The Party always ends up in the Kitchen!

We wandered into the kitchen of a house on the Vermont site where we met Kevin Blackburn(Right) a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.

Kevin: This is my First JCWP, but I’ve built with other Habitat affiliates. I’m really excited to be here. We have 15 employees participating from San Francisco and another 18 from Citi National which is our partner. Together we have donated $300,000 to this project. This is such a blessing, it’s great to be able to do this, We are volunteers, but this is better than working for a living!

Then Kevin’s friend and collegue Dwight Alexander(Left) joined in. This is Dwights 12th Habitat Build and his first time volunteering at a Jimmy Carter Work Project. Dwight was eager to share his thoughts about volunteering with Habitat.

Dwight: 1 out of 4 Habitat homes has been built with the help of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco! I think Key Day is the Best!

The two agreed that watching a family get the keys to their new home is always the best part!

Kevin: We have done a lot of openings, I’m a softy, I always cry!

Dwight and Kevin both suggested reasons to volunteer and how they plan to remain involved with Habitat For Humanity after the JCWP.

Dwight: We both have kids that are almost teenagers, and we were just talking about how when they’re old enough we want to involve them, make it a family event!

Kevin: I would suggest anybody do this, if you take a week of your vacation time, or another week, this is an opportunity that will change your life!

Shomari Davis is electrified by his JCWP experience

This is Shomari Davis’ first JCWP and his first time building with Habitat for Humanity. “I always wanted to get involved before, but I was always late!” he said. “This is a ground-breaking project, I’m proud to be here.”

Shomari works at IBEW, and his team has been putting all of the electricity and solar panels throughout the new homes. “The teamwork is phenomenal,” he said. “The volunteers are helping so much, putting the solar panels together so when we install them, everything is ready to go.”

Installing the electricity has allowed Shomari to meet quite a few of the Partner families. “I’ve talked to one family about the process and she was really excited, scared, but knew that she was headed in the right direction. I want to meet more of them.”

Shomari is surprised at the good feeling and the energy that everybody is bringing out. “The Collaborations are awesome. Knowing that you are doing something for people is awesome! Seeing the President come out as well as other people is so exciting.” Shomari was most surprised at his own feelings of gratification. “You are helping people, but you are also helping yourself.”

L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn shares personal story with Carter Family

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has been instrumental in bringing the Jimmy Carter Work Project here. "When I heard that they were looking for a site for this year's JCWP, I wrote a letter reminding the Carters of their long history with the Hahn family, and how honored we would be to have them in Los Angeles," Hahn Said.

Hahn has spent the week building side by side with people from all over the world as well as with new members of her council district. She spent Monday building with new homeowner Cassandra Torres, and shared how she was inspired by all of the women she met that day. Hahn has been a Habitat for Humanity volunteer since 1983, and this is her first Jimmy Carter Work Project. When the JCWP came to Los Angeles the first time, her father held her council seat and he was there.

"My father was the LA county campaign chair when he [Carter] ran for office. My dad and he became good friends after he was elected. When he was running, my Dad showed him around Watts." Hahn Shared a very personal family story that brought tears to our eyes when we heard it.

"After they became friends, he invited my dad to come onto AirForceOne. It's every politicians dream to be fly on AirForceOne. He asked my dad, 'Why don't you fly with me from Kansas City to D.C.' and my dad looked at the date and it was my parents 31st wedding anniversary. My dad had his secretary call back and politely decline with the information that it was his anniversary. Jimmy Carter's office immediately called back and said 'Bring your wife.' And when they boarded AirForceOne President Carter gave my mom Roses."

"Tuesday Night we had dinner in San Pedro and sat at a table beside the Carters, and we went over to take a quick picture with them, and he said on one condition that I get to have a picture alone with your mother. And he said to my mom I want you to know how much your family has meant to ours throughout the years. It was really nice for him to say that to my mom, he is a wonderful man."

Hahn's amazing stories of the relationship her family has with the Carter's only makes her involvement with the JCWP 2007 more special for her. She is constantly telling everybody how grateful she is for their hard work, and her final note was, "This is not a burden or a chore, this is going to change your life!"

