Congratulations are in order to Dawn Alley, as she is the first place winner of our blog contest, and the recipient of the $500 US Airways gift card!  And because we loved them both equally, we have a tie for 2nd place:  Christina McLachlan and Laura Temple are our runners-up and winners of $50 Home Depot gift cards!  These winners will be contacted by DC Habitat staff today about their prizes — kudos to the three of you for your blog writing talents!

We thank all of those who participated in our first-ever blog contest — we enjoyed reading what each of you had to say about what makes a house a home.  We also appreciate your continued interest in our work here at DC Habitat.  Please keep reading our blog, and make sure to keep a look out for the next contest.

Here are the winning entries:

1st Place – Dawn Alley

In many ways, of course, what makes a house a home is the people inside it. A home is a place to be surrounded by the comfort and warmth of family and friends. But maybe because this question is being asked by Habitat for Humanity, I can’t help but think about what it means to own your own home. For me, my home is all about permanence. When I was growing up, we moved a lot. There were some really great things about this: my family was incredibly close, and I got to see the country. But there were bad things, too. In one period of particular upheaval, I went to five different schools in four years. More than anything, I wanted to go somewhere and stay there.  Just stay there. Paint the walls. Know the neighbors. From that perspective, it’s not at all surprising that one of our first priorities when we got married was buying a house. I was ready to put down roots, both literally and figuratively. When you plant bulbs in the fall, it’s because you plan to be around in the spring to see the flowers. That is what a home means to me. It’s a place you invest in, because you’re planning to stick around for a lifetime of bar-b-ques and Thanksgiving dinners. It’s neighbors you know and pets that greet you at the door. It’s a place you take care of — and that takes care of you.

2nd Place – Christina McLachlan

What exactly makes a house a home? It’s not the amount of televisions one has, or the name brand recliner that sits in the living room, or even the shag carpeting that’s been nailed to the floor since the seventies. What makes a house a home are the feelings, the smells, and the memories that one relates to being in a place so comforting they call it a home. As a child, I grew up in one home. We lived in this home until I was 18 years old. It was such a large part of me and every memory I’ve ever had of a home was here. I can remember coming back from school in September; my mom would have the windows open, flowers on the table, the wind blowing the curtains; My mom sitting on the front porch ready to greet me with a smile on her face. Or at Christmas time: the first night we put up our tree. With the fresh pine in the air, the warm smell of cinnamon, the dusty smell of ornaments that have been in the attic all year, and the brisk smell of the winter’s night. Or the first thunder storm of the summer. I can remember watching the sky getting dark, the leaves turning up, and the smell of the cold rain on the hot pavement after taking refuge on the front porch. My home is where all of these memories happened. Being in a place where I felt so comfortable, relaxed, happy and loved is something that my 22-year-old self cherishes. These are the smells and feelings of my home that my memory will keep forever. We have since moved out of this home and it is still the only residence that I consider my “home.” You can live somewhere your entire life and never really feel like its home. The feeling of utter comfort and happiness that comes with a home is due to the people, the memories, and the experiences that come with it. The sheer love that exudes through the rooftop, being in a place that is yours, where you can relax around the people you cherish, and make memories that last a lifetime, is what makes a house a home.

2nd Place – Laura Temple

My favorite 20 minutes of the week is Saturday afternoon when my house is finally clean, my husband and four-year-old boy are on their way home and I can sit for a few minutes, appreciating my freshly-vacuumed house with everything in its place and fresh flowers on the dining table, taking comfort in the knowledge that this is OUR home. The minute my family walks in, the cleanliness and calm begin to evaporate, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Home is chaotic. Home is often messy, like a toy store blew up in the living room. Home is a noisy child in a superhero cape jumping from couch to chair fighting villains. Home is a neighbor crossing the street to have a cold drink sitting in a lawn chair in the driveway while our children play in the cul de sac. Home is having a regular place to put up the Christmas tree every year. Home is participating in neighborhood holiday traditions like sharing the tall ladder to put up the outside lights, group trick-or-treating, and block party cook-outs. More than anything to me, “home” means a safe, comfortable place for my family to live and love and appreciate what we have in life and in each other.

