Mecosta Habitat Family Circle

Mecosta Habitat Family Circle

Quarterly Newsletter #1

Hello Friends!

I’m sure we are all familiar with the expression, give a person a fish and they eat for a day, teach a person to fish and they eat for a lifetime. But what if there are certain things that a person is not able to learn to do for their own self-reliant care? Things such as: where to start when dreaming of a forever home to raise a family, or replacing an aging roof to remain protected from the elements, or drilling a new well when the current source of water has dried, or replacing a furnace that has quit working in the cold Michigan winter.

That my friends is the gap Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity seeks to fill in our community. When the walls literally seem to be falling in and it is difficult to visualize how to achieve the dream of safety and protection that only a secure family home can provide, MCHFH seeks to partner with families to make those dreams a reality. Together we offer what we call a hand up, not a hand out and our families pay it forward by contributing sweat equity and making affordable payments to assist us in helping the next family and the next.

Our families may not know how to repair complex electrical issues, but they only need to know to reach out to us as together we seek to work toward our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We hope to bring our community family closer as we share the many wonderful achievements and challenges of our local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. We hope you enjoy our first quarterly newsletter!

Barbara Seabolt, Executive Director

OUR HOME OWNERSHIP PROGRAM

Our Home Ownership program is the cornerstone of Habitat for Humanity. We here in Mecosta County have completed 34 new home constructions or existing home renovations in our 30 year history.

An inspirational story from our first home owner

Andrea Blue was MCHFH's first Home Ownership Program partner family in 1993/1994. We recently caught up with Andrea and spoke with her about her experience as our Home Owner #1. She went on to tell us about her amazing success including receiving her doctorate and going on to create and manage her very own successful company. She is a force to be reckoned with and we are enormously proud that she is part of our MCHFH family! You can watch the full interview in her own words HERE! Visit Dr. Blue’s company HERE

An update on Home Owner #34

Welcome home Sherri, Gavin, Nick and Ryan!

January 31st, 2022 we closed on House 34. Sherri and the boys have moved in and now are able to make this house their HOME. The house blessing will be in April. View more photos HERE

OUR CRITICAL HOME REPAIR PROGRAM

We started our Critical Home Repair Program in 2015. This program is for current home owners who need our assistance with an emergency home repair. Each year more families apply as the need in Mecosta County continues to grow. Here is the story of one of the many families we worked with this year.

It is just myself and my son Dawson. He is 8 years old. My well was not functioning and I tried to repair it but when I had someone come out to fix it, I was told I needed a new well. The well company gave me the name of Habitat to see if they could help. It was terrible not having water but even worse was that when my girlfriend was not letting me see my son because I had no water in my house. Habitat was able to help install a new well for me. Now my girlfriend is letting see him every week again. Praise the Lord! Now that we have water I could not ask for more! God bless, Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity! THANK YOU!

Shawn

OUR VETERANS PROGRAM

In 2019, our affiliate began an initiative to increase our focus on our deserving Veterans. We seek to assist Mecosta County Veterans in any way we are able with their housing issues. One such Veteran family speaks of their experience.

A Christmas wish come true! Our roof was in very bad shape on our mobile home. We were told about Habitat for Humanity’s Veterans program. My wife applied for the program on the website. They had some contractors out to look at it to see what was needed. We got a call from Habitat and they said they had a company willing to donate their time and the supplies would be donated by GAF roofing. We were told that Big Rapids Roofing would like to replace the roof on Veterans Day! But as it turned out they could not do it until the next week due to the weather. I was so amazed by all the guys from Big Rapids Roofing and that they were also veterans. We talked about all kinds of stuff that only vets talk about. I will be forever grateful to Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity and the generous donation from Big Rapids Roofing and GAF for the roofing supplies. Thank You!

Our CHR family was featured as Home Depot Foundation’s Veteran Project of the Month. Watch full video story below!

OUR DONORS - Our Foundation

MCHFH depends on the financial generosity of our community for all of our programs. One family recently relocated and made the remarkable decision to donate their existing home to our affiliate. We asked this incredible woman to put her decision into words for us. As is very typical of this dear friend, she asks that she remain anonymous.

I am thrilled to be able to donate our family home to MCHFH. My husband and I had heard of Habitat for Humanity, of course, but we really were not aware of the exceptional work that Habitat was doing. In 2019, my husband (a Vietnam War Veteran) became seriously ill. Our furnace had quit working and our well was on its way out, too. Habitat came in and replaced the furnace, installed new fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen, new well pipes throughout house, and had a new well put in. A few months later, my husband passed away, but he was always so grateful to Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity for all their help and their many kindnesses. Because of their assistance, donating to this wonderful organization is my way of thanking them for all they do to help those in our area who need a hand-up when times are the most difficult. I have donated my home to Habitat in hopes that this will help someone else in our community. If anyone is considering a donation to a local organization that really helps people in our own neighborhoods, please consider Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity because it is made up of people who really do care.

Anonymous Donor

Power of Home Fundraiser Campaign coming soon!

Our annual Power of Home fundraising campaign is scheduled to kick off Monday, April 4! Consumers Energy has graciously provided matching funds for a two-to-one match to help your donations go even further, up to a total of $100,000. This means that every $2 you donate will get $1 in matching dollars from Consumers Energy. Watch our Facebook page for the live link.

OUR VOLUNTEERS- Our Backbone

At Mecosta County Habitat, we could do nothing and would be nowhere without our very wonderful volunteers. We depend on volunteers to work at our ReStore, on our Home Construction sites and at our Critical Home Repair projects. We reached out to get one of our dedicated volunteers to speak to his experience.

It must be some 10 years ago when I first became interested in Habitat. My wife and I spend the month of February in Alabama and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to join in at a Habitat construction site for a new house they were building. Being tired of just sitting around, I said sure. In the years since I have worked on many new builds down there and one year when there wasn’t a build going on I went to work at the ReStore in Alabama and have continued with that ever since. Once back in Michigan I began to think that I could spend a little time at our Big Rapids ReStore. So a couple of years ago I asked Lisa at the ReStore, if they needed new volunteers and she said yes. Well, never give Lisa an opportunity to get you connected, because I found my self doing volunteering both at the store and participating in the builds as well. However, now I can’t imagine my life with out volunteering for Habitat. I’m really glad that I have retired so that work isn’t interfering with all of my fun. Volunteering is a Feel Good Thing! And, because you don’t have to be there and you don’t have to do this work, it’s so much easier - no stress, no worry about how much you’re getting paid, because you aren’t. Just show up and enjoy!

Ken

OUR RESTORE

Our ReStore is critical to the viability and strength of our affiliate. By selling items that are generously donated to our store, we are able to put those proceeds directly into our programs! We are looking to increase our inventory so please consider donating your goods today! We will even pick-up those items that you are unable to transport. Shop, volunteer and donate to our ReStore today--the happiest place in Mecosta County!

Schedule your pickup Online HERE or call 231-629-8700

What our customers are saying about our ReStore

OUR FAMILY NEWS - Making a difference

We want to take this opportunity to keep you updated on fun stuff happening in our Habitat family.

Melanie Henry has been one of our most devoted volunteers for many years and we are proud of her tireless impact in our community. Every other year, GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) Michigan honors “Women of Achievement”. This year GFWC has selected Melanie Henry as their “Woman of Achievement” and she will be honored at the GFWC State Convention in April. She fills all of the criteria and more for this recognition. GFWC feels so fortunate that Melanie is a member of their Club and one of their “Sisters”. Congratulations Melanie!