Opportunities
for RVers with Habitat for Humanity
"Putting
shelter on the hearts and minds of people in such a powerful way that
poverty housing and homelessness become socially, politically and
religiously unacceptable in our nation and world." ~ Millard
Fuller, Habitat Founder and President
Millard and Linda Fuller found Habitat for Humanity International in 1976.
Today over 100,000 homes have been built or renovated, sheltering more
than 500,000 people in 2,000 communities worldwide. The many volunteers
working together to provide decent housing is what makes the Habitat
program so successful and you can be one of them!
RVers have the unique opportunity to volunteer with
Habitat in different ways during their travels. The following cover a few
of those opportunities.
If you are going to be in an area with some free time
you can go to a library and access the Habitat for Humanity website to
learn about projects in the area you will be visiting. Simply go to www.habitat.org/local/
and enter the location you are interested in. Once you have the contact
information, you can contact the affiliate to learn more about their
ongoing builds, their need for volunteers and if they have a place for you
to park your RV.
If you are able to plan ahead, and you would like to
build houses with other RVers, check out RV Care-a-vanners. These builds
generally last for a couple of weeks and include 6-12 RVs.
The host affiliate arranges for a safe place for you
to park your RV. This may be at the construction site, in a church parking
lot or at a campground. Sites usually include water and electric hook-ups
and a method of waste disposal. Sometimes there is a small fee for this.
Tasks include any part of the construction of new
homes, renovation of older homes or assistance with disaster recovery. If
you don’t have any constructions skills don’t worry. Volunteers with
knowledge are more than happy to help you learn the skills.
Care-a-vanner builds are wonderful because not only
do you get to work and bond with a community you are visiting, you build
new RVing friendships as well. You also have the opportunity to see the
progress made over a couple of weeks, which is very rewarding.
For an RV Care-A-Vanners information packet contact
the Information Desk
By phone: 1-800-HABITAT, ext. 2446
By mail: RV Care-A-Vanners Info Desk, 121 Habitat
St., Americus, GA 31709-3498
By e-mail: rvinfodesk@hfhi.org
There are other opportunities with Habitat as well.
The Global Village Program is an opportunity to leave your RV behind and
spend 1-3 weeks building in other countries. This is a wonderful
opportunity to experience another country with the people of that country.
If you would like to help, but construction isn’t
your thing that is okay. There are also opportunities to help in Habitat
offices or in speaking about Habitat opportunities as you travel.
Take a few minutes now to surf the Habitat website, www.habitat.org,
to learn about the many opportunities. If you would like to know why other
RVers have volunteered for Habitat read Why
RVers volunteer for Habitat.
