Another Dedication
On Saturday, September 10th we handed over the keys to House #49 to Eric and Lori and their two boys.
Since 1998 we've done this ceremony 49 times. I've only been involved in the last four, including this one, but each time I'm struck by a sense of accomplishment. What the homeowners have accomplished, what the volunteers and committee members have accomplished, what the board of directors accomplished. It is a physical representation of all the hard work that goes into completing a Habitat House.
A quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recently appeared in the Habitat for Humanity magazine and really hits home, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Each and every person come to Habitat with nothing more than faith that what they are doing is the right thing without any idea of where this journey will take them. The homeowners operate on faith that the volunteers will show up to assist them in this process. The volunteers bring their faith that the homeowners will take care of the home built for them. The committees and Board of Directors have faith that the work they do better the community in which they live.
But we all agree, the sheer activity of building houses enable us to build up people. Which is why we say...Through shelter, we empower.
Now we've built up Eric and Lori and their boys into homeowners. They have joined a pretty exclusive club, Habitat Homeowners.
