25 days, 25 stories: A Volunteer’s Transformation
Each day from October 5 to October 29, 2009 we will be posting a new story in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 25th anniversary. These stories have come to us from people who have been involved with Habitat Omaha in a variety of ways at some point in the past 25 years. We hope that you enjoy these reflections, some old and some new, about Habitat Omaha and that they inspire or renew the spirit of service in you. If you have a story of your own that you would like to share please send it to us at buildinghope.omaha@gmail.com.
A Volunteer’s Transformation
I first became familiar with Habitat for Humanity of Omaha as a producer for KM3 News. I had the privilege of producing the Habitat Show every year. I interviewed and wrote stories about many of the people who were transformed by this grass roots organization. I remember one story in particular about a young, shy 19-year-old named Jackson. Jackson was a volunteer with Habitat Omaha through a prison work release program. He would often volunteer for Habitat in order to escape the confinement of the prison walls. When I met Jackson he had just been released but was still volunteering for Habitat. I asked him “Why do you keep coming back to volunteer? You’re free.”
Without any eye contact he quietly mumbled, “I don’t know, it keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to do with my hands I guess.”
It would be three years later before our paths would cross again. It was at the Habitat Omaha NCAA College World Series Build. Jackson had signed up to work as a volunteer. But the really amazing part is that also signed up 20 of his fraternity brothers from Creighton University! This “new” Jackson was a second year college student. He was all smiles and had the confidence to look me straight in the eyes when he was talking. While I can’t say when the pivotal moment happened and Jackson decided to turn his life around, I often wonder about how much Habitat volunteers contributed to this amazing transformation. I think about the Habitat construction site. It’s one of the few places where no one is judged for how they’re dressed or what they know or don’t know about the job at hand. Rather it’s framing a house, raising a wall or painting the kitchen, they are all in it together. At the end of the day a group of 
strangers are now new found friends. While they all walk away knowing a little more about construction, I don’t think they know the impact they may have made in each other’s lives. Especially in the life of an impressionable young man named Jackson.
Tracie McPherson
Faith Relations and PR Director
Habitat for Humanity of Omaha
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 19, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: A Lawyer’s Christmas Appeal
Each day from October 5 to October 29, 2009 we will be posting a new story in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 25th anniversary. These stories have come to us from people who have been involved with Habitat Omaha in a variety of ways at some point in the past 25 years. We hope that you enjoy these reflections, some old and some new, about Habitat Omaha and that they inspire or renew the spirit of service in you. If you have a story of your own that you would like to share please send it to us at buildinghope.omaha@gmail.com.
A Lawyer’s Christmas Appeal
(Dec. 1990 Omaha Habitat for Humanity News-Newsletter)
“Jeff D’Agosta, our lawyer Treasurer, recently sent the following memo to Margaret. Margaret translates for our benefit:
Jeff: The fiscal analysis for the period just ended indicates an infusion of capital is warranted or perhaps event imperative.
Margaret: Hey, man, we need some money!
Jeff: Fabrication of dwelling structures will be impeded or may experience cessation in the event sufficient pecuniary resources are not forthcoming.
Margaret: Can’t build houses without bucks.
Jeff: Wherefore, we must appeal to the largesse of our constituency for an impartation of their wherewithal within the ethereality of Advent.
Margaret: So we must ask our 
contributors to give as generously as they can in the spirit of the season.
Jeff: A postal conveyance enwrapment should be made an enclosure in furtherance of this purpose.
Margaret: An envelope is enclosed for your use.
Thank You!”
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 18, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: One Fundraiser’s Ingenuity
Each day from October 5 to October 29, 2009 we will be posting a new story in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 25th anniversary. These stories have come to us from people who have been involved with Habitat Omaha in a variety of ways at some point in the past 25 years. We hope that you enjoy these reflections, some old and some new, about Habitat Omaha and that they inspire or renew the spirit of service in you. If you have a story of your own that you would like to share please send it to us at buildinghope.omaha@gmail.com.
One Fundraiser’s Ingenuity
(Oct. 1994 Omaha Habitat for Humanity News-Newsletter)
“Excerpts from a fund raising letter sent out by active volunteer, Jim Moser, demonstrates the ingenuity of some people. ‘Last year I put together a fundraiser bike ride for Habitat. Even though the event 
was rained out, we still netted almost $3,000 after expenses. I’ve concluded that a “non-ride” with no expense and no chance of being rained out might be more successful…’ Jim described the mission of Habitat and sent each contributor a T-shirt and water bottle (left over from last year!) and netted about $6,000!!!”
