Home should be a place where children can thrive. Raven shows her two sons where they would soon do just that — in the neighborhood where she helped to build their forever home with Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County at the 2018 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Mishawaka, Indiana.
After traveling from the U.S. for her Global Village trip, Diana Tsang quickly found herself embraced by fellow volunteers and future homeowners in Namobuddha, Nepal. “You give your time and labor, but in exchange, you find yourself welcomed by a community — and becoming part of their family,” Diana says.
Building alongside each other can spark meaningful connections, as Nusrat, Habitat homeowner, and Emma Erwin, student and member of the Habitat campus chapter at Notre Dame University, can attest. Together they helped make Nusrat’s dream of homeownership a reality during the 2018 Carter Work Project.
Helping families thrive never fails to spark smiles on the build site. Sha’ Kayla Smith, an AmeriCorps member from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, shows off hers during a Women Build event in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Every family deserves a decent, affordable roof over their heads. Working together at the 2018 Carter Work Project, Heather and volunteers lift the trusses that now support the roof on a home of her own.
Standing in what would soon be her future home, Eno shares her joy and gratitude with the volunteers working alongside her at the 2019 Carter Work Project in Nashville, Tennessee. “These people are traveling and paying and willing to put in the work for me and my family. People who we’ve never even met before. It’s surreal,” she says of the experience. “It humbles you.”
At the 2019 Build-A-Thon, hundreds of AmeriCorps members and alumni traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, to help local families raise the walls of their future homes alongside Wake County Habitat for Humanity.
Early mornings are no match for the spirit and energy on a Habitat build site. Homeowners and local volunteers form a cheer crew, complete with pompoms and high-fives, to welcome and thank volunteers as they set out to build each morning at the 2018 Carter Work Project.
Owning a Habitat home is something to celebrate, and volunteers at the 2018 Carter Work Project got a glimpse of just how much it means to a family when homeowner Athena shared a moment of excitement. She couldn’t wait to have a place where her boys could grow, learn and play — all in a home that she helped build.
At the end of each Habitat build, homeowners and volunteers hold a home dedication ceremony to celebrate the home’s completion. New homeowner Orapin and volunteer Rachel Staenberg share an emotional goodbye after a week bonding together in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
