The weather on the beautiful Saturday afternoon matched the high-spirited mood of Jewel Childs and her son, Perry Houston III, as they received a Bible and the keys to their brand new DC Habitat for Humanity home on December 16th. About 40 family members, friends and volunteers from DC Habitat for Humanity and house sponsor Thrivent Financial for Lutherans joined Jewel and Perry for the home dedication, a celebration of the hundreds of hours of hard work that went into building the house.

Through a big smile and tears, Jewel expressed thanks to everyone who had helped them work through every step of the application and building process to be able to own their own home. She explained that she had never thought she would be able to buy her own house, and felt blessed by the support of everyone who had helped her get to this point.

Greg Roemer, a financial consultant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, expressed the organization's happiness at being able to be with Jewel on her special day. "The completion of this home is an example of a partnership between local volunteers, Habitat, Thrivent and people like Jewel who are trying to move forward in their lives. Thrivent is proud to be one of those partners."

Thrivent, through its Thrivent Builds program, and Habitat for Humanity have been working together for more than 10 years to provide decent, affordable housing for low-income families trying to secure safe, modest homes in which to raise their families. Over the next year, Thrivent Builds and Habitat hope to build up to 500 homes nationwide with Thrivent Financial members, Lutheran congregations, and other volunteers.

After the ceremony, Jewel stood with her key in hand looking proudly at her new house. She had achieved what she had once thought impossible: She and Perry were finally home.

First, let me declare my interest in DC Habitat. I have built Habitat homes at two Jimmy Carter Work Project blitz builds in the United States and now want to build Habitat homes in my neck of the woods. I became interested in serving on the DC affiliate Board through Board Member Heather McNamara, a dear friend and colleague with whom I have worked on the Cans for Habitat program since 2001.

Cans for Habitat, of which I am Program Director, is a partnership between Habitat for Humanity International and The Aluminum Association, where I am Director of Public and Media Relations.

Founded in 1997, Cans for Habitat provides FREE recycling bins, liners and other materials to bona fide Habitat affiliates who register with our program via www.cansforhabitat.org. Funding for the program is provided by Association members that make the sheet that goes into aluminum cans. They created the program to boost aluminum can recycling and to be good corporate citizens. Habitat affiliates gather and recycle the cans and use the monies to buy hammers, tape measures, nails and other materials for the homes they build.

Since I became involved with CFH six years ago, I have seen the program grow steadily at a grassroots and regional level. More affiliates are signing on every day. Since 1997, $6.4 million has been earned from 16.76 million pounds of recycled aluminum cans. This equates to 95 homes funded through the national CFH program.

That is my work. For fun, I realized that I wanted to be more a part of Habitat because it is a premier non-profit – its motto of a hand up, not a handout makes it stand out from the pack of non-profits. A tour of DC Habitat’s North East neighborhood given by the knowledgeable and delightful Carol Casperson was all I needed to sign on.

Now that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 15, was a “day on” rather than a day off for DC Habitat for Humanity volunteers including Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter and Deputy Director Jody K. Olsen.

To commemorate the life of service of Martin Luther King, Jr., Director Tschetter and Deputy Director Olsen joined Peace Corps volunteers and DC Habitat Board Members for the day at D.C. Habitat for Humanity’s largest project yet – a 53-home community at 54th and Clay Streets, NE. "We are very fortunate here in America, and it's important that we share that good fortune," said Tschetter, who believes the MLK holiday is a good opportunity to give back to the community.

The Peace Corps is celebrating a 45-year legacy of service at home and abroad. Since 1961, more than 187,000 Volunteers have helped promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of the 139 countries where Volunteers have served. Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

If your company, church or group would like to sponsor a Team Building day, call Nancy Eddy. Volunteer Coordinator, at 202-882-4600 ext. 224 or e-mail her at nancy.eddy@dchabitat.org. The customary donation for a group of 20 is $5,000.

If you would like to discuss the benefits of sponsoring or helping sponsor a house with a donation of $10,000 or more, please call Mary Phelan, Director of Development, at 202-882-4600 ext 225 or e-mail her at mary.phelan@dchabitat.org.

Students of Divine Peace Lutheran School learned about more than just mathematics and science this past year; they also learned the value of helping others.

Just in time for the Christmas holiday, students of Divine Peace sponsored an effort to collect food for a DC Habitat for Humanity homeowner in need. Students, with the aid of their teachers and parents, collected more than 100 pounds of food for the homeowner.

The food is sure to last the homeowner several months, but the duty and pride fostered by this endeavor are sure to last the children a lifetime. Job well done to the educators and students of Divine Peace Lutheran School!