Fall 2014 - Evergreen Habitat for Humanity

Evergreen Habitat News
Building homes, communities, and hope since 1991
Fall Issue
Building Homes and Hope Around the World
Inside this issue:
Building Homes and Hope Around 1
the World
School Build 2014-15
2
Women Build Tea
3
Women Build Cookbook
4
Spotlight on the Beltran Family
5
Neighborhood Revitalization in
Fruit Valley
6
Store Corner
7
Ways to Support Habitat
8
Mission
Seeking to put God’s love
into action, Habitat for
Humanity brings people
together to build homes,
communities and hope.
________________
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bruce Armstrong
Sherri Bowman
Rich Helmke
Kevin Hiebert
Anita Jinks
Barry Kalian
Mojgan Kasraei
Jeff Miller
Linda Reid
Susan Riley
Brenda Tiefenthaler
Stacia White
Evergreen Habitat volunteers and Habitat Guatemala Masons
working on a construction site in San Marcos, Guatemala.
Hoisting seventy pound buckets of sand to
pour for mixing concrete. Carrying hunks of
rock to lay the foundation. Spreading mortar
upon layer after layer of cinderblock. And
loving every minute of it.
On September 6th, 2014 we sent 10 volunteers, staff members, and donors from Clark
County to San Marcos, Guatemala to participate in Habitat’s Global Village program.
This is a domestic and international volunteer program aimed at building decent, affordable shelter alongside members of the
community.
Amidst lush and vibrant flora and dramatic
volcanic peaks, we worked closely with local
masons and the families they were building
for to learn more about Guatemalan culture
and history. We saw firsthand the need for
simple, decent, affordable housing in a
country plagued by earthquakes and poverty.
While in Guatemala, our mission was to not
only build houses, but to also build relationships and hope. We spent ample time getting to know the partner families we were
building for on and off the construction site.
For our volunteers, this was the most rewarding experience, especially for our volunteer, Cath Alvey.
________________
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Josh Townsley
STAFF
Anni Becker
Heather Cochrun
Kris Cowan
Melissa Edwards
Leanna Fabian
Koko Olszewski
Laurie Runyan
Evergreen Habitat volunteer Cath Alvey reading
“Curious George” in Spanish and English to two of the
children we were building for.
Group photo of the Evergreen Habitat volunteers, Habitat
Guatemala masons and staff, and the partner family we all
built for after hiking at a local nature reserve.
Cath spent much of her breaks on the construction site playing and bonding with the
children. From having tickle fights to reading the beloved “Curious George” books,
interacting with the families was easily the
Continues on page 2
Evergreen Habitat News
Page 2
Building Homes and Hope Around the World Continued
highlight for Cath. “Giving the children their own time was so important to me. I wanted to show them that they were important too. After all, they were the ones we were
building for. So they could have a better future. They were going to have a better life
because of the work we were doing”.
The opportunity to send volunteers to Guatemala gave these individuals the chance
not only to help build sustainable, affordable homes, but to also get to know a beautiful country and culture. Seeing the world from a different perspective gave our volunteers a new sense of pride and appreciation in the work we are doing not only in our
local community, but around the world.
If you’re interested in joining us on future Global Village trips, contact Heather at [email protected]!
Little Angel helping the masons and volunteers by laying
mortar to prepare for the next layer of cinderblocks.
Evergreen School District Project Kicks Off Third Year
The Geometry and Construction program for the 2014-15
school year is officially underway! This is Evergreen Habitat’s third year working with
the Evergreen School District.
We have created a unique
partnership with Evergreen
and Mt. View High Schools
Evergreen High School students and staff pose with Bank of America supporters to
that allows students to apply
kickoff the start of our 2014-15 Geometry in Construction build.
what they are learning in the
classroom to the construcbut also allows us to build two spoke about the excitement for
tion site.
homes for families in need,
the program and the successes
doubling
last
year’s
output.
that are sure to come. Ken GarDemand for the program has
ringer, recipient of the Everincreased dramatically this
This
year’s
program
officially
green home, also spoke with the
year and for the first time,
kicked
off
in
October
with
the
students, allowing them to see
each school will build their
student’s
first
day
on
the
confirsthand the affect their work is
own home. This not only instruction
site.
The
day
was
having on the community. A
creases the number of stucelebrated
as
guests
from
teary-eyed Ken shared, “I have
dents we are able to reach
Habitat and the School District a degenerative eye disease that
RSVP For the Women Build Tea!
Save the date for our Annual
Women Build Tea this holiday
season! The tea will be Saturday December 6th from 11:30
am to 1 pm. The festivities will
be held in the beautifully restored Artillery Barracks in Historic Fort Vancouver at 600 East
Hathaway, Vancouver, WA. It’s
the perfect setting to kick off the
holiday season and give back at
the same time. Our guest
speaker this year will be Rekah
Strong, noted community leader
with an expertise in diversity
and inclusion. Call the office to
RSVP today!
will cause me to be permanently blind in a matter of
years, and has already cost
me my job. Before this program I feared I would be
homeless but because of
Habitat I have found stability
again”.
