Are you free for a few hours on Saturday, Aug. 15? Would be willing to join other community members and help a young family? If you can wield a hammer, use a paintbrush, climb a ladder or make simple home repairs then Habitat for Humanity of Clearfield County sure could use your help beginning at 9 a.m. You don’t need any prior construction experience –just a willingness to help.
Since this is an active construction site, volunteers are asked to leave their flip-flops at home, bring their favorite sunscreen, hat, and wear appropriate clothing, including sturdy shoes. Volunteers also need a brown-bag lunch and drinks, and should feel free to bring their own tools, a work belt, and safety glasses. However, Habitat for Humanity does have all the tools volunteers will need on hand. For more information about the volunteer day please call John Farr at 375-9718. Volunteers can work any portion of the day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Through their generosity volunteers will be helping a young family realize their dream.
The biggest, most significant purchase a family makes is probably their home. “Home” means so much. Home is a place where birthday parties happen when you are five. Home is a place families gather for Thanksgiving dinner. Home is where parents tuck their children in for the night, friends come to play, and it is a place you are always welcome. A young family, with two small children, is about to realize the dream of a lifetime-home ownership. Their dream is coming true because of a group of very dedicated volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Clearfield County-you can join them next Saturday.
Since the first shovel of dirt David and Tammy Salgado have given every spare moment of their time working on their home or helping Habitat for Humanity. Their labor is a key principle for Habitat for Humanity and so is their ability to pay for the home. Habitat for Humanity is a faith-based organization powered by volunteers and generous donations from local contractors, building supply outlets, community organizations and businesses. This collaboration will soon provide the Salgado family a home that is safe and affordable. But more important it will be a home in which their two children can thrive.
Volunteers from Wallkill, New York were on hand recently doing a hundred different tasks recently. What they were actually doing was less important to them than being part of the effort. Like these volunteers, your efforts will provide a home for this local family. By helping, Habitat for Humanity volunteers quickly discover the magnitude of their actions. By giving part of themselves to a family they quickly learn the inestimable value of home.
Habit for Humanity is a worldwide grassroots movement that helps families finance and build affordable homes. At a time when some 30 million U.S. households are faced with excessively large housing costs, overcrowding, and other housing inadequacies, affordable housing is getting harder to find. At the same time most of the government’s housing subsidies do not benefit the poor. In fact Department of Housing numbers indicated that nearly 15 million households use 70 percent of their annual income for rent. Clearly the importance of clean, decent, stable housing is a critical issue for many area families. These families simply want a safe, healthy home for their children. Home ownership in return provides a sense of pride and dignity, increases children’s educational levels and the community as a whole benefits in a myriad of ways.