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| Welcome! |
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Welcome to Flatirons Habitat's new
Faith-Focused E-Newsletter!
This is an
exciting time in faith relations at Flatirons Habitat for
Humanity! We very much appreciate the strong support that we
have received from the faith community in our service area.
Currently, we are making a concerted effort to strengthen our
relationships with our faith partners and establish new ones.
No relationship can flourish without good communication, and this
newsletter, which will be published six times per year, is a major
part of our strategy to communicate effectively with people of faith
in our service area. We invite you to forward it to others
whom you believe would like to learn more about Habitat, and we look
forward to hearing your comments and suggestions about how it can be
improved to better serve your needs. We also hope you will
take advantage of this forum as a means of promoting Habitat-related
events and activities that are taking place in your
congregation. Let the conversation begin!
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| Upcoming Events |
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Clergy Build Days
Thursday, September
18 and Friday, September
19
International Day of Prayer for Habitat for
Humanity
Sunday, September
21
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Harmony Haven - 16th and Yarmouth in north
Boulder
Holy Smokes
February 21,
2009
Broomfield United Methodist Church
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| Our Wish List |
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1. Volunteer administrator for our Thrift
Store.
2. Volunteer eBay coordinator for our Thrift
Store.
3. Volunteers to serve on our committees.
4. Partnerships with community businesses and
congregations to build homes.
5. Corporate sponsors for our events.
6. Congregations willing to provide lunches for
our construction volunteers.
7. Volunteers with some construction expertise who
would be willing to be trained to serve as Crew Leaders on a monthly
basis.
8. Tools and accessories, including tool belts,
utility knives, carpenter pencils, measuring tapes, work gloves,
extension cords, air hoses, a chalk line, ear plugs, dust masks,
safety glasses, levels, AA batteries, and walkie talkies.
9. Shirts and printing services for t-shirts
for construction staff and volunteers.
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| Garage Sale |
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What:
Thrivent Flatirons Chapter is sponsoring a Garage Sale to benefit
Habitat for Humanity!
When:
Saturday, August
23
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Where:
Mount Calvary Lutheran
Church
3485 Stanford Ct.
Boulder, CO 80305
303-499-1444
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| Building on Faith Week |
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September 14-21,
2008
We hope
that you will remember the work of Habitat for Humanity in your
worship services during Building on Faith Week. An
informational bulletin insert and an insert containing Habitat's
Litany for Shelter are available through our office at no
charge. If you would like to take a special offering for
Flatirons Habitat, special offering envelopes are also
available. Please inform us by September 1 if you would like
to order any of these materials.
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| Concert |
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"Go
for Baroque"
to benefit
Flatirons Habitat for Humanity
featuring
Organ, Voice, Harpsichord, and Flute
on
Friday, November 21,
2008
at
7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Boulder
located at
1820 15th Street
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| Temple Talks |
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Would you like for your
congregation to learn more about Habitat for Humanity?
Host a Temple Talk!
Representatives of
Flatirons Habitat are available to speak to your congregation,
missions committee, or adult education classes about Habitat's work
around the globe and in this community. Building on
Faith Week (September 14-21) is an especially good time to educate
your congregation about Habitat, but we have plenty of flexibility
to meet your scheduling needs throughout the year. We look
forward to seeing you!
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| Homeowner Applications |
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Do you know a
potential Habitat homeowner?
View our selection criteria
here. Applicants
must demonstrate the inadequacy of their current housing situation,
an ability to pay a no-interest mortgage, a
willingness to partner with Habitat through sweat equity hours and
participation in homeowner education classes, and must meet
residency requirements. To refer a family to us, please
contact Clinton Moore, Director of Family Services, at 303-447-3787
(ext. 222) or cmoore@flatironshabitat.org.
Persons interested
in applying for a Habitat home are encouraged to attend an
upcoming New Homeowner Orientation session.
The next session will be held on Saturday, August
30, at 10:30 a.m. in the Boulder Creek Room at the
Boulder Public Library (1000 Canyon Blvd.).
