The Publication of Habitat for Humanity International
The theme for Habitat’s fifth annual National Women Build Week, May 5-13, is “The Build Generation.” The phrase reflects the growing number of young women who are getting their first taste of Habitat volunteerism and advocacy through the Women Build program. Thousands of volunteers are again building with more than 275 U.S. affiliates, including major events in Los Angeles; New York City; Miami; Nashville, Tennessee; and Detroit, Michigan. Search for local Women Builds at habitat.org/wb.
Cobourg’s Alexandria Drive was once home to Canadian military families employed at a nearby depot, until it closed in 1970. In 1998, Habitat Northumberland began reviving the neighborhood. Women Build volunteers recently renovated the street’s last pre-existing duplex — the 29th Habitat home on Alexandria Drive. Six more residences will be built in 2013. “The partner families that live here demonstrate daily the impact that homeownership can have on a community,” says executive director Meaghan Macdonald.
This past school year, 360 first-grade students at Laurel Hill Primary turned their daily chores into $1,900 for East Cooper Habitat. The two-week school project, designed to teach money and math skills, raised enough money to buy cabinets for a new Habitat house. In return, students got to tour Habitat’s first energy-efficient house in Mount Pleasant. “I had fun doing chores for money,” says 7-year-old Reagan. “I got to cook with my mom and dad!”