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 17, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: Collegiate Challenge ‘95–St. Louis University spends spring break in Omaha
Collegiate Challenge ’95
St. Louis University spends
spring break in Omaha
“Somewhere in Omaha, Nebraska there is a special family that probably won’t ever meet Megan Cavanagh. But those folks will owe a big thank you to Megan and her friends…and to many others involved in an eight-week nationwide Habitat for Humanity program this spring.
Megan, Margaret Baum, and Brian Christopher were students from St. Louis (MO) University. They didn’t know each other when they started. None of them knew Dale Oatman. But as they worked together rehabilitating an older Omaha house, they became friends. Soon that house (at 3183 Meredith) will be home to a special family that qualifies to buy it interest free, from Habitat.
The St. Louis students were spending their spring break doing volunteer work. Oatman wasn’t on spring break. He was already in his 50s by the time the St. Louis students were born. He’s the construction superintendent for all the Habitat projects in Omaha. Despite the age difference, the four worked well together and were particularly proud of one collaborative effort.
Megan, Margaret and Brian came to Omaha with seven others from St. Louis. Each had paid $125 for the “privilege” of spending a week sleeping on a church floor and doing hard, dirty work. Their leader was Kim Woods, a senior and student intern for the St. Louis University Campus Ministry. This was Kim’s fourth spring break on a work trip.
Yet what Kim and her crew did in Omaha was part of something much bigger. Besides the work group in Omaha, six other volunteer groups form St. Louis University worked on community projects around the United States the week of March 12-18. Counting Omaha, four of those seven were Habitat projects.
And that’s still not the whole story. Those four St. Louis groups were only a fraction of more than 5,000 students who did volunteer work for 104 Habitat chapters around the country February 18 to April 8 under Habitat International’s 1995 Collegiate Challenge program.
‘Just think about it,’ one adult volunteer urged: ‘That’s thousands of kids spending their own time and money helping other people. We should remember this whenever we get discouraged watching TV news.’
The St. Louis group in Omaha included two other young men besides Brian, and five other young women besides Megan, Margaret, and Kim; Nicole Dunn, Sarah Klein, Jenny Truax, and Chris Welling.
The whole bunch spent their first morning inside, tearing out old, crumbling plaster, making way for new wallboard. Jenny said the work was more intense than she’d expected; she felt good about getting one whole wall cleared that first day.
Some of them unhooked old steam radiators, then got sore muscles breaking them up with sledge hammers because they were to heavy to carry otherwise. After that, Sarah Klein, Sharon Farge, Katie O’Handley, and Fernando Munoz got a good start on installing new wallboard over the old plaster lathing they had uncovered. Kim worked with this group, too.
This special project Megan, Margaret, Brian, and Dale Oatman worked on: they built new back steps. Oatman showed them how and then let them do it. They had to redo one side four times. But on the last day, the three students and Oatman posed proudly sitting on ‘their’ steps.
Oatman has a special knack for helping volunteers do useful work and feel good about it. Brian was impressed. He’s worked on other Habitat projects and he said Omaha was better organized than many. Of course that wasn’t an accident. Oatman and his assistants had done lots of preparation work. The crew includes Tim Ernst and Todd Ahlstorm, construction assistants, and Dave Dietert, a full-time volunteer.
Oatman is impressed with the job the Collegiate Challenge workers do. ‘They are dedicated,’ he said. ‘They come here knowing about the importance of Habitat projects and they are prepared to work. When you’re able to have a group for a week, you can afford to spend time training them. They may not know each other beforehand, but in the course of a week, they develop a camaraderie and work as a team. They stay focused, don’t lose interest’…
St. Louis University is a Jesuit institution. All but one of the students in the Omaha group were Catholic. But in Omaha their home was in Pearl Memorial United Methodist Church. They bought their own groceries and cooked their communal meals in the kitchen. Hey slept on the floor of the adjacent meeting room.
Each night at bedtime they had a ‘reflection’ period. One night they all sat in the darkened sanctuary and thought quietly about the day’s work experience, what it had done for them and what they had done as a port of it. No one spoke and each person went silently off to bed when done. Sharon said that was one of the high points of the week for her…
During the Omaha work, Sarah and Kim spent a lot of their time on ladders, fastening new wallboard to the kitchen ceiling. As so often happens, they began to feel proprietary about it. On the last day, when the others were done and agitating to leave, Sarah and Kim insisted on securing their last ceiling sheet before they quit.
