1304 Carver and 1306 Carver, Champaign (former Frances Nelson site). See images here.

Robinson Family

CHAMPAIGN, IL. (March, 2008) – Please welcome our newest home owners, Rasheen Robinson (age 30) and her son Dizon (age 3). The Robinsons will purchase one of the two homes scheduled to be built this summer in partnership with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and area Lutheran congregations at 1304 and 1306 N Carver, site of the original Frances Nelson Health Clinic. “I cannot stop smiling, my cheeks have had it!” Rasheen exclaimed, grinning.

www.flickr.com habitatchampaign's 08 Thrivent build photoset

Herff-Jones is where you’ll find Rasheen today. “I couldn’t believe the e-mails I got from my coworkers when they heard the news. They all want to help on the work site.”

Despite such steady work and success in her employment, Rasheen has had to come back from bad choices. When she first moved to Champaign, she took advantage of easy credit, not understanding the consequences of interest and late fees. Eventually she declared bankruptcy. “I didn’t have any financial education. I will talk to my son, he won’t make the same mistake.”

That early financial crisis is part of why Rasheen delayed applying for Habitat’s program. “I didn’t think I was good enough,” and nearly cancelled her appointment with the Chair of Habitat’s Family Selection Committee, Celia Elliott.

"On the contrary," said Celia, "Rasheen is just the kind of prospective homeowner that we're looking for.  Yes, she had some problems in the past, but she has also worked very hard to overcome those earlier mistakes and repair her credit.  She's made sacrifices and hard choices to put herself in a position to benefit from the Habitat housing program. Rasheen's absolutely committed to providing a stable, secure home for her son, she has tremendous energy and discipline, and I'm confident she'll make her dream a reality. Habitat is not about the past; it's about what people are willing to do together to make a future."  

Joan Wingo, Thrivent Builds Homes Chapter Specialist, met the Robinsons at their trailer at the end of March. “I’ve wanted to be involved with Habitat since 1976,” Joan said. “In the late 80s I worked with single moms in Milwaukee, helping them with housing and services. I support Habitat because I think each child needs to have a safe place of their own so they can relax and think.”

Rasheen and Dizon have lived in their trailer since his birth. “I am blessed to have this much, but it’s not perfect.” The insulation is almost non-existent, leaving them both with colds and ear aches all winter. Finding care for a sick child, when the day care can’t take him on, is a significant pressure for a single mother. Some days, Dizon huddles in bed under the covers just to stay warm. In addition, the walls are paper thin, making good sleep difficult. “If someone has their car stereo on, I can hear it well enough to sing along.” Her high-energy boy has limited room to play indoors and the communal yard is muddy, often trashed.

Habitat can’t serve families with emergency housing needs. Instead, it offers a hand up (not a hand out) to those families with limited resources but enough to make the mortgage payments and put in their sweat equity on the home build. As a result, many of our families fall into a category of our neighbors who make too much money to qualify for public aid but not enough to actually cover their expenses, including housing. To make her dollars stretch, “I food pantry,” Rasheen says, grateful for the generosity of St. Patrick’s Catholic, Empty Tomb and Salt & Light. Most of Rasheen’s immediate neighbors are elderly retirees on extremely low fixed incomes. She shares any extra food she receives and makes sure they have access to the resources she’s found.

“I am blessed. I am not going to let anybody down. I am going to be an excellent home owner. I am going to stay in this community and raise my son. This is an opportunity for us both and I am going to take it and I am going to grow from it. Show me what I need to do. Nothing will embarrass me. I am going to bring my baby up right.”

If you’re in the home improvement ReStore on a Saturday or the Women Build Homes work site, where Rasheen will begin putting in her 250 hours of sweat equity, please introduce yourself. Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County and ReStore is proud to support the Robinson family’s partnership with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and local Lutheran congregations.

Fire, Frances Nelson & Habitat

CHAMPAIGN, IL. (November, 2007) –  Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County and ReStore are partnering with Frances Nelson Health Center and the Champaign Fire Department to redefine community-building.

