). For more information or to RSVP, please contact Linley at linley@habitatmontco.org or (610) 278-7710 x116.

Women Build Week
May 3-7, 2011 We are excited to host our first ever Women Build Week in May! The volunteer spots for the week have already been filled but we have many other opportunities to get involved with Women Build, on or off site.

  We are looking for corporate sponsors and contributions of food for the week, and will have on-site volunteer opportunities in the future.  For more information, please contact Linley at linley@habitatmontco.org or (610) 278-7710 x116.

Thank You to the Montgomery County Foundation

Thank you to the Montgomery County Foundation for their generous contribution to help us in our work of eliminating poverty housing in Montgomery County!   

Pictured is Virginia Franz (president & CEO of the Montgomery County Foundation;) Carl Friedman (President of HFHMC Board of Directors) and Joseph St. Pedro (Chairperson of the Montgomery County Foundation Board of Directors) at a recent check presentation.  

1.  We are in need of a digital camera.  Would you be willing to donate a digital camera that you are no longer in need to help us document the many HFHMC memories?  Contact Linley at linley@habitatmontco.org.

2.  We have an outstanding Development Director in Mr. Jan Campbell and he is looking for opportunity to come and share at your business or civic group.  Would you have a way to invite him?  He would love to come and share the work of Habitat.  Jan can be reached at jcampbell@habitatmontco.org.

3.  With spring time coming, the entrances of the ReStore and office need to be mulched and have flowers planted.  Would you be willing to bring a group of friends in the next few weeks and give us a hand with planting and mulching? Please contact Linley at linley@habitatmotco.org.

4.  The Restore has been one of the great successes here at Habitat.  We are looking for a few additional volunteers to ride the pickup truck with our driver on Wednesdays.  We also have a need for additional weekday sales floor volunteers.  If you could help us out in either area, please contact Pat at pat@habitatmontco.org.

5.  Finally, we are looking for one platinum sponsor of $10,000 for our Women Build week in May, 2011.  This Women Build event is a great way for your company of organization to get behind one of our most powerful programs.  It gives you unprecedented publicity as our platinum sponsor and I have faith that one person reading this would want to stand with us in this great project.  If you have questions about this sponsorship opportunity, please contact Billy at bdunn@habitatmontco.org.

East Norriton Middle School hosted their second annual Dance-a-Thon, raising $650 for HFHMC! Students danced the night away and participated in the limbo, line dances & hula hoop competitions.  Thank you to all the students, parents and teachers who made this event such a success!

Here are some of the current & future leaders of Villanova University's campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity! HFHMC & VUHFH have been longtime partners and together, they are planning a blitz build in the fall....stay tuned for details.

This group of students from Assumption College participated in Collegiate Challenge and spent their spring break volunteering with HFHMC! 

Philadelphia University, another Collegiate Challenge group, decided to stay local to volunteer and learn about housing issues in our own community. 

Did you know that Habitat has 12 active committees? Joining a committee is a great way to share your interests, talents and experiences with Habitat. 

We are actively recruiting for our brand new Faith Relations Committee which reaches out to and engages the Montgomery County faith community.The first meeting is at 7pm on Tuesday, April 12. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Linley at linley@habitatmontco.org or (610) 278-7710 x116

We also need new members for our reestablished ReStore Committee, which provides support and guidance to management and staff in the development and ongoing operation of the ReStore.  For more information or to volunteer, please contact Kim at ktobin@habitatmontco.org or (610) 278-7710 x129 

To view the full list of Habitat committees with detailed descriptions,  

please click here and for more information or if you would like to join,  

please contact Linley at linley@habitatmontco.org or (610) 278-7710 x116.  

Congratulations!  

Congratulations to Joe Browne, one of our regular volunteers in Pottstown, who was recently honored as Citizen of the Year by the Pottstown Elks Lodge!  

Joe is a longtime Habitat supporter and is an active community member, also engaged with the Tri-County Performing Arts Center, Pottstown Area Seniors' Center, Pottstown Cluster Outreach and St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church.

Jean is our new Office Manager and Family Services Coordinator.  She lightheartedly describes herself as a typical "Jack of All Trades, Master of None."  Offering two decades' experience in marketing communications, she is an accomplished designer, writer, editor, public speaker and artist. She has won awards for her design work, authored twelve published books, taught pastors and lay-leaders all over, from the mid-Atlantic region to the African plains, and, as "Mom" (her favorite role), raised two great kids. Say hello at  jford@habitatmontco.org.

Cynthia has been involved with the Habitat ReStore since the summer, and she has recently joined the Habitat staff as the ReStore Donations Coordinator.  In this part time position, she handles all ReStore donation requests, donation screening and schedules pickups for the truck. Contact her to say hello or to coordinate a donation at cynthia@habitatmontco.org.