Millcreek Valley Habitat for Humanity

As part of its series on generosity called Tackling the Elephant, the Vineyard Community Church has provided us with a check to cover the cost of building a house. They indicated their preference that the house be built in Lincoln Heights. We are looking forward to partnering with the Vineyard on building this house and to continue to create hope and optimism in the family and in the community.

We will be holding a celebration dinner on Saturday, November 17 at the Wyoming Presbyterian Church at 6:00 PM. We are excited to announce that Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International, will be our guest speaker. Millard will talk about the founding of Habitat and its miraculous growth throughout the world. He will also talk about what he’s up to currently, and what we can all do to put our faiths into action and end poverty housing.

Millard will also autograph his recently-released biography which tells the "Habitat story." The book will be available for purchase at the dinner.

The evening promises to be an entertaining one. Musical entertainment will be provided by singer Scott Wesley Hawley. We will talk about our heroes from the past year, and our dreams for the upcoming year. There will even be door prizes.

We hope to see you on the 17th to help us celebrate, and to kick off an exciting new year.

Please let us know you are coming by calling Gabe Blumer at (513)761-4687. We will need to know of your plans by Thursday, November 15.

The suggested donation for the dinner is $10.

Forty attendees braved the elements to celebrate the partnership between Millcreek Valley and members of the Ohio Contractor’s Association, and attended a kick-off for the project. Participating members of the Association who are listed in the graphic above, will be extending Wilson Avenue through early December. Rev Joe Mears of Grace Wesleyan Church blessed the project, and members of the partnership broke ground. When completed, six Habitat homes will ahve been built on the site.

On the weekend of November 13, Dan Dallmer took a group of 14 college students from UC and Xavier down to Frakes, Kentucky to the Red Bird Mission. The trip was their second service trip this fall, and took place during semester breaks at both schools. While they were there, they roofed the 10,000 square foot roof of the Community gym. The gym is in use nearly every weekend with community events, and is “essential to the work of the Mission.” To accomplish their task, Dan’s group used shingles donated by Owens Corning Corporation. He will be taking 15-20 UC students back down to the Mission the weekend of November 10.

Millcreek Valley received $5000.00 from Bike & Build, Inc. located in Brooklyn, New York.  It its award letter, the organization said “our funding committee identified your project as having a high potential of impacting the affordable housing landscape…while involving young adults.”  Millcreek Valley will use the funds to support mission trips for local college students in Kentucky and Alabama.  This will further Millcreek Valley’s efforts to provide opportunities for teenagers and young adults to serve their communities and to put their faiths into action.

Bike & Build forms teams of college students who ride across the U.S. each summer in support of low-income housing.  They devote days to work with local housing developers along the way.  A Bike & Build team stopped in the Cincinnati area in May of this year for 2 nights, staying at the Kemper Road Christian Church.  For their Saturday workday, half of the group put a roof on a Cincinnati Habitat build in Walnut Hills, while the other half assisted a Mt. Healthy homeowner in clearing debris from her home.

Members of the Southwest Chapter of Ohio Contractors Association take on a volunteer project each year to help the larger community.  Last year they assisted One Way Farms in Fairfield with a parking lot and other infrastructure needs.  This year, when they heard of Millcreek Valley’s need for a road extension at their Wilson Road Development, “we had no trouble getting partners,”  says chapter president, Dennis  Brunton.  An engineer with Barrett Paving Materials, Inc, he says, ”People were ready to jump in, and there were businesses waiting in the wings.”  For the Contractor’s Association, whose members  build America’s roadways, this project was “right in our wheelhouse.”  The Association will begin its work in early October, and should  finish up by December 1.

For Millcreek Valley, the assistance of the Contractor’s Association is nothing short of a blessing.  Federal funding had been obtained through a S.H.O.P. grant, which allowed for the purchase of property on Wilson Road.  However, the infrastructure needs were yet another challenge.  When the project is finished, six Habitat homes will stand on the tract.  

This site will host Millcreek Valley’s 2008 Builder’s Blitz, when two homes will be built by area home builders in the course of a week next June. 

Contributed By Susan Bennett

Note: Craig has been our Thrivent partner the last year. ed.
Craig Holocher, MBA, FIC, of Colerain Township is traveling to Guatemala this week to build homes with families in need thanks to an alliance between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. Holocher, a financial consultant serving Lutherans and their family members in the Cincinnati/Northern KY metro area, was selected to represent his colleagues from the organization’s Indiana Region of Thrivent Financial. In order to qualify for this honor, Holocher demonstrated outstanding sales performance and an interest in volunteering with Thrivent Financial members. “We are proud to have Craig representing us on this trip to Central America,” said Tom Dobberstein, managing partner of the Indiana region of Thrivent Financial. “He is dedicated to service to others and I know this experience will energize him to share the plight of substandard housing and the impact made by the Thrivent Builds Worldwide program with colleagues, members and others in the Lutheran community.”

This special team of more than 30 Thrivent Financial representatives is spending eight days, Sept. 8-16, working with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala in the city of Panajachal, building homes with the local community. This is the only Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip specifically honoring Thrivent Financial representatives, but it is just one of more than 100 Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips taking place in 2007. All Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips give participants a unique opportunity to become active partners with people of other cultures. Team members work alongside members of a Habitat for Humanity host community, raising awareness of the burden of poverty housing and building decent, affordable homes worldwide.

While each Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip is different, all include work, rest and free time. Teams spend a few days touring local historic sites and attractions or participating in outdoor recreational activities. Typical trips last one to three weeks and cost an average of $100 per day. Cost includes room and board, in-country transportation, traveler’s medical insurance and a donation to the host community’s building program. Airfare is an additional cost.

To encourage its members to participate, Thrivent Financial and some of its subsidiaries offer $800 toward trip costs for benefit members and owners of Thrivent mutual fund and Thrivent Life Insurance Company products. The organization also donates $6,500 to the host Habitat affiliate to spark future homebuilding projects if at least 50% of trip participants are Thrivent Financial members.

Thrivent Builds Worldwide is part of the broader alliance between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, its members and Habitat for Humanity International called “Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.” To learn more, visit www.thriventbuilds.com/worldwide.

A group of Millcreek Valley volunteers will be heading to Frakes, Kentucky on the weekend of September 7, 8 and 9 to take part in a “Raise the Roof” weekend.   They will be taking part the “Sharing Our Witness - Enriching Relationships (SOWER)” program, and United Methodist Church project.  The project serves families of Southern Kentucky by repairing and replacing deteriorated housing.  The cost for taking part in the project is $100 per person which includes meals and housing.  Millcreek Valley will also be sending a group back to the area October 11-16 to replace roofs on area homes.  That group will be using shingles donated to Millcreek Valley by Owens Corning.  Call Dan at 761-4687 for details about how to become involved in this worthwhile project. 

The nice folks at the The nice folks at the Kenwood Towne Centre and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy have partnered with us to help us raise money for a future house. The elementary school built the floor for the shed and the middle school built the frame. It has been at the mall for the last three days. For less than the cost a cup of coffee you can help someone move out of substandard housing and into their first home.

For those of you who are interested in the financial of this affiliate, I have posted the last year’s annual report, 2005 Form 990 , on the Treasurer’s Page. This is the report we send annually to the IRS.