The last day happened to be St. Patrick’s Day. But, despite Irish names alike Megan and Katie, these St. Louis volunteers weren’t a green crew any more.”
James C. Rippey
Omaha Habitat Volunteer
(Written in 1995)
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 16, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: HO HO HO–A Reality Check
Each day from October 5 to October 29, 2009 we will be posting a new story in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 25th anniversary. These stories have come to us from people who have been involved with Habitat Omaha in a variety of ways at some point in the past 25 years. We hope that you enjoy these reflections, some old and some new, about Habitat Omaha and that they inspire or renew the spirit of service in you. If you have a story of your own that you would like to share please send it to us at buildinghope.omaha@gmail.com.
HO HO HO — A Reality Check
(Dec. 1992 Omaha Habitat for Humanity News-Newsletter)
“Tears. Tears. Tears. In Habitat we see a lot of tears. When we interview applicant families, we often experience tears of frustration. One young mother’s tearful lament expressed her tortured spirit as she wept for her family of five packed into a one bedroom apartment with ‘not even space to pray alone.’ These are tears of despair.
Tears are often seen in the eyes of volunteers who work side by side with Habitat partner families. They have become awakened to the reality of a life made harsh by poverty and economic oppression. They have also connected with a warm human being who has hopes and fears, faith and doubts, dreams and disappointments much the same as their own. These are tears of awareness.
Occasionally we see tears of rage. Rage over broken promises. Promises made by family members who have left empty hearts and empty purses. Promises made by society that holds up a hollow image of ‘The American Dream.’ Empty promises of hard work rewarded with a cozy bungalow and white picket fence. These are tears of isolation.
And then we attend a Habitat house dedication. A family who has been ‘in process’ for a year or so – filling out application forms, attending workshops, working out 350 hours of sweat equity, building the partnership – is presented a Bible and the key to the front door of their home. A gushing of tears follows. Always. Tears of joy, of gratitude, of dreams coming true. Tears of faithful promises kept. Tears expressing the ‘Fullness of Joy.’ These are our favorite tears. These are tears of healing and tears of community.
If you have witnessed any of these tears firsthand, or shed some of your own, I know you have been blessed. I invite all of you to join 
us in God’s work building decent affordable housing with God’s people in need through Omaha Habitat for Humanity in 1993…
May God bless you with the baptism of tears in community with your sisters and brothers of faith.”
Steve Eldred
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 15, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: Coming Together to Make a Difference
Each day from October 5 to October 29, 2009 we will be posting a new story in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 25th anniversary. These stories have come to us from people who have been involved with Habitat Omaha in a variety of ways at some point in the past 25 years. We hope that you enjoy these reflections, some old and some new, about Habitat Omaha and that they inspire or renew the spirit of service in you. If you have a story of your own that you would like to share please send it to us at buildinghope.omaha@gmail.com.
Coming Together to Make a
Difference
What can I say: I LOVE Habitat!!! I have so many wonderful memories of my last 13 years with Habitat. All the good people of Habitat have shaped me and made me grow in so many ways.
All of my memories roll into one giant memory: of good people caring for each other and coming with an open heart to make a difference. Each house feels like a miracle. I think a miracle is when it does not seem humanly possible that something should occur and that is ascribed to God. God certainly has his hand in Habitat and in the hearts of all those who make up Habitat and tirelessly work to end substandard housing.
My favorite Habitat quote is from the very first house dedication in Mbandaka, Zaire, July 4, 1976:
“To form a prosperous and unified community of people coming from different tribes and from different religious confessions;To break down the barriers which separate the whites from the blacks;
To form a society which knows no sort of discrimination – that is the aim of Habitat for Humanity”
- Pastor Boyaka Inkomo
Habitat works because people from all different backgrounds work side-by-side in love to build a house and make a difference. Hearts are opened in the process of working together. I love it.
Amanda Brewer
Executive Director/President
Habitat for Humanity of Omaha
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 14, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: Being a Part of Something Better
Being Part of Something Better
I was doing community service for a program called Arbor. At Arbor we did many different projects. One of the projects was calling Habitat volunteers to let them know about a volunteer appreciation dinner that they were invited to. That was my first experience with Habitat.
A few weeks later, Arbor put up an ad for a volunteer office assistant. I was so excited! I jumped at the chance to come to Habitat. I wanted to help with something that will help make a difference in the community.