By: Paula Katrina Drago

In 1996, Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. began hosting AmeriCorps Members, and last September marked the 16^th group to serve with our organization. We honored their dedication and service during AmeriCorps Week, March 10-17, and now we’d like to share a few reasons why we just wouldn’t be the same without them.

1. AmeriCorps Members make the best new hires

Why start from scratch when you can hire someone who has already dedicated a year of service to your organization? The knowledge and experience they gain during their service year make AmeriCorps Members great permanent staff. Of the 15 staff members that work at DC Habitat, one-third are former AmeriCorps Members.

2. AmeriCorps Members leave a lasting imprint

AmeriCorps Members are constantly looking for sustainable ways to move our organization forward. The projects and programs they develop and implement, and the increased capacity they create, remain in place years later to improve organizational efficiency.

3. AmeriCorps Members are the face of DC Habitat

Every day, Members interact with DC Habitat supporters throughout the community whether they are leading groups of volunteers in construction, interacting with donors and advocates at affiliate events, responding to volunteer inquiries and feedback, or working with Habitat homebuyers.

5. AmeriCorps Members make connections and build relationships

Service doesn’t end when the work day is over. Members are passionate about their communities and get involved in a variety of ways; they attend community meetings, volunteer their free time with other non-profits, and connect with service-minded people and organizations. Through these activities and connections, DC Habitat can make ties with local schools, different nonprofits, faith organizations and many more people and programs.

6. AmeriCorps Members increase our annual volunteer capacity by over 350%

In 2011, our AmeriCorps Construction Crew Leaders helped to supervise 60-120 volunteers weekly. With staff alone, our weekly capacity would drop to just 20. That means over 2,800 more people volunteered last year because of AmeriCorps.

7. AmeriCorps Members increase our annual building capacity by 400%

Nine homes > two homes, and nine homes is now the minimum number we can build each year with the help of construction volunteers that AmeriCorps Members supervise. Seven more families will become homeowners this year thanks to their service.

8. AmeriCorps Members can’t get enough

They don’t exactly creep around once they finish their term (for the most part), but they do manage to find ways to continue serving. Habitat AmeriCorps Alums volunteered more than 192 hours at DC Habitat last year alone. When occasional volunteering isn’t enough, Members return to serve another term, like all of our six current Members who are on their second (or third!) year of service.

What we’re trying to say is, AmeriCorps, you complete us! Thanks to all our Members, past and present, for all that you do for your communities.

Welcome to DC Habitat’s first blog contest! The theme for the blog is: “What makes a house a home?” We all have one, but there are certain elements that really make it special to us. What are they for you? You have until April 15th to subscribe to out blog and submit your responses below in the comment box. Winners  will be announced on our blog by Friday, April 20, at which time the winning entries will be re-posted on the main page. The 1st place winner will receive a $500 US Airways gift card, and the 2nd place winner will receive a $50 Lowe’s gift card. Now before you start typing, let’s go over some rules first:

1) Subscribe to the blog.

2) You must submit your entry in the comment box below.

3) One entry per person.

4) Entry must be submitted by 11:59pm on Sunday, April 15th.

5) Include your name and email address at the bottom of your post. (Don’t worry, we will remove your email address from the post before allowing it to go public.)

You are free to begin, have some fun with it!

By Paula Katrina Drago

Last weekend thousands of Americans chose not to hit the snooze button, run errands, or relax at home, and instead took time to serve their communities in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  They are a reminder that MLK Day is not simply a federal holiday or another day off, but also a National Day of Service.  Among those who answered the call to serve were members of an interfaith partnership between the Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, the Bethesda Jewish Congregation and Idara-e-Jaferia Islamic Center who worked with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC to build affordable housing in the Northeast neighborhood of Ivy City.