A Brush With Kindness Gives a Home a Facelift

Donna Russell is a hard working mother of three, who moved into her house in 1978. She raised her family there, and all now attend college. One recently graduated from California State University, another is at UCLA and her son is in school to be a computer engineer. Donna is proud of her children, and is now eager to devote some time to her house.

Her house is 77 years old, and when she heard at a local neighborhood meeting that she could give her house some much needed repair, she jumped at the opportunity. She hoped that she had a chance to receive some help from A Brush With Kindness, and she seemed thrilled to have everybody there working on her home.

“Everything is wrong with it. There were at least 20 things wrong with the house from the plumbing on up. I had no back door, and they replaced it, they’ve replaced broken windows, I have an old furnace that hasn’t worked in at least 15 years, and they are even looking at that to see if they can get it working!” she said. Donna can’t wait to give back to Habitat for Humanity and help those like her. “The time that the volunteers put in is really heartwarming,” she said, “I wish I was retired so I could do this more often!”

Janelle wants to give more than just a week to the JCWP!

Janelle Mitchelle (right) is an AmeriCorps volunteer from Altoona, PA. This is Janelle’s first JCWP but she is not here to just build homes, she’s here to build lives. Janelle has developed a program for the week to help teach literacy to the young children who’ll be living in these new homes. She believes she can help the families by entertaining their kids while they work on their home and she’s created some Dr. Seuss-themed tutoring programs with her.

Janelle, who studies in Santa Barbara, contacted Habitat for Humanity of Greater L.A. to ask how she could help with the children and explained her ideas. They loved it and here she is. Oh and she’s also pretty handy with a hammer!

She says she loves meeting people from all over because everyone has a great story to tell (we agree.) She also loves learning new things, like conquering the nail gun. “It’s intimidating and powerful, but empowering at the same time. It feels so good to be dirty.”

“I hope to create ongoing programs for the kids and plan to be down here several weekends a month to spend time with these children. Many of them just want someone to read with them so that’s what I’ll do.”

Citi here to help the City of Angels

Arpi is building with Habitat for the first time this week while Mayra has been doing it since 2005. They both work for Citi who is a proud sponsor of the JCWP here in Los Angeles. The ladies have been working hard all day on our San Pedro site, Harborside Terrace. In fact, for part of the day they have been painting a home directly across from former President Carter, who is equally hard at work.

“It’s so wonderful to be here,” said Arpi. “The homeowner is here building with us and seems so happy! It feels so good to help her and to make a difference in her life.”

Mayra is impressed by the huge presence of volunteers here. Her first experience was a local L.A. build with about 50 Citi employees, and today she’s met Citi employees from all over the world including Mexico, Korea and India.

Mayra had this to say about the experience: “Wow. This is a huge project and nobody is slacking off at all! It makes you want to work even harder. I love meeting the families and I am excited to be building their homes.”

When he's done on the roof, he'll start on the Flowers!

“I love meeting so many new people with common interests.”

Ryan is the dept. manager of Lawn and Garden for Lowe’s Long Beach and it’s his first JCWP. It’s a lot bigger than he thought it would be but he’s having a great time. He’s been painting, cleaning and framing windows since he’s been here.

With some construction experience, he says it’s been nice to share his knowledge with others who are building for the first time. “Seeing people out there with no building experience is great! From simple to complex, they are all doing it.”

When Ryan told his mom he’s been nominated to be one of the Lowe’s volunteers here this year, she was thrilled. “She started telling me that I’d see President Carter and all about the build, she knew more about it than I did and she was so happy! It got me really excited.”

Ryan is already planning to build with Habitat as often as he can locally…guess he’s got Habititis too.

Tool Belt Diva

Norma Valley is No stranger to hard work!

Norma Vally is the host of Discovery Channel’s Tool Belt Diva and the author of Chix Can Fix. She has been volunteering with Habitat since…Sunday! She joined us for our Habitat Fest L.A. offering free clinics for women to learn home repair basics, from simple to complicated.

