Members of our staff have actively volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds homes and restores communities for those in need regardless of race or religion. Habitat’s projects are spread out across the entire globe. According to Habitat for Humanity’s website, there are nearly 2 billion people across the globe who live in slum housing and a staggering 100 million that are homeless. This displacement of people can be attributed to events like natural disasters and even war; regardless of the situation Habitat strives to increase the quality of living for those in need of support.5
Habitat is more than just a volunteer construction company, as they don’t limit their focus on rebuilding homes, but entire neighborhoods as well. CEO, Jonathan Reckford, states that, “Neighborhood Revitalization is the way of the future and is an essential element of Habitat’s work. By focusing on entire neighborhoods, we can greatly increase our impact”. For example, Chen Phon, a Cambodian villager who lost a leg and some of his vision to a landmine. He was finally able to effectively provide for his family after years of hardship when Habitat for Humanity Cambodia provided the necessary materials to build a well for Phon and his village. Sometimes the simple act of building a well can save 20 or more people.
We agree that these little fixes in a community can lead to extraordinary benefits in regards to people’s quality of life. It’s for this exact reason why we take pride in volunteering on our own time to help the community that we have been a part of for 41 years. While donations can be effective, we’ve seen better results for us and the community when we are actually getting our hands dirty and building for those in need.
