On Monday, November 2, at 5:30 A.M., 8 other Americorps and I left for the Austin airport. We were travelling to Shocco Springs, a Baptist conference center in Talladega, Alabama, for the 2009 National Service Leadership Conference: Serve, Learn, Lead.
I, for one, was not particularly excited for a week of classes and cafeteria food. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Nearly 600 Americorps from 154 Habitat affiliates across 36 states gathered together, along with many affiliate site managers and HFHI staff. It was a great networking opportunity. I met another second year Communications VISTA from the wonderful Charlottesville, NC, affiliate, as well as the marketing and social media specialist from HFHI. I even had the opportunity to meet the executive director from Coastal Habitat in my hometown of Spring Lake, NJ, who as it turns out, helped write the legislation for the Americorps program.
We had many great discussions and fun learning activities. In one of my classes, we competed to see who could work as a team to build the highest balloon castle (my team won). After our classes, the fun continued, and I even forgot about my non-athletic nature and participated in Four Square and bowling. I drew the line at Capture the Flag.
The final ceremony was an emotional one, as we heard from both Clive Rainey, Habitat for Humanity’s first volunteer, and the first single white male Habitat homeowner in Texas. Together, all 600 Habitat for Humanity Americorps recited the Americorps pledge to “get things done.” I believe I speak for us all when I say we returned with renewed motivation and enthusiasm.
For the third year in a row, DELL provided a group of enthusiastic volunteers for DELL Diversity Day of the PRIDE Build. As a major sponsor of the Pride Build, the Cisco Build, and the Legal Build, DELL has actively taken a role to improve the Austin community. We are so grateful for their support!
By Michael Willard, Austin Habitat Executive Director
Miracles happen every day! Things at Austin Habitat for Humanity are very busy this fall. So busy that I asked Sarah Joiner, our Director of Volunteer Services, how many volunteers we had working this past weekend. She responded, “Over 200volunteers on Saturday!!” I was shocked. With the ACL Music Festival and a 90% chance of rain in the forecast, I was sure that few people would show up to build. This many people stepping forward to work with our family partners and homeowners was another miracle for Habitat.
These volunteers got a tremendous amount of work done, as well. Cisco Systems started the Berenji family house. The walls were raised on this five bedroom home by Cisco Systems volunteers and members of Pi Sigma Pi, Minority Engineers Service Fraternity. Around the corner from this home, HYP (Habitat Young Professionals) and American Society of Civil Engineer volunteers were laying down decking and putting up siding on another house. Across the street, a group composed of volunteers from First English Lutheran Church, Faith Lutheran Church, Bethany Lutheran Church, and the UT Lutheran Campus Ministry was working on the Ecumenical House. Over on Towbridge Circle, Wells Fargo volunteers raised the trusses on the Reyes home, while UT Phi Beta Chi volunteers installed drywall on the Sorrell family home.
In addition to all of this new construction, we had teams from Gateway Community Church and the UT Habitat Campus Chapter working on repair projects in East Austin. Our DeConstruction team worked with the Asian Business Students Association from UT on a house take-down project in West Austin. And finally, there were volunteers at our Construction Warehouse forming metal panels for a new roof to be installed on the Hodge’s home this week.
Whew! Are you tired yet? I am. But the truth of the matter is that we still have more work to do. This weekend we raise the walls on the Fabian’s home, sponsored by Austin’s LGBTG Community. In addition to this house, there are to be five more homes started between now and the end of the year.
Miracles do happen everyday! And we will need more of them, because we still need volunteers, donations and support for Austin Habitat to be able to address the needs of the families that come to us and ask for help.
I hope to see you on site this weekend, or sometime this fall, so that you can be a part of the miracle. CHANGE LIVES!
As Fall brings cooler temperatures to Austin, there is an excitement in the air on the Habitat build site. We’ve begun what will be the busiest and most impactful fall that Austin Habitat has ever seen. We have begun construction on four homes in the past month and will see the walls raised on nine more homes through the end of the year. Because of the ongoing generosity of the Austin community, 13 more families will have a new place to call home by 2010.
In August, employees from The Home Depot Technology Center began building the home they are sponsoring for the Ubaldo Family. Senior Director of the Technology Center, Daniel Grider, joined with employees on the first day of the build to congratulate Ms. Ubaldo and help raise the walls.
San Juanita Ubaldo, future homeowner; Daniel Grider, Home Depot Technology Center Senior Director; Michael Willard, AHFH Executive Director
A week later, Jade Sorrel’s home, sponsored by University Federal Credit Union, began construction.
Future homeowner, Jade Sorrell, (right) with UFCU volunteers
UFCU President and CEO Tony Budet discusses plans for the build with Austin Habitat ED Michael Willard
Jade’s energy and excitement lit up the build site and was evident this past weekend as she came running over to congratulate Ruth and Jesse Hodge, her soon-to-be neighbors, on the beginning of their home. The Hodge’s home is made possible by Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers of the Rho Chapter at UT Austin, who for the third year in a row are fulling sponsoring and building a home with Austin Habitat.
