But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:26
Habitat’s founder, Millard Fuller (1935-2009) would often remind us that with God all things are possible—even making sure everyone on the planet had a decent place to live, but that nowhere in scripture did it say it would be easy. I’m reminded of that often as we go about our daily work.
Clarence Jordan was born on July 29, 1912--103 years ago. Clarence is credited as being the spiritual father of Habitat for Humanity through his encounter and relationship with and mentorship of Millard Fuller—Habitat’s founder.
At last evening’s Raleigh City Council meeting, Congregations for Social Justice, a local coalition of faith communities concerned about social justice in local issues, organized a large group of supporters to address the council around the need for action to ensure that affordable housing is provided in our growing and prospering city. I was proud to be a part of that group—event though I had to stand in the “overflow” room due to the large crowd in the council chambers.
When Flora Mohammed’s husband left her, she didn’t know where to turn for help. Mohammed, who fled her native war-torn country of Sudan in 2011 to come to North Carolina, had five children, no job and limited English skills.
For a while, Mohammed and her children, ages 7 to 15, stayed with a friend in Cary. But they needed permanent housing, and Mohammed, 40, needed a source of income.
She’s come a long way since then.
Since 1985, Habitat Wake has built 500 new homes. We are dedicating 7 more this week. Yet, 28,000 Wake County families remain in need of affordable housing.
I saw Darrell Daigre, co-owner of Savvy Homes, on our Builders Blitz site this week. I thanked Darrell for his company’s generous partnership in donating a new home to Habitat Wake in each of the last four years—a gift of at least $200,000! Darrell responded enthusiastically saying, “We’re just getting started!”
As our area grows and prospers, housing becomes increasingly less affordable. This recent article in the Independent Weekly by Jane Porter captures the current debate within Raleigh City Council well. Pardon the strong-ish language of the headline, but we thought the content was well worth sharing.
Check it out: The Rents in Raleigh are Too _____ High
Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is partnering with seven home builders and a top real estate company to build five homes in one week during Habitat for Humanity’s 2015 Home Builders Blitz. Construction will begin on Friday, June 5 on Skinner Drive in the east Raleigh community of Crosstowne. The five homes will be dedicated on Friday, June 12 and will provide a lifetime of change for five hard-working Wake County families.
Last month at Habitat for Humanity’s national conference in Atlanta, Habitat Wake founder and current VP of Program Ministries, Rick Beech, led one of the day with some devotional thoughts. Rick reflected on the very early days of Habitat Wake, the organization that he helped found in 1985 while a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. At that time, Habitat was a relatively unknown organization and there was a strong sense of relying on God to provide the resources needed to meet the serious housing needs of many Wake County residents who were l
