August 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 2021
We are SO excited that Risen Savior partnered with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity again this summer to help build a multi-family home for 2 families! We were on-site Monday August 2nd-Wednesday, August 4th in Chaska. Once we have a summer 2022 build scheduled, we will post that here and start recruiting volunteers. For now, enjoy photos from our 2021 build!
Risen Savior parishioners and visitors blew us away by the support shown for this project! THANK YOU!!!
- All of our volunteer positions were filled! This included meal team servers, construction crew team members & crew leaders, and photographers.
- It’s clear that our parishioners love to make sure all are well-fed! Many people signed up to bring snacks, fruit, desserts, and paper products to make sure our volunteers stayed energized.
- We met our pledge of $4500 to Habitat three weeks earlier than expected! The pledge goes towards the cost of materials used on site. We were also able to provide volunteers coffee, snacks, and lunch each day due to the further generosity of many contributions.
- Your prayers, words of affirmation, and excitement for this project sustained everyone involved.
On July 26th, we welcomed Anne and Julia of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity for a presentation and discussion titled, “There’s no place like home!” The Transformational Power of Homeownership.
Some of the key learnings we took away included:
- Habitat for Humanity was originally imagined as Koinonia Farm by a biblical scholar/farmer named Clarence Jordan in Georgia in 1942.
- Twin Cities Habitat was first started by a Lutheran congregation in South Minneapolis in 1985.
- Affordable, safe housing is linked to many other needs: quality education, stability, better health, access to transportation and jobs, and more! We heard one Habitat homeowner’s story of how her home is her “sanctuary.” It has meant family, community, security, and thriving together.
- Habitat not only builds new homes but also purchases and rehabs homes, provides mortgages for clients to buy on the open market, helps clients make repairs so they can stay in their homes, does advocacy work, and more.
- Historically because of racist policies and structures in place, affordable housing has been denied to People of Color. Despite many progressive social programs, Minnesota is one of the worst states for racial disparities in housing. The experience of searching for and securing housing for a Person of Color is much harder than for whites.
- Habitat has extensive financial and homeowner coaching for their clients, which ensure that their homeowners are ready for the challenge of owning a home! They learn skills for financial planning, home repair, and being part of a neighborhood. Habitat families receive post-purchasing support as well.
Learn more about Twin Cities Habitat at this link.