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The
Cornerstone
A Newsletter for the
Faith Community
Pentecost
2008 | |
Clergy Corner:
The Reverend Dr. Pete Terpenning
Pastor, Community United Church of
Christ
 Why I am Involved with Habitat for
Humanity
This summer, I traveled
with a Youth Work Trip to Heifer Ranch in Arkansas this
June. It was a great trip and good experience for most
of us, learning about Heifer International, doing some
service work around the Ranch and experiencing in a
small way the life of subsistence farmers through a
special experience called "The Global Village". This
experience let we privileged Americans experience how
the people who receive help from Heifer live every day.
This experience taught me that Heifer and Habitat for
Humanity have a lot in common. Like Habitat, Heifer is
not a give-away program. Families who receive animals
from Heifer must pay back Heifer by passing on the
offspring of their animal (s) to other families. The
families also must work with Heifer in other ways:
assisting other families new to the program, joining in
cooperative farming ventures organized by Heifer and
attending educational programs. Both are based on
spreading self-reliance, not dependence. Through Habitat
or Heifer, families and individuals receive not only
assistance in improving their standard of living, but
they receive pride, stability and better life for their
children.
My first job with Habitat (beyond pounding nails) was
working with the family selection and support committee
at a Habitat affiliate in Michigan. One of our first
families was the Ramirez family. They were living in a
truly substandard apartment, one with holes in the
walls, vermin...you can imagine. A woman from our
congregation was assigned to be their mentor in the
program and we built a very simple (but decent) house
for them. I will always remember the enormous effect the
experience of home ownership had upon the Ramirez
family. Now the father had a reason to be proud of his
accomplishment of helping build the home and proudly
maintained the house and yard, the mother kept the house
scrupulously clean and proudly invited us to meals
there. But the effect on the three sons of the family
was the most remarkable. Suddenly, the three boys had a
kitchen table in a clean, warm house at which to do
their homework. All three began to excel at school. All
played little league and their mother proudly provided
snacks for the teams. The woman from our church who
mentored them became like a grandmother to them, joining
them at holidays, remembering birthdays and helping sort
out minor crises in the family life. This was a blessing
for her as she had no family living in town. As the
years went by the boys continued to do well, and all
went off to college one by one. The turning point in
that family's life is no mystery; it was the day they
moved into their Habitat home. There are literally
thousands of stories like this with
Habitat.
We,
as the givers to self-reliance programs like Habitat
benefit too, for we know our resources are being put to
good use. Though we naturally want to support people who
are in desperate situations through providing food and
shelter in crises, it is also good to know we have
contributed to the independence and pride of people as
they are better able to provide for themselves. Through
Habitat we can learn more about the lives of the people
we are helping and it can become more like a
partnership. We who can afford to contribute our
resources make our gifts and the recipients contribute
their labor and love and together we improve our world
and the lives of the children. As Habitat always says,
it is truly a win, win
situation.
It is a joy to work with organizations like Heifer or
Habitat, where I can wholehearted pour my time and money
into the projects knowing that I am not only helping
people survive, but building up their self reliance and
self esteem at the same time. It is not just a way to
help people survive, but a way for them to get out of
poverty and begin a new
life.
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From the Heart of a
Homeowner:
Candace Ayers, Harmony Haven
My name is Candace Ayers and I
am a fourth generation native to Boulder. I'm 41
years old and a single mother. Our new 3-bedroom
townhouse in Habitat's Harmony Haven project will be
home for me and my 11-year old triplets, Kayleigh, Kyle,
and Carrie - we can't wait! It is such a blessing
to be involved with Flatirons Habitat for
Humanity. We are building our new home and we've
already built so many treasured friendships and terrific
memories! Image courtesy of Joe
VanAndel. |
Please
Pray...
- That families in our community
who qualify for Habitat homes will learn about our
program and apply.
- For our recently selected
families as they work to complete their sweat equity
hours.
- That a strong sense of
community will grow among families living in
neighborhoods that we have developed.
- For all of our volunteers who
labor so hard to provide affordable homes for our
families.
