August 8th, 2009 Habitat for Humanity’s 2009 Neighborhood Revitalization Project
I began a conversation with a couple of people with Habitat for Humanity with regard to volunteering opportunities for members of Bay City After 6. As part of this conversation, I was asked if I would be willing to help Habitat out by shooting on a few days while they were working on their 2009 neighborhood revitalization project.
Most people are aware of Habitat’s main focus which is helping build and provide homes for people. Rather than focus all of their efforts on a single home, the neighborhood project gives Habitat the opportunity to work with a number of homes in a given area. The neighborhood they chose is in Bay City’s south end, near Rexer-Jablonski Park (named for two Bay City Police Officers killed in the line of duty). The neighborhood, while not being a bad area, is home to a number of houses in various states of disrepair.
Coordinating their efforts with Dow Chemical and other volunteer organizations, Habitat had the chance to make a real difference in this neighborhood.
I’m not sure exactly how many homes were worked on over the course of the eight-day project, but the work performed ranged from paint jobs, to gutter repair, porch replacement, landscaping and so forth.
One part of the project was to clean up the landscaping at Rexer-Jablonski Park, which served as a home base for the entire project.
As part of any Habitat project, the families whose homes are being worked on are required to help pitch in with the work. As you can see below, no family member was too small or too young to help out.
Okay…maybe some of them were too young and too small. The trio below did, however, help eat donuts. Everybody did their part.
I heard a great story from one of the people with Habitat. Family members were so filled with the goodwill the week created that many of them took time out to help out on other neighbors’ homes.
On the final day of the project, Mayor Charles M. Brunner came and said a few words about the difference that one full week of giving back to the community made. Not just to the homes themselves, but to the people who live in the neighborhood. And it showed in the number of families who chose to attend the closing ceremony and share their thanks and their stories.
As a great parting touch, each home that Habitat worked on was given two chairs for the front porch to encourage neighbors to sit out on their porch and spend some time talking to their neighbors. The best part is that the neighborhood has been using the chairs and is coming together as a real community. They’ve even planned a neighborhood picnic for the near future.
Habitat is already working on its 2010 neighborhood revitalization project, but there is a big challenge in front of them. This year, they were able to count on Dow Chemical providing a lot of volunteers. Next year, however, Dow Chemical will be working on a Habitat project in Midland. This means that to have the same sort of impact, Habitat will have to recruit a LOT of local volunteers. I am making it my personal mission to do whatever I can to help get the word out about this project.
I’ll be turning to friends, family members, clients and readers of this blog to take a few hours out of their week to pitch in and give back to some people who can use a helping hand. Watch this blog for details as they become available.