 A Match Made in Heaven
Once a family is selected to participate in the HFH program, the family can expect a sponsor, a family partner, an eager staff and volunteers, a welcoming community and ultimately a new home. Darlene G. received the complete package- including a bonus.
After several weeks of traveling nearly 100 miles to the Habitat site, individual volunteer Allison Givens and her 15-year-old daughter Rachel were repeatedly assigned to work on Darlene's house. There was an immediate connection between the two mothers, as well as between their two teenage daughters. One mother described it as a sisterhood- two women brought together to build a home while also building a family. After minimal discussion the ladies decided to become formally tied, the Habitat way. Allison made arrangements to become one of the family partners assigned to Darlene's family. The family partner is the homebuyer's designated personal supporter throughout the home-acquisition process. The partner's main responsibility is to encourage and motivate the build family, making sure they enjoy themselves while transforming from applicant to construction worker to homebuyer, all while maintaining the lives they had when they entered the Habitat program. In most cases this relationship quickly develops into a friendship-even family.
 Both Allison and Rachel jumped in with both feet, sharing in each small triumph of the house construction: the raising of the roof, the placing of the interior walls, the hanging of the front door and, most importantly, the house dedication. The Dedication Ceremony includes the blessing of the house and presentation of the keys. Darlene G. and her children were overjoyed as they all stood before the church at the Dedication Ceremony, along with representatives from ARCO and Balke Brown Associates (the house sponsors), their original family partner, house leaders and special volunteers. Included in the construction build family, Allison and Rachel stood tall. As the microphone traveled from one person to the next, each sharing his or her most treasured moments, it became increasingly more difficult to restrain the tears of joy. Rachael expressed her experience through an original list of Top 10 Coolest Habitat Discoveries, with Number One being "When a group of strangers has a common goal and God's help, they can create a miracle." Habitat for Humanity's basic mission is to eliminate substandard housing through partnership with all God's people. This was most certainly accomplished in the relationship between Darlene and Allison.
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