July, 2018 Newsletter

Executive Director's Message

by Brenda Shuttlesworth, Executive Director, Waco Habitat for Humanity

Have you been out to the Mayborn Museum to see the Titanic Exhibit? I went with my family opening weekend and felt quite nostalgic. When you enter the exhibit hall, you receive an information sheet about one of the passengers aboard the RMS Titanic, and at the end of the tour you find out if you were among the 700 or so survivors. For the afternoon, I became 3 ^rd Class passenger Georgette Eva Dean, wife of Bertram and mother of 1 year old Bertram Vere and 9-weeks old Eliza. The Dean’s should have been on another ship, but due to the coal shortage they were put on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. They set sail for America in hopes of a better life, with Bertram dreaming of opening a tobacco shop in Kansas where he already had family. Miraculously I survived, along with my 2 small children. My daughter is the famous one as she was the youngest survivor of that fateful shipwreck.

But, I really didn’t see the Dean family as I made my way through the memorabilia that day, instead I envisioned my own family coming to America from Norway just a few years before the Titanic tragedy. My great grandparents came to America aboard the RMS Baltic and landed at Ellis Island after many weeks of travel. The Baltic was the ship that warned the Titanic of icebergs before its sinking.

My own family (surname Bakke) was poor but they believed a better life awaited them in Texas. Once they got to America, and ultimately joined other family and friends in Cranfills Gap, they had 7 years of indentured servitude to payoff.

The Bakke family worked hard, paid off their debt of passage and became American citizens. They struggled learning a foreign language, had little education, and worked by the sweat of their brow. That is my heritage and I am proud of it.



Habitat for Humanity appreciates a rich heritage as well, and July marks the birthdate of our spiritual father, Clarence Jordan, a South Georgia farmer and biblical scholar. He proclaimed the central values of Habitat back in the 1940’s. He lived a Christ-centered life, welcomed everyone, believed in hard work, embraced a hand-up and not a hand-out in ministry, fostered community and cherished partnership.

 

You will have opportunity to read more about Clarence Jordan in this newsletter, and as you do, stop and think about your own heritage. From where do you come? How does that help shape who you are? Where to you go from here? Let part of your journey include Waco Habitat for Humanity. Join us on a construction site, volunteer at the ReStore, help out at the administrative offices or make a donation. We always have room for one more family member!

It's A Wrap!

Sponsored for Waco Habitat for Humanity by Allen Samuels Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, The First National Bank of Central Texas, and the Cooper Foundation, the greatly-appreciated replacement truck has been wrapped by Precision Wraps of Waco. Watch for it around town, as we pick up donations for the ReStore.

To arrange for the Waco Habitat ReStore to pick up your donation,

please call 254-756-0131.

The Zuniga Family, owners of the 2018 Harvest House, with "Doc" Anderson, State Legislator from Waco.

Excitement: Volunteers raising the first wall

Framing Day on the Zuniga Home, the 2018 Harvest House, started at 7:30 on June 9, 2018--as planned. Volunteers congregated around Waco Habitat Staff, grabbing a final cup of coffee donated by Starbucks and listened as Jon Burr and Michael Schumacher gave the safety briefing. Then each person donned a hardhat and picked out a hammer. The air filled with banging of hammers and shouted instructions. Less than a half-hour later the first wall was ready to lift into place, just as breakfast tacos arrived, donated by Fuzzies Tacos.

An air of celebration continued as the Zuniga family arrived, as did Texas State Legislator "Doc" Anderson, of Waco. Jose and Claudia Rodriguez, Habitat homeowners and next-door neighbors, arrived later to welcome Luis and Josely Zuniga to the neighborhood. The pace of work slowed as the temperature rose toward the day's high of 98 degrees. The early burst of energy had dissipated just after noon, with most of the walls framed. Staff and a few relentless volunteers continued working through the week, completing the frame in anticipation of setting the trusses and covering the roof. All in all, Framing Day was a big success!!!

Clarence Jordan Birth Date (July 29, 1912 – October 29, 1969), a farmer and New Testament Greek scholar, was the founder of Koinonia Farm , a small but influential religious community in southwest Georgia and the author of the Cotton Patch paraphrase of the New Testament. He was also instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity . His nephew, Hamilton Jordan , served as White House Chief of Staff during the Jimmy Carter administration.

Habitat Texas Lone Star Summit, July 29-31, 2018

The Lone Star Summit brings together leaders from across Texas to network and engage in topics ranging from interfaith outreach, advocacy, construction, homeowner services, fund development, ReStore operations, community engagement, leadership, and disaster preparedness.

Habitat Harvest - Save the Date

The 2018 Habitat Harvest will be November 15, 2018 at the Phoenix Ballroom. For additional details, including sponsorship opportunities, call Kenny Stott, 254-756-7575