Good News Tues. – June 16th

We’re back with another edition of Good News Tues to spread a little joy from our Habitat family to yours. We’re all in this together. Here’s hoping this brings a little light to your day. 

A Habitat Volunteer and a Dream
More than 3400 individuals gave their time to support our mission last year, with a core group of 229 “Habituals” who volunteered on a weekly or monthly basis. Our volunteers raise the walls, sell the couches, and lend the expertise that makes it possible for us to serve local families in need of safe, affordable housing. But even more than that, our volunteers are like family. Even though we haven’t been able to swing hammers together over the last few months, our Habituals continue to inspire us. That was more evident than ever when volunteer house leader John Ward sent us this video.

Since 2016, John has steadily become a leader and source of positivity for our organization. In this video he channeled his inner-Elvis to share a song with a message he thought would resonate with our community of Habituals. The song, “If I Can Dream,” was inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was written during the civil rights movement by Walter Earl Brown and recorded by Elvis Presley in June 1968, two months after King’s assassination. In the video, our ever-talented John Ward sings as he strums along in his wood shop:

If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true

Elsewhere, Habitual construction volunteer Jim Collins may not be raising the walls of Habitat homes this spring, but that didn’t stop him from building houses…albeit a little smaller than what he’s used to. Jim’s been busy building fairy garden houses for his granddaughter’s fairy garden. In one word: adorable.

We’re so grateful to have this family of folks who give so much back to their community and to each other. While we’re still navigating what it means to bring all of our volunteers back safely, we’re excited to have begun framing more new homes in Milwaukee’s Midtown neighborhood. In this first phase of returning to work, volunteers at lower risk have started to join us back on the build sites and in our ReStores. If you’re interested in getting involved, and are between the ages of 18-64, our ReStores are particularly in need of volunteers in order to begin reopening our locations that are temporarily closed.