Jesse and Ruth Hodge with Michael Willard and SAE officers
Walls also came up this past weekend on the Ecumenical Build. Churches throughout Austin have come together to raise the money for Chris Estrada’s home.
Rain or shine, hot or cold, there will be a lot of activity on the Austin Habitat work site this fall, and we look forward to seeing you out there!
On Saturday, July 18, members of the Austin Bar Association, Tamika Nobles and her family, and many dedicated Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered at the Legal Build homesite for a truly inspiring occasion – the raising of the walls for Tamika’s home! It was hot work, but I don’t think anyone who was there would have missed it. After brief words Habitat staff members, Mishell Kneeland (the Chair of Legal Build), and Tamika herself, the group got busy.
Michael Kellerman, Director of External Relations and Development
Mishell Kneeland, Legal Build Chair
Melissa Orren-Cordoba introduces Tamika Nobles
Then, the first wall was ceremoniously raised to cheers from the gathered crowd!
Ready...
Set...
FIRST WALL!!
Among the participants were: Judge Raul Gonzalez; Susan Salch, Sheri Hiroms, and David Greenberg of Cantilo & Bennett, whose $10,000 donation allowed us to begin building; David Sheppard (who nicely provided lunch for the workers); Sarah Foster of Haynes & Boone; Kennon Peterson, the Supreme Court’s Rules Attorney; Mishell Kneeland and Frank King from the Attorney General’s Office; and Jessica, a summer associate from Thompson Coe, along with family members and friends.
Members of Austin’s legal community, along with dedicated Habitat volunteers and Tamika, wielded power tools and raised walls.
Tamika and her friends worked side by side with members of the bar and the volunteers. The group worked hard in the heat, but by the end of the day, the walls for Tamika’s home were in place and the trusses were on the roof, ready for the next group to install.
Although this represents a terrific milestone for this year’s Legal Build, we still have to raise just over $33,000 to complete Tamika’s home. Every bit helps. Please consider clicking here and helping us reach our goal so that Tamika can move into a safe home this fall!
Continuing the Austin Bar’s tradition of working with Austin Habitat for Humanity to give deserving Austin families the benefits of home ownership, Legal Build 2009 kicked off last week and needs your help. There are many benefits of home ownership that Tamika Nobles and her family will realize through the partnership among her, the Austin Bar Association, and Austin Habitat. Did you know that children of low-income homeowners are 20 percent more likely to graduate from high school, 62 percent more likely to acquire post-secondary education and typically earn 24 percent higher income as adults? Helping parents become homeowners improves their children’s prospects for a more productive adult life. Tamika Nobles and her family will work side by side with us to build her home, which she will pay for through a mortgage.
We must raise a total of $65,000 before the summer’s end to build a home for Tamika Nobles and her family.Our first goal to get things started off is to raise $20,000 by the end of March.
You can help us change the lives of Tamika Nobles and her family! Donations may be mailed to the Austin Bar Foundation, 816 Congress Ave., Suite 700, Austin, TX 78701 (please indicate that the contribution is for Legal Build) or may be made online. If you would like additional information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact me at mishell.kneeland@gmail.com or 965.5463.
Together with the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Associated General Contractors Austin Chapter and the City of Austin, we dedicated the final two Habitat houses in the Frontier at Montana neighborhood on Sat., January 31.
We celebrated on Sat., Jan. 24 our longstanding partnership with the City of Austin by dedicating three homes in the Meadow Lake subdivision developed by Reytex Homes.
While all of our house dedications are special, this event signified a new and exciting collaboration between our organization, the City of Austin and Reytex Homes. Current housing market factors and strong relationships with the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and Reytex Homes allowed us to capitalize on a rare opportunity to purchase three new homes built by Reytex Homes in the wonderful community of Meadow Lake.
This new structure will play a key role in our strategic goals to achieve capacity levels of affordable house and provides another success story in our mission to eliminate poverty housing through the power of home ownership.
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, January 31, we began our 11th annual Catholic Build. Over 90 volunteers from 12 parishes came together in fellowship and service. By the end of the day, the walls were up and plumbed, and the trusses were loaded and stood.
Continuing the Austin Bar’s tradition of working with Austin Habitat for Humanity to give deserving Austin families the benefits of home ownership, Legal Build 2009 kicked off last week and needs your help. There are many benefits of home ownership that Tamika Nobles and her family will realize through the partnership among her, the Austin Bar Association, and Austin Habitat. Did you know that children of low-income homeowners are 20 percent more likely to graduate from high school, 62 percent more likely to acquire post-secondary education and typically earn 24 percent higher income as adults? Helping parents become homeowners improves their children’s prospects for a more productive adult life. Tamika Nobles and her family will work side by side with us to build her home, which she will pay for through a mortgage. 