Since Sunday, Norma has been working hard on the homes in San Pedro and she says she is blown away by the experience. “The most overwhelming experience is to truly see what people can do together.”

She says the volunteers are like family and since day one there has been a sense of brotherhood and no egos, just everyone looking out for each other. “I wish this sentiment could last forever.”

Norma added that it seems selfish to call it volunteering because it feels so good and says, “It’s an exponential feeling and I am lucky to be here.”

She’s definitely got Habititis, she’s already asking about the next time she can come out and build! Thanks for your hard work, Norma!

Miss World Proves She's Got Major Skills

Former Miss World and Bollywood Celebrity, Diana Hayden, first found us during last year’s JCWP in her native India. When the beauty queen walked onto the build site, no one dreamed she’d be as capable and enthusiastic a builder as she is!

This year’s JCWP is Diana’s fifth build, she’s built locally in L.A., the Gulf and Africa, and she says her favorite place to be on top of the home roofing! She’ll be here all week working hard and spending time with the families.

“Each family is so amazing. They are why we do this. Why else would we wake up at 5:45 am and brave the L.A. traffic to get here? I am completely energized by this experience and the faces of each of the families.”

Today Diana is painting, roofing and sawing and next she’s going to learn how to operate a nail gun. She’s totally pumped. “Today I taught a man to use a power saw!”

Diana will be here all week shaming the daylights out of the male volunteers!

“I wish I could say something clever, but I’m too tired!”

While walking by our friend and long-time volunteer, Cindy Hoag of Beach Cities Friends (pictured 3rd from left), she looked at us and said exhaustedly, “I’d rather be painting.”

Cindy is very active with Habitat of Greater L.A. and a familiar face on the build sites. Cindy and her friends started Beach Cities Friends in the South Bay area of Los Angeles as a way to raise money and awareness in the community. BCF began with simple get-togethers with friends and now boasts several annual events that raise tens of thousands. Since 2000 they have organized incredible fundraiser throughout the area and during this year’s JCWP they are proud to be sponsoring the homes the Torres and Suarez families.

Today Cindy is installing siding to a home, which she says can be very intimidating, adding that yesterday they had to redo a certain area 3 times. As proud as she is to have learned how to load and operate a nail gun, she says she’s most proud of the former BCF members who’ve gone on to become board members for Habitat GLA, including current board chairman David E. Lin and new board member John Smet.

“This is my first JCWP and I am meeting the neatest people from all over the world. I am working with some great guys from Georgia, who keep calling ma’am, which makes me feel kind of old, but they’re sweet. I can definitely have a second career as a painter, drywaller or sliding installer, that’s for sure!”

We Met the Blog Builders!

We are not the only ones sharing stories daily, there are some awesome folks from Habitat for Humanity International blogging too! Get all the stories here:
http://www.habitat.org/jcwp/2007/blog/blog_intro.aspx

This Habitat Volunteer has been to Every JCWP

John Fantom is from Chicago where he has been volunteering for Habitat and supporting his local affiliate since ’99 but he got his first taste back in ’94 during a JCWP in Kentucky. He was also instrumental in developing a youth program that worked with Habitat twice a year and it’s still going strong.

John has been to EVERY JCWP since 1994! Amazing! He admits it seems a bit selfish because he always leaves feeling so good! “Nothing compares to this experience. I love meeting people who want to help their families so much that they are willing to work really hard to build their home – they just need a little boost.”

Dow has supported Habitat for many years, both International and locally, with teams of volunteers, financial donations, products and they even bring their customers out to volunteer. The company has participated in all 24 JCWP’s and it doesn’t seem likely they’ll ever stop!

JCWP Los Angeles news story!

Here is a recent news story on abc7.com. Check out the story by clicking the link below!
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5732315

Do-it-yourselfer; Turned Volunteer

Rosalie Gap is a local from Lakewood, California and she has been volunteering since 2000. Rosalie first volunteered for Habitat during a Global Village in New Zealand. She’s always been a do-it-herselfer so she decided to look into opportunities to help build with Habitat and the first one she found was New Zealand. As a volunteer, Rosalie has installed drywall, insulation, countertops and painted.

