Women Build

To wrap up the posts on my travels this fall, I'd like to talk a bit about the Women Build program within Habitat for Humanity.

Val and Joan are fans, of course, and honored to represent Women Build in a small way.

 

I asked Lisa Marie Nickerson from Women Build / HFHI, for a history of Women Build, which was the brainchild of a group of women in Charlotte, North Carolina. So here's a BIG shout-out to the Habitat Affiliate in Charlotte for getting the Women Build ball rolling!

The Complete History Of Women Build:

1991
A group of women in Charlotte, North Carolina complete the first women-built Habitat for Humanity house. With this event, the seeds for Habitat for Humanity's Women Build program are planted.

A handful of Habitat for Humanity affiliates continue to build houses with women crews.

1997
As part of the Jimmy Carter Work Project, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton, Kentucky first lady Libby Jones and Oklahoma first lady Cathy Keating participate in a Women Build. The idea for Habitat’s First Ladies Build is born.

1998
Habitat for Humanity International forms the Women Build department and the Women Build program becomes an official HFHI initiative. 

1999–2001
The Women Build department hosts the First Ladies Build. Women governors and first ladies from all 50 states join Habitat for Humanity to build houses with families in need.

2001
Women Build launches “Women Building a Legacy.” United States’ first ladies, celebrities and women from all walks of life swing hammers to actively address the problem of children in poverty.

2003
Lowe’s signs on as Women Build’s underwriter. Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc. becomes Women Build’s major sponsor. Since 2003, the program has more than doubled in size.

2006
Thirty-two thousand volunteers complete 160 Women Build houses.

2006–2007
Women Build’s “First Families Building Homes Across America” unites women volunteers with governors' spouses, local and statewide leaders to construct Habitat homes in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. Fifty-two homes are built throughout the country.

2007
Women Build volunteers build more than 200 houses.

2008-2009
Lowe’s sponsors National Women Build Week, held in the days leading up to Mother’s Day. In 2008, more than 6,000 women volunteers participate at more than 150 Habitat affiliates across the United States. In 2009, more than 7,000 volunteers joined in at more than 200 Habitat affiliates.

Today
More than 1,500 official Women Builds have been completed since 1998.

  

 

 

 

Emily Bergl, currently in "Southland" on TNT and formerly a co-star with Anne Heche in "Men In Trees", added some star quality to our Women Build lunch in Thailand.

Well, OK, Rosalynn Carter was the REAL star.

 

Yeah, we went co-ed on our Women Build house in Chiang Mai, Thailand. But as a credit to the principle of Women Build, all of us worked as equal partners. Everyone did everything, which in the end is the goal. 

I encourage any woman reading this to consider participating in a Women Build if the occasion arises.

Women... you don't need to be skilled, just willing to learn. Women Build, and Habitat in general, are organized to accommodate beginners.

Guys, we love you, but when you're around we tend to step back and let you run the tools. When you're not, we have to learn. Women Builds often include great guys when qualified women are not available. Like all things feminist... it's not about excluding guys, it's about bringing women to the front.

Next post... back to cartooning.

Comments

[Rev Johannes Myors]

Jan,

Greetings from Americus, Georgia the home of Habitat For Humanity and the Fuller Center For Housing. Thank you very much for being part of the Carter's last Habitat work project. It's nice to see it represented in your comic strip. I was a volunteer at the international headquarters for five years and I did some volunteer work at the Fuller Center. I know the feeling on how good blisters can feel when you are doing good. I've helped build 63 homes around the United States myself.

[Karen Buchanan]

Will you or Habitat be going to Haiti when they start rebuilding after the massive earthquake? As show on news a tremendous a lot of people out of homes.

[Jan Eliot]

Hi Karen,
I will not be involved directly with Habitats efforts in Haiti, but Habitat for Humanity International will definitely be helping there. The need was great before the earthquake, in all areas of life in Haiti, from housing to medical services. I know that Habitat will do what they can in the area they know best... decent affordable housing.