Earlier this year, Frances Nelson, a clinic providing primary medical services, prenatal program, immunizations, health education, and social services to medically under-served and uninsured adults and children of Champaign County, moved to a new facility on Bloomington Road. The original home-turned-clinic at 1304 Carver is being donated to Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County and ReStore.

“When Dr. Oliphant of the Frances Nelson Board of Directors contacted me with this offer, I started to dance. After the building is demolished, the property may well give us room for two houses and a public green space, although planning is still in the works,” said Executive Director Eileen Gebbie.

Before that happens, though, the building will be put to maximum use. This week the Champaign Fired Department, under Deputy Chief Tim Wild, will use the empty building to practice fire rescue skills.

Plans are underway to offer the building for similar training with the Police Department.

Habitat’s ReStore staff and volunteers are also planning to “deconstruct” the building before demolition: salvaging as much as possible for resale in the home improvement store.

Habitat for Humanity’s mission traditionally builds relationships and community through home building with qualifies low-income families. Gebbie continued, “We’re grateful to be able to build community through such creative public partnerships, leveraging resources for the greatest good.”

Dream of a New Future

CHAMPAIGN, IL. (January, 2008) – This year, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has given new meaning to “corporate generosity.”  Already one of Habitat for Humanity’s largest supporters through the $105 million Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity alliance, Thrivent Financial has announced an increase in this four-year commitment to $125 million.  Of that amount, $23.2 million will be used in 2008 to build 322 Habitat homes in 42 states.  Additionally in 2008, the alliance will support more than 200 volunteer teams that will help build homes on the Gulf Coast and abroad.

“At the beginning of the alliance we committed $105 million, but actually budgeted an additional $20 million that we could add later if the alliance proved successful,” said Senior Vice President Brad Hewitt, of Thrivent Financial. “Given our results to date, we’re ready to make that additional commitment.”

The increased commitment from Thrivent Financial responds to the interest and involvement of thousands of the nearly 3 million Thrivent Financial members, the successes of the alliance since it was formed in 2005, and the understanding that it has greater potential yet to be realized.

Good Shepherd Lutheran (Champaign) member, and 2008 Thrivent Builds Homes Chapter Specialist, Joan Wingo said, “I support Habitat because I think each child needs to have a safe place of their own so they can relax and think. This is when we are able to become creative. It is the time when we identify the talents we have been given and the best way to use them. Children need a safe secure environment so they can study without worrying whether something will happen to them, their family or their belongings.”

Locally, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County has been awarded $114,000, or 65 percent of the funds necessary, to build 2 (two) homes in 2008 through the alliance.  Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County will raise $46,000. Area congregations are responsible for a total of $14,000, $5,000 of which is already in the bank. These homes will be built by area volunteers, of whom at least one-half will be Lutheran and one-fourth will be Thrivent Financial members. The Habitat partner families will also invest up to 500 hours of “sweat equity” helping to build their homes. Construction will begin as early as May and is expected to continue for two months, with volunteers on site Fridays and Saturdays.

Since the inception of the Thrivent Builds alliance, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County has built two of the more than 650 Thrivent Builds homes constructed across the nation. In 2008, they join 241 other Habitat affiliates in 42 states to build the 322 homes funded.

“These will be our seventh and eighth homes with Champaign County’s Lutheran community. Maintaining that level of commitment is a testament to the power of Habitat’s mission to build community and relationships through the construction of new homes with low income families,” said Eileen Gebbie, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County.

Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity brings together two national nonprofit networks of more than 1,600 Habitat affiliates and 1,362 Thrivent volunteer chapters.  The need for an effort of this magnitude is great:

? According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing in 2007, nearly half of low-income U.S. households—more than 13 million families—pay more than 50 percent of their income on housing.

? Millions more live in overcrowded conditions or housing with severe physical deficiencies, such as having no hot water, electricity or toilet.

“It's time to let children and their parents dream of a new future,” Wingo concluded.

About the St Louis Heartland Region #528 of Thrivent Financial

Together with its members, Thrivent Financial’s St Louis Heartland Region #528 provided more than $1.6 million in charitable outreach in 2005; that number is approaching $1.8 million for 2006. For more information, visit www.lutheransonline.com/rfo528.