This interfaith partnership began in 1964, when Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church and Bethesda Jewish Congregation began sharing the same worship space in a building in Bethesda, MD, and recognized the importance of encouraging communication between the two congregations by exchanging ideas, sharing meals, and coming together to foster understanding. After the attacks of September 11, both reached out to include a local mosque in their partnership, and were connected with the Idara-e-Jaferia Islamic Center, in Burtonsville, MD—a mosque that was looking to create an interfaith connection.

Throughout the year, the three congregations come together to celebrate holidays, study with spiritual leaders, discuss books and films, share in potluck dinners, and serve together to build affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC.  The group has volunteered with DC Habitat for more than  four years.

Volunteers began the day by reflecting on the importance of service to Dr. King’s legacy and listening to excerpts from his 1968 speech, “The Drum Major Instinct.” They came together with current and former AmeriCorps Members, local volunteers, and future Habitat homebuyers to install interior trim and siding and remove trash and debris from the neighborhood.  People from all walks of life came together to work alongside one another, letting differences like socioeconomic backgrounds, race, age, and faith fall by the wayside. Their hard work and the work of hundreds of other Habitat volunteers has enabled the building of new, energy-efficient, and affordable houses in Ivy City.  Because of this dedication to MLK’s call for service, the soon-to-be-homeowners will move into structures that are more than simply houses, but homes within a caring and committed neighborhood.

In his memoir of the Montgomery bus boycott, Stride Toward Freedom: the Montgomery Story, Dr. King wrote, “Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated.”  DC Habitat’s MLK Day volunteers embodied the example of Dr. King by refusing to allow their differences to separate them, and by coming together to share commonalities and build a more unified, tolerant, and empowered community.

On the heels of our participation in the 2011 Solar Decathlon, DC Habitat has made further accomplishments in our design and construction of efficient, sustainable housing.  Not only are we taking what we learned through the ‘Empowerhouse’ Solar Decathlon project into the building of passive homes in Ivy City, we’ve also been awarded LEED status on our first eight homes in that neighborhood.

The eight homes on Providence Street NE, completed in June of 2011, are now officially certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council.

So what exactly does that certification mean?

LEED certification provides independent, internationally recognized, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings use 39 percent of the energy and 74 percent of the electricity produced each year in the United States.  By adhering to LEED standards, DC Habitat has built new homes that use significantly less energy and water than those built to standard code. 

A few of the ways we work to adhere to LEED’s rigorous standards are:

– Implementing a compact home design that minimizes the house’s footprint on its local environment and is situated in a location that is connected to the surrounding community via public transportation, bike paths and parks.

– Using recycled and environmentally friendly materials whenever possible

– Improved framing and insulation techniques to create a tight house envelope for greater energy efficiency

 – Implementing storm water runoff prevention measures such as rain gardens and other low impact landscape designs

And those are just a few. 

By earning LEED certification on these Ivy City houses, DC Habitat has ensured that the homes are healthy places to live and even more affordable over time for the partner families who live in them.

Claude Jeudy, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Haiti, wrote a letter of appreciation to US affiliates and volunteers today.  We hope you’ll take a few moments to read this letter and get an idea of how the recovery efforts in Haiti are going:

Two years ago this week, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake that left more than two million people homeless. I wish to express my deep gratitude for the support you have given Habitat for Humanity to help families impacted by this disaster.

Since the tragedy, Habitat has helped more than 40,000 Haitian families. We have partnered with them to build decent and simple homes, have taught critical job skills to thousands of people and have created more than 700 job opportunities. In a nation with an unemployment rate of 60 percent, jobs are a crucial part of rebuilding.

To learn how your affiliate’s support has helped transform lives, I invite you to access Habitat’s report, “Building Homes and Hope in Haiti: Two Years into the Recovery,” along with a video about the past two years’ work, at Habitat.org/Haiti. You can also access information on My Habitat 2.0.