Bank of America has joined
us this year as a premier
sponsor for the program. We
are so fortunate for all of the
work that BofA does in our
community. Thank you!
We look forward to watching
the students learn and build
these homes!
Purchase Your Women Build Cookbook
Purchase the first edition of
the Hors D'oeuvres & Desserts cookbook and enjoy
over 300 recipes to make and
share with family and friends.
Price is $20.00 plus $4.00 in
postage. Please order online
or pick up a book at the
EHFH affiliate and save shipping costs.
*The Women Build program
recruits, educates and nurtures women to build and advocate for simple, decent and
affordable housing in our
community. Join us by purchasing a cookbook or becoming a member of our
committee.
Fall Issue
Page 3
Spotlight on the Beltran Family
middle son Mario was born, the family learned that he was missing a crucial part of one of his chromosomes,
causing him to be mentally and
physically handicapped. Because of
this, his functioning is limited and he
is need of constant care.
Soreya poses with her sons (left to right: Mario,
Ricky, Tino III) as they celebrate the dedication
of the West Family home.
Tino and Soreya Beltran were selected for our Homeownership Program in
the fall of 2013. They have been married for four years and have three
charming boys, Tino III (6), Mario (5),
and Ricky (2). Tino works full time as
a lead maintenance technician for the
Al Angelo Company and Soreya is a
recent stay at home mom. When their
The family of five currently live in a
two bedroom townhome that they
have rented for the past 3 years.
Their oldest son Tino III sleeps in his
own room while Mario and Ricky
sleep in the parent’s room. Tino III’s
room has no room for anything more
than a bunk bed which Ricky, the
youngest, is not yet big enough to
sleep in. With Mario’s disability, he
will always need to sleep in a crib,
leaving no other choice but for the
little ones to share a room with Mom
and Dad. Needless to say, this
doesn’t leave much privacy for Tino
and Soreya.
Not only has overcrowding been a
problem with their current living situation, the family also struggles with
safety concerns. Mario recently started walking and while the family is
excited to have him moving independently, it makes living in a two
story townhome very difficult. Tino and Soreya
have to carry him up and down the stairs, as this is
something he is not able to do on his own .This
puts physical strain on both of them as well as the
constant worry of Mario falling down the stairs from
the top floor.
The family is excited to start working on their
home, as Soreya has said, “How cool is it to say ‘I
helped build the house we are living in’. We are so
eager to get our kids into a bigger, safer house that
they deserve”. We look forward to building this
family a home that will fit their needs, where their
child can grow and thrive.
Tino and Soreya get started on their Sweat Equity hours
as they place trim for the West Family home.
Neighborhood Revitalization in Fruit Valley
Evergreen Habitat is under way in our third year partnering with the Fruit Valley neighborhood in Southwest
Vancouver. We continue to complete “A Brush with Kindness” projects ranging from clearing brush, painting,
repairing decks, and installing handrails, to increase values of homes and add new life to the community. If
you have work that you would like to get done on your home contact Heather 360-737-1759, or at
[email protected]
Be sure to stay up to date on what’s going on in Fruit Valley this upcoming holiday season as we celebrate
with the Winter Festival. Join us December 13th, from 4 to 6 pm in the Fruit Valley Community Center as we
sip hot cocoa, take photos with Santa, and spread holiday cheer!
Store Corner
If you haven’t already visited the Clark County Habitat for Humanity Store in its new location come
check them out! They are now located in the old Curt Warner Chevrolet at 10811 SE Mill Plain Blvd.
The new location is bigger and has a wider assortment of donations. Be sure to stop by and say hi
now that our affiliate shares office
space with the Clark County Store!
The Habitat Restores have been instrumental in financially supporting
Habitat in our mission to eradicate
substandard housing in Clark County. With the help of their shoppers, donors, and volunteers, the Restores will fund 12 homes this
year and keep more than 4,300 tons of materials out of the landfill.
............
PO Box 871570
Vancouver, WA 98687
360-737-1759
www.ehfh.org
www.facebook.com/EvergreenHabitat
Instagram/Twitter: evergreenhfh
Non Profit Org
US Postage
PAID
Vancouver, WA
Permit # 307
Ways to Support Habitat!
Now when you shop online, Amazon will donate
a percentage to charity. Visit smile.amazon.com
and select Evergreen Habitat.
Are you a Thrivent member? Participate in the Choice Dollars program
by electing Evergreen Habitat for Humanity as Thrivent Financial for
Lutheran’s charitable funds recipient.
Donate old cars, trucks, RVs, and boats
to Habitat to help build homes!
Register your rewards card at fredmeyer.com.
Go to the Community Rewards page and select
Evergreen Habitat. Code 84510 designates us
as your charity of choice!