Habitat for Humanity East Bay - Women's Crew

Did you know that Habitat for Humanity has a Women's Crew?

Here's what their website has to say about the All Women's Crew:

"The All Women's Crew

Are you a woman interested in volunteering to help families build simple, decent, affordable homes? Would you enjoy learning construction and home repair skills in a fun, safe, team, learning environment? Then Habitat for Humanity East Bay’s All Women's Crew is for you!

The All Women's Crew provides a meaningful and rewarding experience for women who volunteer and financially support Habitat's mission. As they assist low-income families build their homes, Women's Crew members also acquire skills they can use to repair and maintain their own homes."

http://www.habitateb.org/women

As a woman who has always been interested in construction and renovations, I am super excited to find out that Habitat for Humanity encourages women to learn how to build homes!  For those of you who need to fix things around the house more out of necessity than desire, I still think this program can be highly beneficial. Or if your someone who is able to hire contractors to work on your home, this is the type of program that can give you a basic understanding of how construction works.  I strongly recommend having some idea of what a contractor is going to do for you and why.

Habitat for Humanity is one of those charities you can see working right before your eyes.  You don't have to be particularly skilled to participate, and in fact, you will actually receive free training so you can help put a house together.  Where is the downside to volunteering with this organization?

I love the idea of joining my community to help build homes for those who may otherwise never get an opportunity to have their own home.  Here's another thing that impresses me about the Habitat for Humanity approach.  They work at creating sustainable solutions and are aware that their success is dependent on how well their new part of the neighborhood meshes with and is accepted by the existing community.  Without this attitude it's very easy to start off with good intentions and end up with ghettos.  

According to their website, here's Habitat's view:

"Developing neighborhood groups to unify the Habitat community and capture the potential of a Habitat neighborhood once homeowners have moved in. With the structure of a community group or homeowners’ association, neighbors can come together to address all kinds of issues in their community while building strong relationships together. "

http://www.habitateb.org/communitybuilding

Another area that impresses me is that there are many different volunteer opportunities.  I would suggest checking out their website http://eastbay.volunteerhub.com/Events/Browse.aspx, but here are some of the different groups they focus on offering volunteer opportunities for:

Faith Groups

Construction Volunteers

Youth Groups

Women's Groups

Corporate Groups

Non-Construction

Material Donatations

I'm really excited about the opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and I'll keep you posted on local builds and other opportunities.  I hope I see some of you out there!

California Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights 04/08/11

Did you know The East Bay Regional Park District has adopted “the California Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights”? Here's what it says:

Every child should have the opportunity to:


- Discover California's past
- Splash in the water
- Play in a safe place
- Camp under the stars

- Explore nature

- Learn to swim

- Play on a team

- Follow a trail

- Catch a fish

- Celebrate their heritage

The Contra Loma Reservoir in Antioch is part of the East Bay Regional Parks District and is encouraging the “California Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights”.


http://www.ebparks.org/news/12282007

I think we have to start paying attention to the fact that we love our technology and we sometimes forget how important it is to take our kids to the park, the beach, or out for a walk. Our kids have grown used to having almost unlimited access to a DS, a computer, a cell phone, a television, & a Wii. I quite enjoy these things myself and I’m not suggesting we cut them out of our lives and or prevent our kids from enjoying enjoying them either.

That said, I think we all need to spend some time outdoors and we all need to spend some quality time with other human beings. We don’t all enjoy the same activities, and that’s okay. There are so many options out there. Did you notice some of the “bill of rights”?

• Splash in the water

• Play in a safe place

• Explore nature

• Learn to swim

These are things we used to take for granted in our community. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get back to that point. Children are so inquisitive and as parents and other adults in the community we have so much opportunity to encourage their learning and their relationships with people and nature. If we’re lucky, we may just gain something ourselves from the experience.

The Contra Loma Resevoir is a treasure sitting in our own backyard and I absolutely want to support the initiative they're taking with the "California Children's Bill of Rights".

Do you realize how lucky we are to live in the Bay Area with so much beauty and wonder all around us? It would be a shame to bury that treasure and never realize its true beauty.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be spending some time at the Contra Loma Reservoir this spring & summer. Hope to see you there!

Fun Fact Friday - Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa County

The Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa was organized in Brentwood in 1970 with Kay Davis as president. The group is still together and meeting every week.


Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa County
Contact Barbara Guise at 925-634-4480
www.soroptimist.org
Meets every Thursday at noon at Hickory Pit, Brentwood


According to their website http://www.soroptimistinternational.org/who-we-are, this is what they stand for:

Mission:

• “Soroptimists inspire action and create opportunities to transform the lives of women and girls through a global network of members and international partnerships.”


Goals:

• “Soroptimists will ensure that women and girls enjoy equality, live in safe, healthy and equitable environments, have access to education and have leadership and practical skills.”


• “Soroptimist International will have a dynamic, flexible and responsive membership, with an international point of connection, committed to the delivery of its vision and mission.”


• “SI will be a strategic organization with dynamic and proactive leadership at all levels, able to deliver results and ensure its vision is achieved.”

Soroptimists epitomize what I’m looking for from members of my community and what I personally want to be a part of. This organization, in particular, speaks to me on a very personal level because I was one of those girls who didn’t have a lot of positive role models. I desperately wanted to succeed and get ahead in life, but I had no idea how to find that path.


I ended up receiving a lot of support that helped me go from being a single teenage mom on welfare and being absolutely miserable to being the first person in my family to get an Associates Degree, building a career that could support my family, becoming a crisis counselor, raising a responsible, well-adjusted child, becoming part of an incredibly loving church family and to getting engaged to the man of my dreams.

All of these things were made possible because of God’s sweet grace and the many angels He sent to help me along the way. I can’t tell you how many times someone helped me at an incredibly crucial moment in my life. None of us can make it through this world alone. We were meant to live in community with each other and to help each other out.


One of the statements Soroptimists International has on their website is,

“Soroptimists are leaders in their communities who believe in the power of joining together to make the world a better place for women and girls.”

This really fits with my personal values and my passion for volunteering and mentoring.

They also have local clubs throughout the Bay Area. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already submitted my Introduction Form and I can’t wait to become a part of this organization.

God bless.