I cannot tell you when or where my affection for Habitat for Humanity started.  I think back and try to recall exactly what it was that sparked my interest in an organization I knew very little about, other than that they had something to do with building homes, and all I can come up with is a vague knowledge that they existed somewhere and were probably pretty cool.  If you had asked me a few years ago what they did, I would have assumed, like many do, that they built homes to give away to the poor and downtrodden, or the homeless and those broken by hardship.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2007 that my relationship with the organization began… and now, over a year and a half later, what I’ve come to know and love about Habitat is so very different than what my assumptions first presumed.

I was given the opportunity to work with Habitat through my church during a string of short-term summer missions trips they placed under the umbrella of an effort called the Go! Campaign.  There were hundreds of opportunities to get involved with, but Habitat for Humanity is the one that tugged at my interest and inspired me to fork over a small chunk of change and 4/5 of my work week to take part in the trip.  I spent four days on a job site in Fullerton learning the basics of framing (building and raising the walls of the home), flooring, and the fine art of trench digging.  When they asked for a group of people who didn’t mind getting sweaty and dirty, I’m honestly not sure what possessed me to volunteer myself for the endeavor, but either way my hand raised and I soon was in an ever deepening trench getting a fresh film of dirt to cover every available exposed pore of my then-pale skin.  By the lunch break, I was filthy and physically tried, but not the least bit tired.

That was the interesting part of my experience, and a theme which proved to be a rule during my numerous stints on the construction site – I was never tired.  There is such an energy to be felt amongst a group of people who are doing something which has nothing to do with themselves.  In reality, we all could have been doing any number of things other than spending a day exposed to the elements and doing manual labor – and not getting paid for it!  I enjoyed the physical exertion and the instant gratification derived from being able to see an immediate product for my efforts.  It is an awesome feeling to look at the wall of a future home and know that it wasn’t there just a few minutes ago – that YOU did that.  Also, knowing full well that it is only a skeleton that many other hands will take part in fleshing out to its final product, but that it is a skeleton that YOU began, and that will eventually lead to a home for a family to enjoy for a lifetime.

The families in question all become Habitat Families via the same means – they have to apply for it.  There is an application process, income requirements, and an allocated amount of “Sweat Equity” (hours physically spent working on the job site of either their own home or on that of another family) that the family must provide to qualify to buy a Habitat Home.  That’s right!  Buy!  Each of the homes come with a zero interest loan and are sold at cost, rather than at market value, but they require purchase rather than are given gratis.  Currently, there are several projects underway in Orange County, but there is one especially close to my heart.

The current project in San Juan Capistrano is a collection of 13 sets of paired homes, and one single family home all set aside for wounded Veterans or surviving families of those killed in action.  I don’t think the organization could have picked a more perfect place in time to set aside homes for those who have chosen to place their lives on the line for our country.  I paid a visit to the site this past Saturday and was touched to read the stories of some of the families already selected to inhabit the homes we were working on.  Having someone of great meaning in my life who is a Marine, and having had plenty of friends over the years in all branches of the Military, it was great to see these Marines and Soldiers taken care of in such a basic, yet previously overlooked way.  Four of the homes on the site are near completion with a proposed dedication date of May 16th.  After that, the rest of the homes will follow and within a few years, many many lives will be changed by the prospect of owning their own home.  An exciting piece of information I picked up that day was that the Orange County Affiliate’s effort assisting Veterans has sparked a movement within Habitat, and more Affiliates across the country are looking into similar projects for our Vets.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization funded by private donations and run through the forces of volunteers – maybe some of them just like you.  On any given day, there may be volunteers who have been there for years and have earned the status of either Green Team, Crew Leader, or Geezer Gang, or they could be stepping onto a construction site for the very first time having never swung a hammer.  Whichever the case, all over the age of 16 are welcome, and more information can be found at www.habitatoc.org.