I feel energized and filled with hope by what has been accomplished to bring lasting change to the country I love so dearly. Our Habitat team is working tirelessly, and with your continued support, we are making a difference.

Today, however, I still see the suffering of homeless families. Every dark cloud that moves in fills me with sadness, as I know the children will not be able to sleep. Their tents cannot protect them from the heavy rains that soak their beds made of discarded cardboard remnants and old blankets. The wailing of the mothers in the darkness of the night fills me with grief.

We must not forget about their suffering and the suffering of more than half a million Haitians who remain homeless. My greatest fear is that they will be forgotten.

Habitat must have your support to serve more families. Our need for help is dire, so, I ask that you continue to help Habitat help Haiti.

Thank you again for all that you have done to help my country. I am grateful for the continued partnership of affiliates across the United States and your local efforts to help Haiti.
May the good Lord continue to bless you while you help care for his children in need.

Warmest regards,
Claude Jeudy, National Director
Habitat for Humanity Haiti

On November 10, the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) group at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent six of their members, along with a HUD Community Planning and Development colleague, to DC Habitat’s Ivy City development.  The group spent the day helping our staff and other volunteers build a new two-family home.

Deja Love facilitated the arrangements with DC Habitat and was joined by Sarah Stewart, HUD’s RPCV coordinator, and RPCV Tino Calabia, a recent HUD retiree, all three of whom participated previously in a July service day at our Ivy City site.  Participating for the first time were RPCVs Bill Eilerman, Bill Maurer, and Derek Warren. 

Deja Love attaches a roof truss to an exterior wall.

Repeat visits made by groups like this are especially important in helping us achieve our goal to build more homes each year.  HUD has already been a generous partner of DC Habitat by providing ”Neighborhood Stabilization Program” funds to support our work in Ivy City — and we appreciate the added support that comes from the RPCV group’s volunteer service.

“We hope to encourage other RPCV groups around the country to volunteer their time at Habitat for Humanity sites,” said Tino Calabia.

Some 40 employees at HUD headquarters and its field offices are veteran volunteers of the Peace Corps, many of whom have participated in other activities celebrating this year’s 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps.

By Paula Katrina Drago

The past month has been an exciting one out on the construction site in Ivy City.  On Wednesday, October 19th, we kicked off Freddie Mac’s “Making a Community” (MAC) Month, with a group of volunteers who showed us that a little rain couldn’t slow them down.  MAC Month is an initiative that gets employees out to volunteer and give back to their local communities.  

That Thursday, we had a great time working with a huge group of volunteers (60!) from Kaiser Associates and Kaiser Permanente, two different companies, who came together for “Kaiser Day.”  On Friday, more MAC Month volunteers from Freddie Mac came to work alongside a group from a pre-apprenticeship Green Construction training program through the Spanish Catholic Center of Catholic Charities.  We worked with Young Professionals from Baltimore on Saturday and received a special lunch delivery from Sigma Gamma Rho to refuel us all for the afternoon!

Freddie Mac volunteers work on Central Place homes.

Last week, Freddie Mac was back to help pour concrete to fill our ICF (insulated concrete form) walls on all of our new construction units, 1846/1848 and 1838/1840 Central Place. We’ve been wrapping up framing on the 1846/1848 duplex by building stair platforms and porch roofs. With the help of a U.S. Marines group, we installed stairs and wrapped up the first phase of building before getting electric and plumbing started. 

Over at 1838/1840 Central Place, where we poured the foundation just a few weeks ago, work is moving quickly. We’ve already framed the first floor, completed one level of ICF wall, installed the joists and decking, and sheathed the entire first floor exterior.  With volunteers from the American Psychological Association who worked not just in the cold, but in the sleet and snow of last Saturday, we were able to raise second story walls.

