See pictures from our 2012 Garden Preview Party!

Sponsorships are available at a variety of levels. 

Please contact Randi Hogan at rhogan@habitatchesapeake.org 
or 410-366-1250 x122 for information.

by Director of Community Engagement Leila Kohler-Frueh

I had the recent privilege of being on site with the Johns Hopkins University men's lacrosse team over the span of several Saturdays as they worked on prepping the McCabe Avenue neighborhood for future work by our Habitat organization. The entire team of 44 volunteered with us on from late October through mid-November clearing out long-abandoned houses, cleaning up empty lots, setting post holes and building fences.

I recount the work they did in numbers, and those figures are impressive. The team's work over those four Saturdays added up to a total of nineteen hours per student, or a sum total of up to 836 total volunteer hours for this initial stage of work on McCabe Avenue. This contribution of volunteer time is incredibly valuable-and, as you can see, is a large number indeed!

JHU men's lacrosse team accomplished some of the not-so-pretty work that precedes the full construction stage, including emptying the houses and performing full-on street clean-up, as well. They donned masks and gloves, and worked with our staff in homes that had not been touched in a long time, in some cases for over 25 years. I know the date, because when I asked the team for reflections one morning, one team member told me that he'd found newspapers in a house dated to 1991.

That kind of work can give one a whole new perspective on blight, the scourge of vacancies, and the need for affordable homeownership. It can be depressing. It can be even gross at times. But the lacrosse team took it all in stride, exemplifying what we know about Habitat volunteers: they are impressive.

The president of the local neighborhood association, Monica Gaines, stopped to personally thank the team and tell them what it meant to the McCabe community, and to surrounding communities, to see the work really begin-turning what are now structural shells into the promise of homes filled with life, laughter and hope.  

On the November 10 volunteer day, the team worked alongside veterans and active military members, as well as members of the Maryland Chapter of the Gold Star Mothers, and A Mother's Cry. 

On that day, we worked together and took time to reflect on good deeds, sacrifices and grief as they approached Veterans Day. The team continued work the next weekend, making the building lot they'd first encountered in October-then uneven, covered with garbage and brush-into a nicely gravel-covered lot, with the beginnings of fence emerging, marking a new spot for McCabe volunteers to meet in 

future months. At Habitat Chesapeake, we are thankful to JHU men's lacrosse team for their hard work and dedication in partnering with us to revitalizing the McCabe community as we build homes and renew hope in the area.   

It's the season of giving - thanks giving and gift giving. Our ways of giving are as many and varied as we are, and how we give and what we give expresses who we are and what we value.

Every day at Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, we witness the countless meaningful ways that you express yourselves through giving. Recently, on a build site, a volunteer remarked "this must be what heaven is like; everyone working together!" She may have been the first person to compare a Habitat construction site with heaven - but you get the idea!

Building homes is certainly one way--probably the best known way--to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Our Family Services department invites you to take a look at some of the other things you can do to help Habitat families become successful homeowners:

Family Selection

We rely on volunteers to help Family Services decide when families are ready to enter Habitat's Homeownership program. Members of our Family Selection Committee work together to review program applications, interview families, and recommend next steps for families who have applied to Habitat's Homeownership program.

Family Action

Once families have been accepted into the Homeownership program, they need encouragement, and guidance from volunteers who take an active interest in their progress through the program. Members of the Family Action committee work one-on-one with families to ensure the successful completion of their 200 hours of sweat equity. They also help families apply the skills they learn during 50 hours of Homebuyer Education that Habitat provides.

Family Success

Each family works hard and dreams of the day they will receive the keys to their new home. At Habitat, homeownership is one step in a continuing journey to economic stability.  Members of the Family Success committee hold regularly scheduled meetings with Habitat homeowners to answer questions, update skills, and provide families with access to information and other resources that help them to remain confident and successful homeowners.