The Beginnings of a Project...

In the final semester of the 2009-10 school year, Mr. Kirk was pressuring our junior campus ministry class to explore potential CBSL projects. Among the candidates I had chosen was Habitat for Humanity, because a project involving construction seemed like a good match for my carpentry skills. I contacted Daniel Greinke, one of the seniors who was doing his project with Habitat that year, and arranged to volunteer with his group. That first day of volunteering was a decisive day for me; that was the day that I knew I would be returning to that site many times in the coming months.

Evan joined the project in the start of the 2010-11 school year after his original idea, a rugby-based project, met with insufficient support.

Up Until Now...

When planning the components of our project, Evan and I decided we would pursue three primary goals. The first of these was devised with the intention of passing our project on to other students so that it would be continued. We determined that it would be beneficial in the long term to actively encourage other students to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, and thus the Student Build Program was conceived. This program consists of monthly build days for which all volunteers are local students, and it has been the most successful aspect of our project.

The second feature of our project is a promotional video which will be shown in Habitat’s annual fundraiser this spring. The video will chronicle the experiences of the two families who will be receiving the homes in spring. As of now, we have conducted video interviews with each family, and that footage will be the principal content of the video. All that remains to be done with this part of our project is editing, which will occur during the course of the next few weeks.

The final facet is an effort to collect home furnishings for the families for the purpose of augmenting the improvement in their standards of living that their new homes will provide. We have been trying to solicit donations through a variety of mediums, but given the current status of the economy, most businesses do not readily donate their inventory. We have been advertising online, publicizing our “furnishings drive” at schools, and making phone calls, all with little success to support our optimism. We are not going to waver in our persistence and our next step will be to expand our advertising and improve our networking.

Challenges and Rewarding Experiences...

The most challenging part of our project has been finding compatibilities between schedules; mine, Evan’s, our mentors’, and nearly every other person we’ve been working with throughout our project. The first semester was particularly difficult because Evan and I were both participating in varsity sports, which left little free space in our calendars.

The most rewarding experiences from our project were the interviews with the Blosser and Martinez families. Before the interviews, Evan and I had a vague idea of who our efforts were helping, but it was only after meeting personally with the families that we realized the true scope of our project and true magnitude of the impact that our project was having. It was a turning point where we went from helping an organization to helping real people in our own community reach a higher standard of living. This has been the high point in our project so far, but we expect that the ceremony in which the families will be given the keys to their new homes will be our project’s acme.

Upcoming Events... During the next several weeks, we will continue seeking donations of furniture and home furnishings to make the new houses true homes for the families and their children.

Below are the items the families need; if you or anyone you know has something to donate, please contact Ian Davison at ianguy@avispmail.com or Evan Castro at (707) 217-5452.

Kitchen: Table and chairs to seat 8 Dishes Pots and pans Coffee Pot Toaster

Bedroom: 2 Queen beds and bedding 3 twin beds Bedding and sheets for 5 twin beds Curtains for rooms 2 twin beds (bunk beds or trundle would be good)

Bathroom: Towels for 2 bathrooms 2 Shower curtains

Dining: Buffet or sideboard Table and chairs for 8

Living Area: TV stand (to hold TV or appliances) Small computer stand (to hold monitor, scanner, and printer) Sofa 2 chairs Coffee table End tables Lamps

Other: Small desk for kids’ room