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.
Some key activities that FOCOLU and OSLC have taken part in are:
- Crystal H. and her son, Neal, are the family that OSLC and FOCOLU are helping to support this year as part of the Faith Build Home initiative. To learn more about this terrific family, please watch the video connected to the following link: https://fortcollinshabitat.org/2023faithbuild/.
- July 22 Build Day (rescheduled from June 24 due to soil being too soggy to excavate for foundations). Special thanks to Alan, Bonnie, Jim, Shannon, and William who volunteered to work that day at the new Mosaic build site. Two Poudre High School built homes have been attached to foundations and the the remaining construction, including adding a garage, will be completed onsite. Future build days for this year will most likely be at Harmony Cottages.
- July 27 Hammer & Ale Celebration at O’Dell’s. This annual fundraising event raised more than $50,000 for home construction and community projects. If you did not attend this year, I hope you will consider joining the festivities next year and enjoy gourmet food with exceptional beer or wine pairings, plus live music.
- July 29 Lemonade Stand Day at the ReStore. A special thanks to Evallyn and Shannon for their help in making this day so successful. A combination of delicious treats and thirst-quenching lemonade raised $457.22 for Crystal and Neal’s new home. Please see the attached photos of our youthful FOCOLU team in action. Also, a special thank you to Sarah Lindsey for the creative idea of hosting a lemonade stand at the ReStore as a way for our youth to learn about ways to give back to our community and hear why it is so important.
- October 28 – Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity’s 30th Anniversary Gala. The celebration will be held from 5:30 – 10:30 pm at the Northside Aztlan Community Center (112 E. Willow St., Fort Collins). This dress-up party will include delicious food, choice beverages, live music, dancing, and much more. I will send out more details as they become available.
- Next FOCOLU-Habitat Build Days. Our final two build days for this year are Saturday, September 9 and Saturday, November 11. The weather is expected to be spectacular for these late summer/early fall build days and fabulous luncheons will be provided by 301 Faith Partners and OSLC, respectively. If you can volunteer to help on either of these dates, please let me know as soon as you can.
- Christmas Ornaments and Decorations Fundraiser. We still need more volunteers to build items for the fundraiser sale on December 2-3. This year we are including a wide range of art forms with a Christmas theme. Ornaments and decorations (indoor and outdoor) can involve woodworking (all types), textiles (knitting, quilting, sewing, crocheting, macrame, and more), craft making (all types), pottery, stained glass, paintings, and sculptures. One other category that has been added is gift baskets (e.g., wine, cheese, and crackers) and similar arrangements. To reach our fundraising goal, we really need your help in contributing items that we can sell as home decorations or gifts. So, if you have not already done so, please let me know if you are able to help.
To learn more about Habitat, or to volunteer in making a difference in our community, please email Jerry Freier (freierreed@msn.com).