Homeowner Profile

Sometimes it's easy to lose track of why we donate our money and volunteer our time, and in so doing become discouraged. But it's important to remember that the house that Thrivent Builds is sponsoring is for real people. The future homeowner of the Thrivent Builds house is Sonnie Dae, who is raising 5 children (4 of her own and a niece). Read more about her and the children here.

More Build-A-Thon Pictures

Some more Build-A-Thon pictures, courtesy of Pat Krohn-Pope (Thrivent board member and Build-A-Thon volunteer).

Build-a-Thon Pictures

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Build-a-Thon

Habitat for Humanity East Bay's annual Earth Day Build-A-Thon finished yesterday, and was a huge success. Hundreds of people came together to frame 8 houses at the Edes Avenue building site in Oakland. Local Lutherans were there to represent Prince of Peace, Fremont; Resurrection Lutheran, Dublin; Trinity Lutheran, Pleasanton; Our Savior, Livermore; and even the Thrivent Financial office in Fremont. (If I didn't list your church and you were there, let me know by posting a comment. Also let me know if you have pictures to share.)

All 8 houses rose from the foundation slab up to the roof trusses in just 4 short days. There were a lot of little cuts and bruises (I got my share), but fortunately it was a safe event with no serious injuries. People worked hard and had a great time supporting a great cause and getting a lot of work done.

The Build-a-Thon is also a fund-raising event. They won't have the final numbers for a while as pledges continue to come in, but by all accounts it was successful in that regard, too.

A special thanks to the house leaders for the Thrivent Builds house, Gary and Juan, and the construction assistant, Laurie. The three of them made a great team and made sure the work got done right while keeping people busy with different tasks all over the house. Gary is also the architect for this project, and donated his design time to Habitat.

Thank You!

A big thank you to John Roeber, a board member of the south Alameda County Thrivent chapter. John is president of Roebers Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, and has donated the plumbing and heating for the Thrivent Builds house.

Not only is this a big help for Habitat, but a huge help with our goal for fund-raising by Lutherans. Thanks, John!

Big Red Success

Sunday the Big Red Truck came to town. It's a rolling multi-media exhibit to inform people about Thrivent Builds and Habitat for Humanity, and to educate them about poverty housing and the need for decent, affordable housing for all.

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fremont hosted the event, and provided many of the volunteers to help staff the truck. We had around 250 people go through the exhibits on the truck, take part in the nailing contest, get more information about Habitat, sign up to volunteer...we even got a donation on the spot.

Thanks to the good folks at Prince of Peace, and to the crew of the Big Red Truck. Be sure to check it out if it's in a town near you (they're headed towards Oregon and Washington next).

Welcome!

Thrivent Builds is a partnership between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Habitat for Humanity, and local Lutheran churches. Thrivent is sponsoring millions of dollars worth of homes built by Habitat around the country, with a special emphasis on the areas of the Gulf Coast that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Thrivent provides much of the money, Habitat the know-how and partnership with families, and local Lutherans provide money, volunteer labor, and prayer.

This blog is to report progress on the Thrivent Builds partnership with Habitat for Humanity East Bay. Thrivent Builds is sponsoring a home at Habitat's Edes Avenue site, and counting on donations and volunteering from Lutherans and Thrivent members all across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Welcome, and please join with us to make this partnership a success!