Thanks to all of our committed construction volunteers – we hope you’ll subscribe to the blog so you’ll get our routine updates on new home construction in Ivy City.

By Ashley Hartzell

Habitat for Humanity and its partnership with The Dow Chemical Company are being recognized as a finalist for the Best Partnership award given by the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. The category focuses on honoring the collaboration of companies and charitable organizations and their work towards addressing social issues.  Dow Chemical has been a partner with Habitat for Humanity for over 28 years, during which time the company has maintained continuous support through volunteerism, cash contributions, energy-efficient home insulation solutions, and gifts-in-kind.

As stated in a recent press release from Habitat for Humanity International, Dow Chemical has:

-Supported more than 25,000 homes in 21 countries, serving as a subject matter expert in energy efficiency and conservation in the construction of houses

-Pledged nearly $1.5 million to help fund 18 Habitat community builds and other key projects around the world

-Anticipated a $2.5 million gift-in-kind contribution towards insulation products by the end of the year. Since 1983 Dow has totaled nearly $12.5 million in funding and more than $25 million in gift-in-kind support.

 “Addressing the challenges of affordable housing requires collaboration among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors,” said Jonathon Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “We see specifically through our partnership with Dow how we can accomplish so much more when we work together toward the common goals of helping families and developing strong and sustainable communities.”

Now, we need you, our readers, to help make this sustainable partnership an award winning one.  You can vote in 3 simple steps:

 -Log on to www.corporatecitizenshipvote.com

-Select the Dow Chemical Company & Habitat for Humanity International heading

-Select vote!

Voting ends on October 28^th at 11:59, so get your vote in as often as you can and spread the word!  Your vote helps recognize an effective collaborative effort and years of working towards improving the lives of our homeowners and communities through energy-efficient and sustainable opportunities.

By Dennis Smyth

There are many important ingredients required for Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. (DC Habitat) to successfully build a new affordable home or rehabilitate a vacant home — including such obvious inputs as land, materials, tools and permits.  The addition of committed volunteers, led by a skilled construction staff, is the essential element that enables us to accelerate our production of decent, affordable homes in Washington, D.C. 

Volunteers do much of their work with Habitat on the construction site — work ranging from site preparation to all levels of construction.  Volunteers with no previous construction skills often show up a bit nervous about whether they will be able to actually contribute to the building of our homes.  They soon realize that under the guidance of our skilled crew leaders, they will indeed build part of a home and usually finish the day quite amazed at what they learned about construction and Habitat’s affordable housing mission.  Many also walk away with a wonderful feeling that they helped to make the world more than just a little bit better that day.  These volunteers can be heard exclaiming things like, “I helped build a bedroom wall today!”

Volunteers also support Habitat’s mission by serving in a variety of non-construction capacities, including: committee members, board members, office volunteers, and as special events volunteers.  In these roles, volunteers help Habitat with a wide variety of tasks, including organizing paperwork and electronic records related to onsite volunteers, data entry, writing for our website and publications, and helping to identify qualifying homebuyer applicants.

Most of our construction site and “offsite” volunteers eventually realize something important through their work with us: substantial financial resources are needed to acquire the permits, plans, properties, tools, materials and staff that, together with volunteers, result in the high-quality yet affordable Habitat homes in Washington, D.C.  Many of the financial expenses reflect the high cost of land and construction in major urban areas like the District.  It’s for this reason that we ask build groups to donate – or raise –the cash needed to fund their work on our site – typically, $5,000 per 20 volunteers who spend a day building with us.

We’ve benefited from the steady, generous support of many corporate sponsors around the Washington area – sponsors who donate large sums of money and send teams of employees out to build with us on a regular basis.  But in order to increase our capacity, we need to continually increase the amount of funds we raise.  That’s why we ask all those who support our mission to become a partner with us – whether it’s for a single team build or as a platinum level sponsor – and help provide DC Habitat with the combination of funding and volunteer labor we so critically need.