She says her reason for volunteering is simply boredom. She had skills and a lot of time on her hands! One thing we have heard throughout the week is ‘lasting friendships’ – Rosalie is no exception. She says her fondest memory is of two young people who met on the New Zealand build – they were from Maine and Fresno – they dated and when they decided to marry, the entire New Zealand team of volunteers received an invitation to the wedding!

The biggest highlight for Rosalie this year was running into an old friend named Danny whom she met on a build in Northern Ireland in 2004.

This year, Rosalie is proud to have been selected as a mentor for a partner family.

This is Way Better than Work!

Mercedes is having a great time out at the build site on day 2 of the JCWP. She spent the first day volunteering at the hotel helping to register all the volunteers arriving from all over the world. Today she was working on a home, mostly painting, alongside the new homeowners (a family of 8) and her fellow Citi volunteers. Mercedes has no building experience at all but says she’s having fun!

“It’s a great opportunity to see how people less fortunate are working this hard and actually becoming home owners. I think meeting the families is the best part and what can I say, it beats working!”

AmeriCorp Volunteer, Michael, builds homes and friendships with families

“This [JCWP] experience has taken my enthusiasm from toes all the way up to my head!”

When AmeriCorps volunteer, Micheal, joined Habitat this past August, he never expected the total family atmosphere of the organization. He is also blown away by the relationships he’s established with the partner families whose homes he works on each day. “All of a sudden I am great with names,” he says proudly.

As for his fellow AmeriCorps volunteers, he says it’s a great group, very diverse, and they get along well. They all hang out a lot and they are developing strong friendships based on their similar ideals and morals…they are after all AmeriCorps!

Michael has a construction background but is studying education. He says he is planning to go to grad school but is still trying to figure it all out. Environmental education is something he is very interested in, but he also sees himself working with Habitat for Humanity because his ‘heart is completely in it.’

“If anybody has the opportunity to get involved somehow with Habitat - whether it’s building, administration, working in the restore, or supporting financially - take the time to get to know the partner families and the other volunteers. The people involved change your experience completely. Let down your guard and go out and do it!”

17 years ago, The Berry's caught Habititis

Cindy and Don Berry are members of the largest church in San Diego, which organized support for the JCWP in 1990 to provide food and volunteers for the 2 build sites – Tijuana, Mexico and Encanto (East San Diego.)

Well, they caught the bug! They thought they’d wait till retirement to work with Habitat but they were not willing to wait and jumped at the next opportunity to volunteer. They speak about the 2 person tents and dusty bus rides from Tijuana to Encanto with smiles and laughter. Again we hear all about the lasting friendships of JCWP. One such

friendship is with the Schultz’s standing nearby today. The Berry’s are hear assisting with logistics, but they have served so many roles in years past including crew leaders and house leaders.

The Berry’s don’t wait to volunteer once a year with the Carters, they support their local affiliate in San Diego where Cindy helps with family selection.

“We love the friendship,” says Cindy, “we came here this week and are seeing old friends whom we haven’t seen since a build five years ago. It’s also about the diversity. I love to meet people from all walks of life.

“The homeowners are the best,” adds Don. “You can be the toughest guy on the job site and you’ll still cry when they hand them the keys.” (Side note: Don choked up while giving us this quote – go Don!)

Meet A Local Favorite: Pedro Pat!

Pedro Pat, as she is affectionately known to us all, is one of the most enthusiastic volunteers in San Pedro (and maybe in all of L.A.)

She began volunteering with Habitat for Humanity during a trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2000. It was to be like any of her annual trips abroad, but she was looking for something different and heard about a Global Village build. She never thought for a minute she'd get in, but when she contacted the orgnaizers a cancellation had just occured so she leaped at the chance to go! It was literally a month or two out.

