All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
A Cambodian family celebrates the completion of their new home with Habitat for Humanity St. Vrain Valley Global Village team members who helped to build the home.
Habitat for Humanity of St. Vrain Valley (HFHSVV) hit a milestone of $1 million in contributions toward building homes around the world and has earned the local affiliate the Sam Mompongo Award. The contributions were raised as a result of one of the entity's foundational principles – a 10% tithing of unrestricted revenue toward partnering countries to fulfill the global organizations' goal of helping every person have an affordable and decent place to live.
HFHSVV's unrestricted funds are gifts from individuals, foundations, corporations, and churches, basically all funds not from government sources. Considered in-kind donations, sales at the ReStore location in Longmont are also tithings, in addition to mortgage payments from homeowners.
"When our folks are paying their mortgages back, they're actually helping to build homes overseas at the same time," Director of Development John Lovel explained. The local organization has collected the funds since it began operating about 30 years ago.
David Emerson, executive director of St. Vrain Habitat said, "This helps build much needed housing in some of the most impoverished areas of the world. To date, we have funded 240 homes internationally in addition to the 113 homes we have built in the St. Vrain and Estes Valleys. With a small amount of money, we can make a huge impact."
Globally, Habitat for Humanity operates in 70 countries with 1180 affiliates based in the U.S. Fifty-six other Habitat affiliates have reached the $1 million landmark amount along with HFHSVV. But only seven other communities considered medium in size, as is HFHSVV, have reached this level.
Named by Habitat founder Millard Fuller, The Sam Mompongo Award came about in 1976 when Mompongo, the leader of Zaire's Habitat affiliate, raised $1 million in contributions to help establish the organization's existence in Guatemala.
Around the world, more than 1.5 million people either have inadequate housing or unsafe places to live. HFHSVV is presently partnering with affiliates in Paraguay, Lesotho, Nepal, and Jordan. Previously, they have also assisted with building homes in Cambodia, Armenia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Each commitment with an international Habitat affiliate is for four years.
Seventy-five community members, along with HFHSVV staff and board members from the Longmont and Boulder area have been on nine international "Global Village Trips'' during the second year of partnering with each country. Visiting volunteers provide hands-on building assistance, while experiencing the culture of each area.
"Global Village Trips are our way of connecting the St. Vrain community to the wonderful work our Habitat partners are engaged in around the world," Julie Gallegos, director of
Homeowner Services and International Development at St. Vrain Habitat said."The ability to build relationships on the ground reinforces our commitment to our financial donation and continued support,"
HFHSVV set a goal to double the organization's outcomes from 2018 to 2028 – building 100 more homes and repairing 50 additional homes on a local level specifically within St. Vrain and Estes Valleys, and constructing 180 more homes internationally.
"We are well on the way to reaching that goal," Emerson said. "We hope that everyone will come alongside our partner families to volunteer in the construction and repair of homes locally. We invite the community to join us on our next Global Village trip to see the impact Longmont's financial support has made on the world."
To learn more about HFHSVV, visit http://www.stvrainhabitat.org.
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