Habitat
Our Saviour’s helps to support Habitat for Humanity as this organization builds safe, secure, and affordable homes in our community. Habitat’s mission is putting God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope. We assist Habitat in this mission by volunteering to: 1) help with home construction, 2) serve lunch to construction volunteers, 3) sell goods at Habitat’s ReStore, 4) provide leadership on youth projects, 5) help with fundraising for future faith-build homes, and 6) join volunteer efforts to help families in other countries through Habitat’s Global Village.
Many of these volunteer activities are shared efforts with the three other ELCA Lutheran churches in Ft. Collins, along with two partner churches, in the formation of FOCOLU-Habitat Faith Builders. Through our FOCOLU partnership, OSLC volunteers can help build Habitat homes one day each month for about 10 months of the year.
Updated 4/10/2025
Greetings OSLC Habitat Volunteers and Supporters,
Thank you very much for your wonderful support this past year and I look forward to your help again this year as we finish Harmony Cottages and move to new sites around Fort Collins. You may recall that construction of homes at Harmony Cottages began about the same time as when OSLC initiated major renovations to our kitchen, narthex, offices, playroom, restrooms, classrooms, and other areas. A tithe from donations to OSLC’s reconstruction was used in part to fund the building of 4 new homes in Harmony Cottages and now the last of the 48 homes will be completed this year. On April 26, OSLC volunteers will join the FOCOLU Faith Builders for their last build day at Harmony Cottages. It will be an emotional yet joyous time, because we have gotten to know so many terrific families who now share this community. Your guiding spirit, hard work, and generosity have helped to make this happen. Thank you again and below are some important Habitat updates for April.
Habitat News and Updates:
· Faith Builders Luncheon on May 15. This is an exciting time to meet the two new faith build families for 2025 and hear their stories about the path to home ownership. It is truly inspiring to hear what this opportunity means to each family. More than a dozen other churches will be participating in this fundraiser to be held at First United Methodist Church (1005 Stover St.) from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Austin’s will be catering delicious food for this event. A special treat is that OSLC youth will be providing artistic table displays (i.e., affordable homes for birds) that will be auctioned at the luncheon to raise additional funds for new homes. There is a registration process for this event, so if you would like to attend, please let me know and I will take care of the registration. Please join me at my table and share this amazing experience with me!
· FOCOLU Build Day on Saturday, April 26. Thanks to the terrific response from last month’s update, we have a full crew ready to spring into action with 7 others from our FOCOLU partners. This build day is also OSLC’s turn to feed a hungry team of volunteers, and we could still use 2-3 volunteers to help with essential luncheon activities. A gourmet Colorado-themed luncheon will be prepared and then delivered to Harmony Cottages, but I will need assistance in setting up and serving. Please let me know if you can help for a couple of hours.
· Heart of the Rockies’ Heartside Hill Habitat Homes Plan Attracts National Attention. National Public Radio recently produced a story on the generosity of Heart of the Rockies Christian Church for providing sites for 9 Habitat homes that will be constructed by Poudre High School students and delivered to the Heartside Hill site located at Lemay and Trilby in South Fort Collins. During the groundbreaking, one of the speakers, Colorado State Representative Andrew Boesnecker, referred to this as YIGBY to distinguish it from the negative expression NIMBY. YIGBY stands for “Yes, In God’s Backyard”. The speaker explained that this type of land sharing by communities of faith can make a huge difference in our community. Poudre High School’s Geometry in Construction class plans to complete 2 homes per year and then have the framed houses delivered to the Heartside Hill site for completion. OSLC faith builder volunteers are likely to be putting the finishing touches on these new homes.
· Youth Events this Summer Needing Volunteers. FOCOLU would like to host a Lemonade Stand event this summer and a Harvest Spice and Cider event this fall. We need two or more youth of middle school to high school age to help with this fundraising activity. These events provide our youth with a perfect opportunity to build leadership skills and participate with other youth in a community-oriented fundraiser. If you have children, grandchildren, other friends or relatives who would like to join in this fun time and fantastic learning experience, please let me know as soon as possible.
To learn more about Habitat, or to volunteer in making a difference in our community, please email Jerry Freier (freierreed@msn.com).