Pat had always supported HFH as a donor, but this was her first build. It changed her and what was scheduled for her 'retirement' was now a passion she had to embrace locally. Once she returned home, she saw a notice in the local paper for a blitz build in nearby Wilmington and signed up. She became registration Chairman, and she kept going from there. Since then Pedro Pat can be found at most our build events and she participates in all areas for HFH including Building, Administration, Special Events, Family Services, Community Relations and even P.R!

This week is Pat's first JCWP and we are so glad to have her!!! San Pedro is lucky to have such a shining example of humanity right in their own back yard.

Pat Kaiser's second JCWP

Pat Kaiser has traveled across the country from Chicago, with her son, to participate in this years JCWP. This is Pat’s second time participating in the international event, but she has participated with her local affiliate in many Habitat for Humanity events. Pat loves participating in the JCWP builds for many reasons. She said that she loves how well-organized the events are and she loves the amount of diversity each JCWP seems to have.

Pat can be found conversing with those around her, making what she knows will be long-lasting friendships. Pat finds the JCWP most unique for this very reason, “There’s nothing like working elbow to elbow with people you don’t know, and making friends.”

She has "Habitat Fever"

Sonia Street met President Carter in 1992, when he helped her build her home in Baltimore.

During this morning’s press conference with President Carter, a woman leaned over said, with a huge smile on her face, “I built with him 15 years ago on my house.” Sonia built her home with the Carters during a blitz in 1992 in Baltimore. At the time her daughters were 9 and 7 (twins) and Sonia says the girls’ grades soared and their family became even closer. When the women moved into their new 3 bedroom home, Sonia “gave” it to her daughters, choosing to sleep on the couch so that all three would have their own bedroom.

Her daughters are now 25 & 23, the oldest is an entrepreneur, who owns a candy and sweets shop and the two youngest went on to become correctional officers. Sonia has continued to build with Habitat for Humanity locally and has traveled with the JCWP to Seoul, Korea, Michigan and Georgia. She says, “Habitat is a good thing. If you ever have a chance to get involved, come get the Habitat Fever!” Sonia still has a dream to own her own diner one day, which she says is a work in progress. This week Sonia is working hard to make sure all our volunteers are fed and hydrated as a food station volunteer.

A side note, it turns out that we were not the only ones impressed by Sonia, several volunteers have been talking about how great she is and suggesting we meet her all day.

Peter Anderson Can Really Build!

Peter Anderson has a special attachment to the JCWP, he met his wife there! In 1996, Peter traveled from his home in Belfast ,Northern Ireland to Hungary for a week blitz-build. That week changed his life. He and his wife who met more than ten years ago while volunteering are expecting their first child in about 6 weeks. He and his wife take turns participating in JCWP's around the world. Last year his wife traveled to India, this year it was his turn to join us in Los Angeles.

Peter joined the staff of Habitat for Humanity last year and is proud to be on a team of 4 from Belfast. Two are house leaders and all participate on Global Village teams. This year, Northern Ireland will send out 45 teams to different parts of the world to participate in Habitat builds. 1 in 1000 people in Ireland has participated in a Habitat for Humanity event, a number Peter is extremely proud of. Check out His Northern Ireland affiliate at http://www.habitat.org/cd/frame/frameset.aspx?r=3&url=www.habitatni.co.uk

Meet Cassandra Torres, Single Mom, Proud builder and now Homeowner

Cassandra Torres working on her new Habitat home.


“I’m waiting for somebody to say ‘Cassandra, wake up!’, I keep thinking it’s farther down the road and I don’t want to get so antsy,” said Cassandra Torres on the build site of her new home in San Pedro during the first day of the JCWP. Her four kids are eager to move in and her two youngest girls have already decided on their room décor: one Dora the Explorer, the other Barbie. Her kids have also started begging their mom to get a puppy for their new home, each has their own idea of what kind of dog to get. Cassandra home, which is being built entirely by women at the JCWP, is scheduled to be done by Friday. Torres is proud of the team building her home because she says, “women are perfectionists."


(Photo: L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, volunteering at the All-Women build site.)