I have been volunteering for Habitat for 10 months. I really enjoy the dedication that I see from the staff at Habitat. What made me come to Habitat to volunteer was my need 
to be a part of something better. I feel we still have a long way to go to make a big difference, but it is a start and I am happy and inspired to be a part of Habitat for Humanity. Thank you all for making me feel welcome.
Keturah Wright
Volunteer Office Assistant
Habitat for Humanity of Omaha
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 13, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: The Inspiration
The Inspiration
Chuck and I started our partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Omaha in 1994 as members of the Faithful Builders Coalition. Our first build was a blitz and our partner was Carroll Grimes. The sole of Chuck’s shoe came off when he was working on Carroll’s roof. When she came to speak at Holy Cross Lutheran and every time we’ve seen her since, Carroll mentions that Chuck gave his “sole” for her. Carroll was an outstanding partner. She was always the first person to arrive in the morning and the last one to leave at night. Carroll made our first Habitat experience so inspiring that we have continued for 15 years.
There have been several times in my Habitat years that I have been reminded that God is the “Master Builder.” There was a morning snack during Blitz Build 1994 that was not covered. For some reason I had to go to Project Hope. The deacon from Holy Family just happened to be there delivering food that he had picked up from area grocery stores. I left there with enough food to feed the volunteers and didn’t have to go home and bake after being at the work site all day. In the early years I used to worry about reaching our financial goal. When donors would happen to donate exactly the amount we were short or come up with creative ways to generate money, I was reminded that this is God’s project and that God will provide for His people in need. So many of the partner families have a very deep faith. They are an inspiration to keep on working to help God’s people in need.
We have met the most amazing 
people through Habitat for Humanity. Habitat has become a very big part of our lives. We love all the people we’ve met and worked with; the staff, committees, Faithful Builders, Friends and family partners. Habitat is an exciting and wonderful organization. We are blessed to be a part of it.
Chuck and Danna Plummer
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 12, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: Living Out the Gospel
Living Out the Gospel
[Habitat for Humanity of Omaha] had bought several lots from the Land Reutilization Authority around the 37th and Spencer area where our first house was built and they were overgrown with weeds and had lots of trees growing on them. I mentioned this at an early board meeting and Rev. Stefan Emery of Northside Mennonite Church said that he had some connections with the Mennonites in Beemer, Nebraska and that they often cleared land to help out. So the date was set, I think it was a Saturday, and Bill and I were to meet them at the Burger King at 44th and Dodge Streets for coffee and then they would follow us out to the lots. Bill wasn’t too happy about the 7 a.m. part but anyway they worked all morning and then went over to Margaret’s home nearby where she had made them lunch.
Then they went back to the site, finished with their chainsaws getting the last of the trees out and loaded up for firewood to take back to Beemer. It was amazing how fast they worked and then just hopped in their trucks, thanked US for the lunch and coffee which was small in comparison to their trip and 
work, and of course we thanked THEM for helping us out. That is why I hope we get the Mennonites involved again with Omaha Habitat as they truly believe you are to LIVE OUT the Gospel.
Mary Lyons-Barrett
One of the founders of Habitat for Humanity of Omaha
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 11, 2009
25 days, 25 stories: A Note from the President
From the President
(June 1995 Omaha Habitat for Humanity News-Newsletter)
“Thank you for taking part in the mission of Habitat for Humanity. Our combined efforts have made an impact on our community by housing over 40 families! Oyea!! By the end of this year, we should be providing housing for well over 50 families. If you figure that in terms of children, that’s almost 200 kids that have been, or will be, given a home they can call their own. Hopefully this will lead to a brighter future for our youth. This is a tremendous accomplishment and the same time an awesome task considering this is all done with private donations and volunteers.
As with all God’s children, we are all blessed in many different ways. Some of us possess talents that are only seen by the Heavenly Father. Others display more earthly attributes that help promote the will and wisdom that Jesus displayed during his short time on earth.
Habitat’s partnership operation seeks to put these many and varied blessings to good used. The outcome, we hope is threefold: (1) people of faith have a way to share their resources, (2) people in need can now have decent affordable housing and (3) community is built and barriers broken down as we work together.
-Chris Wieh, Habitat Omaha’s President in 1995”
Visit the new habitatomaha.org to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, find out about volunteer opportunities and to donate now.
Add comment October 10, 2009
