![]() Throughout June and July, Habitat partnered with NeighborWorks America to organize the Grassroots Rising: Resident Leadership Summit, connecting with more than 60 resident leaders throughout Flint! As a continuation of this tremendous work, Habitat is excited to announce a new round of supports for resident leaders across Flint and Genesee County. On October 10th, in partnership with the Center for Community Progress and GTECH Strategies, Genesee County Habitat for Humanity is hosting a community training Blight Elimination and Vacant Lot Reuse: Strategies for Flint Neighborhood Leaders. The training will provide participants with a deeper understanding of the basic property law principles and legal history that should inform community-oriented efforts to remediate vacancy and abandonment and strengthen communities, as well as an overview of GTECH’s work on the ground in Allegheny County, PA including the Lots to Love web-based toolkit for resident-driven change. Following this training, Genesee County will be rolling out the newly developed Voice of Women: Creating a Framework for Women to Change Their Neighborhoods and Communities curriculum. Developed by Habitat for Humanity International, Voice of Women is designed to provide women with leadership skills and structure to affect positive change in their neighborhoods and communities. This six-part training series provides women with a framework to exercise an active voice in civic, political, educational, and social workings within their community.
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As we round the corner on our fifth year at our current location 101 Burton Street in Flint, we would like to thank our most recent corporate donors: (left to right) Foutch Video, Holiday Inn Gateway Center, and Baker College of Flint for the generous donations of merchandise this month. Please visit, shop, and donate to the Restore! We’re open Tuesday – Saturday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. New items arrive daily, so the more often you shop the better your chances of finding the treasures you desire for upcoming DIY projects.
Donations are accepted any time we are open and we offer a free pickup service if you live in Genesee County! We are happy to announce that Genesee County Habitat for Humanity received recognition at Habitat for Humanity of Michigan’s Affiliates in Motion conference this year. Not only did we receive a $5,000 grant from Dow Chemical during the event, but one of our homeowners, LaTisha (Tish) Berry, was selected as Habitat for Humanity of Michigan’s Homeowner Partner of the Year!
Dow Chemical Grant This year, Dow Chemical Company, Habitat for Humanity’s first and longest-standing corporate partner celebrated the completion of their 50,000th house with Habitat for Humanity. As a part of this celebration, Dow Chemical Company initiated a competition among Habitat for Humanity of Michigan Affiliates for a blog post describing the importance of this critical partnership – and how this partnership has made a lasting impact on our community. It wasn’t hard to write, as Dow has been an integral part of our work for years! Stay tuned! The blog post will be available to view in November. Habitat for Humanity of Michigan’s Homeowner Partner of the Year In addition to the Dow Chemical Company, one of our homeowner partners, LaTisha (Tish) Berry was recognized as the Habitat for Humanity of Michigan’s Homeowner Partner of the Year. Tish is resident of the Grand Traverse District Neighborhood in Flint and a regular contributor to the work of Genesee County Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of our Board of Directors and is in attendance at all our Habitat functions and City of Flint events. She provides a voice, through her actions, for those in need. Most recently, Tish, who also is a nurse practitioner, trained to become a Global Village leader, a position that assists Habitat for Humanity in its efforts to build safe and affordable housing throughout the world. As a Global Village Leader, she will travel to Guyana to work with those in need and to provide new opportunities to a family and their community. Click here to see a video about Tish’s experience with Genesee County Habitat for Humanity.
Genesee County Habitat for Humanity recently welcomed Ashley Everhart to the team as the new Development Director.
“As the newest addition to the Genesee County Habitat for Humanity team, I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of this deeply important work. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing several exciting announcements and hosting opportunities for community members to volunteer and contribute to our work. Be on the lookout for more information about #GivingTuesday and a new launch of our pledge campaign. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on our latest activities. In the meantime, sign up to support Genesee County Habitat for Humanity through Amazon Smile and iGive. Through each of these programs, Amazon and iGive will donate to Genesee County Habitat for Humanity every time you shop, providing the critical funds we need to support our homeowner partners. If you’re interested in more ways to engage with Genesee County Habitat for Humanity, or you just feel like dropping a line to say “hi” – email me at aeverhart@geneseehabitat.org." You won’t find a more hardworking volunteer than Chris Covetz. Although he works full time during second shift at GM packaging parts, Chris still finds time to volunteer up to 30 hours per week with Habitat for Humanity. We don’t know how he does it but we sure do appreciate the help! Chris has been volunteering in Southeast Michigan for the past 20 years, starting with Rebuilding Together in Oakland County. Chris is now in his sixth year volunteering with Genesee County Habitat, he also volunteers with Detroit and Oakland Habitat affiliates as well as a number of other charities in the area. Chris enjoys the never-ending supply of work to be done, “Habitat gives you the most opportunity to give something back,” said Covetz. “I have the ability to help, so I like to do so.” What Chris loves most about volunteering with Habitat is helping out veterans and working with big groups – especially GM! “It’s fun to work with coworkers and higher-ups,” said Covetz “GM was started in Flint. It’s fun working with your own company.” Chris volunteered with GCHFH for all five days of GM Cares Week and was a tremendous help in assisting us with the 250 volunteers we had that week. Chris can always be counted on when we need the help most and our construction staff can’t say enough about his character. “He’s a patriot,” said Genesee County Habitat for Humanity Construction Assistant and Afghanistan War veteran Chris Smith. “He has huge involvement with veterans.” When asked how he personally benefits from helping out Habitat, Chris said teaching and continued talking about helping others. “When we work with a lot of inexperienced volunteers, they think they can’t do anything but we can help them get a lot done,” said Covetz who then added “We’re all beginners at one point.” There is no way we could touch as many lives in the community as we do without the help of volunteers like Chris Covetz. Here at GCHFH we admire and appreciate Chris’ hard work and dedication to our community. It has been a busy summer of demolition, repairs, restoration, and building for our construction crew. Luckily, we’ve had the support and assistance of volunteers from many of our faith-based and corporate partners, including Dow Chemical Company, General Motors, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Thrivent Finanical, and Wells Fargo.
With the help of our volunteers, we expect to complete 6 new builds by December, as well as more than 12 homeowner occupied repair projects. Our Homeowner Occupied Repair Program is a critical extension of our mission to build homes, communities, and hope. Through the Program, we provide critical repair assistance to qualified homeowners in target neighborhoods in the City of Flint. Eligible repairs include roofs, structural damage, porch repair, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, handicap accessibility, siding, exterior paint, weatherization, and energy efficiency improvements. In the last two years, we’ve completed 26 repair projects and have an additional 14 in progress. In addition to our homeowner programs, we’ve been busy working with neighborhoods to build community gathering spaces, including pavilions and picnic tables. |
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