Cassandra is a huge inspiration to others, who might be interested in applying for a Habitat for Humanity Home. She works full-time, goes to school and drives more than 30 miles to the job site to put in her sweat-equity build hours. Her advice to others interested in home ownership is “just keep trying, even if you get discouraged, keep trying!”

When asked what Cassandra is going to do in her new home first, she simply replied, “Sleep.”

To read more about the Torres family check out her famlies bio at http://www.jcwpla.org/jcwpla/jcwp_family_torres.asp

Local Volunteers Welcome at JCWP 2007

That's right, we still have some volunteer opportunities for Angelinos to helps us! Please visit www.jcwpla.org to sign up.

You will build alongside some amazing folks like celebrities, dignitaries, volunteers from all over the world, sponsors, donors and families who are about to become homeowners in the worst housing marketing in the U.S.

You will be forever changed, you will forever change the lives of hard working L.A. families and you will catch HABITITIS!

Please join us!
www.jcwpla.org

What People are saying about Habitat For Humanity

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles is fortunate to service a city full of interesting people from all walks of life and all backgrounds. We could not help the families of these communities without the support of our local volunteers. Many of our volunteers also happen to be famous, which helps us get our message out to an even wider audience. People love to tell us about how their work with Habitat has moved them, and we thought we'd share a few quotes from some folks you may recognize.


"The people that I've met that will inhabit these homes share a lot of the same issues that we all share. They're people who want a home for their family, who want to teach their family values, ethics, and morals, who want to raise good kids, who want to be part of a great country and so I'm very much the same as them in that way." -Maria Shriver, First Lady of California, Journalist and Philanthropist


"Working with Habitat for Humanity as the honorary chair of Operation Home Delivery provides me an avenue to channel this incredible sadness that has devoured my soul. This program is getting people back into homes, back on their feet and on with their lives." -Harry Connick Jr., Musician and Philanthropist, Honorary Co-Chair Operation Home Delivery (Hurricaine Katrina aftermath)

"I think I'll be dreaming about extremely high ladders and soffit for the rest of my life!! It's definitely been a learning experience. I've never worked on a house before so I have a new respect for the labor involved. Everywhere I look now, I see soffit. I want to come back and build again. I recommend it to everyone. It not only builds a home for a stranger, but it also builds a home for your soul." -Billy Joe Armstrong, Green Day, Musician and Philanthropist

Has Habitat for Humanity changed your life or the life of someone you know? We'd love to hear from you.

JCWP Build site

Here are a few photos of the JCWP 2007 build sites.

This location is the site for the San Pedro build

This is the Vermont location

Both sites are nearing completion, which will happen during the week of the JCWP.

Habitat for Humanity of Los Angeles welcomes the Jimmy Carter Work Project of 2007

Habitat for Humanity, like most things stemming from the goodness of people’s hearts, had humble beginnings and a slow start. The original concept for the non-profit began in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller in a small town in Georgia. It wasn’t until 10 years later, with the support of high-profile volunteers, President Carter and his wife Rosalynn, that the non-profit sparked interest all over the nation.

In November of 1984, in search of ways to contribute to social justice and basic human rights, the Carter’s created the first Jimmy Carter Work Project in New York City. Together with Habitat for Humanity they renovated a six-story building for 19 families in need. Their personal involvement brought visibility to the organization, and the project has been Internationally recognized every year since.

So what does this mean for Los Angeles in 2007? Plenty. Los Angeles is overcrowded and 88% of the residents cannot afford the median home price of over $540,000. Furthermore nearly 1 in 5 residents lives in Poverty, that’s 1.8 million people. Hardly the movie-star mansions that people imagine when they think of Los Angeles. We hope you’ll visit this blog often to hear from the folks who will be hands-on during this year’s JCWP and please visit http://www.jcwpla.org/ to meet our amazing families.

The Jimmy Carter Work Project will kick off a 3-year campaign by Habitat for Humanity of Greater L.A. to build 250 homes. Won’t you join us as we build hope and change lives in the community? Visit http://www.habitatla.org/ for more info.