- That our staff will continue
to work together as a team and make wise use of time
and resources so as to maximize our positive impact on
the community.
- That the people of our
community will continue to support us with their time,
prayers, and donations.
- For Carey McClure, the
Development Director at Habitat for Humanity of the
St. Vrain Valley (our neighboring affiliate), whose
mother was recently diagnosed with
cancer.
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Staff
Spotlight: Derek Wittman, Congregational Outreach
Coordinator
 It
is difficult to find adequate words to express how
pleased I am to have the opportunity to work to build
strong partnerships between Flatirons Habitat for
Humanity and members of the faith community in Boulder
and Broomfield Counties. I have met many
outstanding coworkers, volunteers, and members of the
clergy since I began work as an Americorps VISTA
volunteer on June 23, and I look forward to
conversations with many more such people moving
forward.
In addition to my work at Flatirons Habitat, I am also a
doctoral candidate in religion at Baylor
University. My dissertation research focuses on
the themes of poverty and oppression in the
Psalms. Over the past couple of years, I have
become increasingly aware of how inadequate it is simply
to think, write, and talk about the scriptural mandate
to care for the poor. Poverty causes so much
unnecessary and undeserved suffering in our world that
the only reasonable option for people of faith is urgent
action on behalf of those whose lives it ravages.
I am thrilled to have found a position such as this one
in which I am able to join theory with
practice.
In the coming weeks and months, I will be visiting
worship services, soliciting meetings with members of
the clergy and interested laypersons, and working to
keep our faith community informed about the many
opportunities that are available to partner with
Habitat. I will be listening for ways in which we
can build mutually beneficial partnerships as we work
together to achieve our common goal of demonstrating
God's love to those in need. I look forward to
laboring alongside you as we build God's kingdom
together.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you
peace. Numbers
6:24-26 |
Mt. Hope
Lutheran Church Hosts Bike and Build
Event
Flatirons Habitat for Humanity
thanks Pastor George Hesse and the members of Mt. Hope
Lutheran Church in Boulder for hosting our recent Bike
and Build event on June 25, 2008. A team of
cyclists who were traveling cross-country, raising funds
to eliminate poverty housing, and helping to build
Habitat homes along their route were treated to a
delicious spaghetti dinner and an overnight stay at the
church. The cyclists, Habitat staff and
volunteers, and members of the community were privileged
to attend the Wednesday evening worship service at Mt.
Hope following the dinner, during which the cyclists
gave a presentation about their work. We
appreciate the hospitality of this congregation!
Image courtesy of Joe
VanAndel. |
| Volunteer's Voice:
Dianne Buchholz, Faith Connections
Committee
Our family just returned from a
two-week visit to South Korea, the country of birth for
our two children. It was a wonderful experience-
we visited many of the historical sites, experienced
some of the traditions and culture, ate really good food
and connected with some of the loving and caring people
that were part of our children's first few months of
life. This would rate as one of our best
travel experiences, and we have traveled to many
places. As much as I love to travel, however, one
thing is clear to me...I love to come home! Being
able to smell the familiar smells, be in my own
bathroom, sleep in a comfy-cozy bed- it's great!
And now that I have children, being able to tuck
them into their comfy-cozy beds in a safe place we call
home, that brought "home" to me one of the main reasons
I volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I want
other parents and children to also be able to say,
"there's no place like
home!"
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Music
Builds Tour 2008
Third Day
and
Switchfoot with
Robert Randolph &
the Family Band
and
Jars of Clay
in concert
October 12 - Broomfield Event Center - 6pm
A portion of the proceeds will
benefit Flatirons Habitat for Humanity and Habitat for
Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley!
Click here
to download the group ticket order form. The youth
group that sells the most tickets for this event will
win 30 passes to a Meet and Greet with the bands before
the show! Group tickets must be purchased by 5pm
on September
26. | |
| For the needy shall not always
be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish for
ever. Psalm
9:18 |
Contact
Information
Derek
Wittman
303-447-3787 ext. 230
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