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Home ownership: Dreams becoming reality
10 Habitat partner families and volunteers to construct new homes in Harambee neighborhood
| MILWAUKEE, Wis. (May 7, 2008) – “I would not be able to buy a home at my income level without Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity,” said Abdiwahab Aden. Aden is a Habitat partner who will begin construction on her new home next week, with the help of hundreds of volunteers. Habitat for Humanity provides the opportunity for home ownership to families who wouldn’t, because of income level, qualify for a mortgage through a conventional lending institution.
And Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity would not have the funds or volunteers to build Aden’s house, along with nine other families’ homes in the Harambee neighborhood this year without Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. This alliance between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International has provided the funding and volunteers to make a big impact on Milwaukee housing— forty homes constructed in four years. Thirty of those homes are in the Harambee neighborhood. From May 11 - 15, Thrivent members, members of area Lutheran churches and other volunteers from greater Milwaukee will be working side-by-side with the partner families on eight of the ten 2009 Thrivent Builds homes. For Habitat homeowners, this program is certainly a wonderful “hand up,” providing better lives for themselves and their children. Volunteers often report that they, too, get a great deal out of working with the Habitat families. All ten of the homes will be completed by the end of October. To be approved for a home, Habitat family partners go through an extensive process to be chosen as a participant in the program. Each applicant is required to complete an application and undergo a credit check to ensure that they could make timely monthly payments on their no-interest mortgage. Those families that move beyond the initial application phase are interviewed in their current homes by two members from Habitat’s family selection committee. Then, the full committee determines which families will be invited into the program based on their need for affordable housing, as well as their willingness and ability to complete program requirements, including 500 hours of “sweat equity” on their homes. Given this selection process, these partner families are positive additions to their neighborhoods. Brief biographies of all the 2009 Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity partner families: Jeanette McClinton is already giving back to the community as a treatment foster parent, in addition to being a mother of two. McClinton says that the best part of being a foster parent is showing love to the kids, and demonstrating that they are “somebody” regardless of the situation where they came from. “I want the kids to have somewhere safe to go home to,” she said. Jeanette and her family will live on North Richards Street, house #390, which is the site for Monday’s 10 a.m. wall-raising event. Volunteers from the South East Waukesha County Chapter of Thrivent Financial will help with construction of the home. Amina Gaal and Sheikh Hassan have a two year old daughter, Naima Hussein, and their niece and nephew, Ibrahim and Hawo, live with them. Sheikh is a machine attendant for Plas-tech Tool & Dynamics. “I want to live in my house with my family. Now we live in a two bedroom unit,” he said. “In May [2008] we will have another baby. We need more space and we want to live near other Somali Bantu families. We want to have a Habitat home because with this program, we can afford to have a house.” The family will soon live on North Richards Street, house #391. Volunteers from the South Milwaukee Chapter of Thrivent Financial, including 20 members of Trinity Lutheran Church, will help with construction of the home. Abdiwahab Aden and Zuleko Hussein have two sons and a daughter: Abdullah is four years old, Salad is two, and Marian is 18 months. Abdiwahab works doing laundry at Covenant Health Care and is a certified English interpreter, and Zuleko works for Howard Child Care Center. “I want to have a home where I can raise my family,” said Abdiwahab Aden. “We want to be permanent members of the community.” Aden and Hussein’s new home will be on North Richards Street, house #392. Over thirty volunteers from UPS, mainly from the Elm Grove Operations Center, will help with construction of the home. Monique Hardman wants a home that she is not ashamed of for herself and her daughter. She says her current house is too small, the walls are too thin, and she is tired of maintaining someone else’s property. Monique wants a place to host her extended family for holidays and gatherings. Hardman’s new, welcoming home will be located on North Richards Street, house #393. Over thirty volunteers from UPS, mainly from the Oak Creek Operations Center, will help with construction of the home. Habibo Ahmed and Hassan Omar have a close-knit Somali family. “We need four bedrooms and we would like to own our own home,” the family shared. “And we can help! We are handy in construction.” Their family includes three sons and one daughter. Habibo is the daughter of another new Habitat homeowner, Aden Durow, who is visually impaired. They have been looking forward to living near each other, so that she can easily assist her father with transportation and other needs. The family’s new home will be on East Burleigh Street, house #394. Barni Barut and Aden Durow look forward to having a house near adult daughter Habibo and more space for their four other daughters, including a backyard for the little ones to enjoy. In addition to Habibo, who is another new 2009 Habitat homeowner, Aden and Barni are parents to four young daughters. Aden is legally blind, and Barni supports the family as a child care provider at a daycare center. Durow, Barut and their girls will live on East Burleigh Street, house #395. Denita Mims and her three children currently reside in a property owned by an absentee landlord who is delinquent on the taxes. He is not planning to renew Mim’s lease and she will be living with family members until her Habitat home is complete. Denita is motivated to do whatever is necessary to own her own home—a place where everyone will have their own bedroom and the children will have a yard in which to play. Her father is a journeyman painter and is willing to offer his skills as a volunteer to help her and the other homeowners. Mims will live on North Buffum Street, house #396. Over 20 volunteers from Atonement Lutheran Church in Muskego will help with construction of the home. Alicia Benson is parenting a teenage son and daughter and looking forward to moving her mother from the assisted living facility, where she currently resides, to Benson’s new home. Being an only child, Alicia says it breaks her heart not to have her mom under the same roof with her. She has overcome financial hardships in order to become eligible for this homeownership opportunity. Benson and her family will live on North Buffum Street, house #397. Karlisha Murrell is the single parent of two young boys. She had always figured that homeownership was far into the future for her family, but now feels honored and blessed to work with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity to make homeownership a reality this year. She knows that putting her own hard work into her home will make her appreciate it even more. Karlisha prides herself on showing her sons that it’s important to go above and beyond what is necessary to get the job done. Murrell’s home construction will start in July 2009 on North Buffum Street, house #398. Jimmie Lockett wants to share the feelings of pride and integrity of homeownership with his two children. He says he simply cannot afford to purchase a home through conventional means and that Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will help him accomplish his dream. As the property manager for the duplex where they now live, Jimmie is handy and prides himself on doing quality work. His skills and enthusiasm will give his family the opportunity to move out of the two bedroom apartment the active boys have now outgrown. Lockett’s home on North Buffum Street, house #399, will be under construction starting in July, and will be completed by the end of the year. Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is a $125 million alliance between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. The alliance makes Thrivent Financial one of Habitat’s largest allies and aims to increase Habitat’s annual house production by hundreds of homes per year. To date more than 1,000 homes have been built in the U.S. and hundreds of volunteer teams have helped build homes around the world. For more information, visit www.thriventbuilds.com. Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry dedicated to building decent, affordable housing in partnership with those in need. Since 1984, Milwaukee Habitat has worked with 390 families to build or rehabilitate homes. By year end that total will be 425 families! For more information, visit www.milwaukeehabitat.org. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Southeast Wisconsin Region Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit membership organization helping approximately 2.6 million members achieve their financial goals and give back to their communities. As a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society, Thrivent Financial sponsors national outreach programs and activities that support congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. Locally, The Southeast Wisconsin Regional Financial Office is made up of 90 financial representatives and provides financial products and services to more than 107,000 members in Dodge, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha counties. Together with its members, Thrivent Financial’s Southeast Wisconsin Region provided more than $9 million in charitable outreach in 2008. For more information, visit www.thrivent.com or www.lutheransonline.com/rfo300. |
| Contact Information: | |
| Stacy Eckes-Borys Senior Media Relations Specialist stacy.eckes-borys@thrivent.com Phone: (920) 628-2445 | |
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