The Call
The
ministry of Habitat for Humanity in Ashtabula County calls local church
congregations to work in cooperation with God’s people in need to build simple,
decent, affordable housing.
Love In Action
The goal of Habitat in Ashtabula County is to remove residents from substandard
housing in our county. Our affiliate works by forming partnerships between
people with resources and people in need to give a gift of hope – a simple,
decent home.
And the need is great. Approximately 40% of county residents are paying
excessive rents of more than 35% of monthly income. Habitat offers its
unique program to low-income residents who might otherwise never own a home.
We believe that homeownership stabilizes both families and neighborhoods.
History
The Habitat in Ashtabula County affiliate was founded as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization in 1992 by a group of county citizens. Its purpose was to
offer low-income county residents the opportunity to move out of substandard
housing. Since its first project in 1992 on West 43rd Street in
Ashtabula, Habitat in Ashtabula County has rehabbed or built 9 houses in
Ashtabula City, Rock Creek and Conneaut.
As an example of what faith can do, funds for building our second new house in
Rock Creek came from two out-of-state churches.
The East Main Presbyterian Church, Grove City, Pennsylvania, teamed up with the
Annapolis United Methodist Church in Annapolis, MD, to raise more than $27,000
to build the house. In July, 1993, both churches brought in large crews to
hold a “blitz build.” The Habitat partner family had to put in 500 hours of
sweat equity on building their new home. Generously, First Presbyterian
Church of Ashtabula provided housing for many of the visiting volunteer workers
who made the project possible. This “blitz build” house exemplified God’s
love in action through three distinct faith communities from three states.
How Can Churches Support Habitat in Ashtabula County?
Churches who wish to support the work of Habitat in Ashtabula County have the
opportunity to become Affiliate Churches which witness to the gospel of
Jesus Christ by offering prayers, time, energy, volunteers and/or financial
resources.
Foundation
Churches
give support by:
Carpenter’s
Churches
give support by doing all of the above, plus:
·
Putting out Habitat donation boxes
·
Pledging an agreed upon amount ($50, $100, $250) for each house
dedicated by
Habitat in Ashtabula County
Covenant Churches
give support by doing all of the above and signing a formal, covenant document
with Habitat.
A Covenant Church congregation commits
A Covenant Church may offer financial support through quarterly contributions, a
special quarterly collection, or sponsoring the cost of part of a Habitat house,
as well as by providing volunteers for committees, events and/or construction.
Each church decides how comprehensive its support will be.
In the
Nehemiah Program
a church agrees to provide the funds and labor for a specific portion of
construction on one house, e.g. buy and install siding, or the foundation or the
roof, etc.
Building hope, Changing lives. . . One house at a time.
In
Adopt -A –Home
program,
a church chooses to build a
house on its own, or to partner and work with other congregations, to build a
home. The church agrees to raise all funds and provide all labor for
construction.
Some options for this program might be partnering with a group of churches of
the same denomination, or with a cluster of area churches. Interested
churches may request a copy of A Congregation’s Guide to Adopting A Home.
|
“Our love should not be just words and talk, it
must be true love, which shows itself in action.” |