No place like home

Thrivent's new Habitat for Humanity partnership combines Lutherans with building projects

To the 6-year-old, it's where Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy know to find you. To the teenager, it's where math problems and English papers fall prey to Internet and iPods. To the parent, it's where refrigerator drawings steal your heart, backyard bruises wreck your nerves, and little boys and girls grow up too fast.

Can such a place be built?

Witness the construction of a Habitat house, and there's no denying that it can. Reinforced with love and sweat, these simple frame structures are built for Christmas mornings and cold nights alike. And this summer and fall, Lutherans played a major part in their development.

Through Thrivent Builds Homes, a new program to combat substandard housing in the U.S., members of ELCA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations worked alongside future homeowners and Habitat for Humanity staff to build homes in the Chicago and Detroit areas.

While Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has partnered with Habitat in the past, the two organizations have now formed a full alliance under Thrivent's four-year, $ 100 million commitment. Thrivent Builds Homes is one of four distinct projects under the umbrella program "Thrivent Builds."

"When it's all said and done, Thrivent will be the biggest partner of Habitat," says Paul Kelash, the Minneapolis-based company's director for external communications. "[Habitat] never before had a relationship with this much financial support and partnership."

Thrivent Builds Homes will contribute 70 percent of the cost of the homes and coordinate volunteers from congregations nationwide, sponsoring 350 homes a year, which will grow to 500 annually by 2008. This year nine houses were built in Illinois and 10 in Michigan. Starting in 2006 churches nationwide will have the opportunity to build close to home-wherever that may be.

"We know Lutherans really like Habitat. So this is just to help people move to the next level, with Thrivent's help to organize it," Kelash says. "This is for any family in need; it fits with our gospel calling."

Hands-on

"All I was told was to bring a hammer and wear pants," says Amy Newman of St. Paul, an LCMS congregation in Mount Prospect, 111.

Like Newman, most Habitat volunteers don't know what to expect when they arrive on a Saturday morning. At the Chicago site, where only a foundation is in place, the walls are being delivered for the first day of volunteer work. Twenty or so members of St. Paul and Trinity, an LCMS congregation in Tinley Park, 111., gather around Andre, the site director, waiting to hear how they will transform the gaping concrete hole into someone's home.

The two congregations are among more than 30 in the Chicago area that have taken part in Thrivent Builds Homes, coming together on Saturdays to make a difference in nearby communities. Through the partnership with Habitat, professional foremen instruct volunteers, making sure no one feels left out or unimportant.

"What is great is the teamwork, that everyone pitches in however they can to make this work," says Carol DeVilbiss of St. Paul, who is on "water duty" because of a bad back. Even her daughter, who is too young to build, is part of the effort-her Girl Scout troop is arriving soon with lunch for everyone.

In Montgomery, 111., where work on two homes has been under way for most of the summer, members of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Downers Grove, 111., outline the house at Pearl Street, armed with hammers and power tools, as if standing guard. A sense of ownership pervades the building site, not only through work but through the location.

"We've had people build in South Africa and Mississippi, but it's very exciting to have the opportunity to build so close to home," says Judy Wagner, who organized the group from Gloria Dei.

Mark Borgetti, a pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Naperville, 111., agrees, saying, "Whenever we think of mission, we think of Over there.' This is 20 minutes from our church and it's tangible, hands-on ministry. It's not just writing a check-it's rolling up your sleeves and pounding nails."

Hand up

"They say it's a hand up, not a handout," says Monyca Wells. The future homeowner of 1318 Pearl St. has been here every weekend since they started building. "Everyone knows me here," she adds. "I'm done with my hours, but I'm still coming. I want to see my house going up."

Homeowners put in sweat equity hours, usually from 300 to 500, helping build their house or someone else's. Before that they must go through a highly selective process, including background checks, level of need, ability to pay back mortgage and willingness to become partners. Families are typically hardworking people who don't qualify for conventional home loans and are often trapped in a cycle of landlord dependency.

"We're living penny to penny right now. It's going to be more affordable to be a homeowner," says Patricia Rebolledo, who will move into the Chicago home at 1309 S. Keeler with her 11 -year-old son, Alexander. Rebolledo hopes that by saving money she can provide a more secure life for Alex.

Habitat mortgages run for up to 30 years, so residents earn equity rather than tossing their entire income directly toward rent.

"To have your own home and provide for your family, there's nothing more incredible," says Tenisha Bray, who, along with children Tasheera and Dorion, will live next door to the Rebolledos. "My biggest thing is the kids; I can't find the words to express what it means to me and how it motivates me as a single mom."

Hand-in-hand

"You can talk to somebody about Habitat but anytime you can put a face on something, when you see the people, it completes the circle," says Mark Goetz, a parishioner of Our Saviour.

ELCA members have the unique opportunity to connect with the people they help, which can make Habitat more fulfilling than other service projects.

Bill Fries, who works for Thrivent and is also a member of Our Saviour, says most volunteers from his congregation were first-timers on a project like this. "I think seeing the excitement in the single mothers and knowing that they're going to get their families into a safe environment really has created a lot of interest," Fries adds.

"You realize how fortunate you are and just want to give people a little piece of what you've been blessed with," says Brooke Morgan of St. Paul.

The homeowners light up when asked what they plan to do in their new homes. They can't wait for Christmas trees and Easter egg-hunts, pink painted walls and superhero bedrooms, neighborhood friends and backyard barbecues. But most of all, they're just eager for a safe place to call their own.

"The first day is going to be the beginning of new traditions for us,, breaking the cycle of substandard living. No more rats, roaches, slumlords," Rebolledo says. "People who are doing this are touching people's lives, making people's dreams come true."

You know that gaping concrete hole on Keeler Avenue? It's already starting to look like home.

Copyright Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Nov 2005
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