Carpenters for Christ

What's Happening Right Now...

Owing to blind luck or fortuitous foresight Carpenters began no new homes in the hot, hot summer of 2010. We have our fall construction kick-off with Habitat for Humanity on Saturday, September 11th at 1902 Dennison Street in West Dallas, and all are invited to come and work with us. We will build that day and the next 7 Saturdays, with dedication slated for October 30th.

Remember: No experience is needed to volunteer with Carpenters.

Your financial contribution is greatly appreciated and tax-deductible.  To give now, click here.

To sign up contact Jane Parker at jhp01@aol.com. For general information or your much-needed gifts contact Joe B. Fortson at fortsonj@hpumc.org.

Click here for a map to build location.

Click here for driving directions.

Click here to see photos of the WillieBuild and previous builds.

Work Times & Other Things:

Volunteers may opt to work an entire day, arriving at 8:00 am and leaving at 4:00 pm. Alternatively they can elect to work just the morning, arriving at 8:00 am, leaving at 12:00 pm, or choose an afternoon shift, which begins at 12:30 pm and goes until 4:00 pm. The morning volunteers and those working a full day are served lunch at noon. All volunteers are provided water, cold drinks and snacks.
 
While these logistics are important to keep the job moving, they come to mean a lot less than the good spirits and the new friends that are made at the build sites, especially with the families we come to serve. We’d very much like to have you join us.

The Place:

The homesite is at 1902 Dennison Street in easy-to-reach West Dallas.
Click here for a map to build location. 
Click here for driving directions.

The Family

Asrat Tessema and Lasazinew Getahun are husband and wife, who have 3 children. They look forward to partnering with the Church and Habitat to build a brand new home for themselves and to launch a new and healthy living experience for their family.

The Dates:

To volunteer for this build:

Contact Jane Parker at jhp01@aol.com

You Should Bring to the Worksite:

Season appropriate work clothing (We work rain or shine)
Closed-Toed Shoes
Head covering
Work Gloves (a necessity)
Sunscreen
Hammer and Nail Belt (if you have them) 

Volunteer Age Limits

Every volunteer under 18 must have parental signatures on liability forms

Under 14:                 Not allowed on the site while construction is ongoing
Ages 14 & 15:         Can help with landscaping and clean-up on last day.
 Ages 16 & 17:         Can help with construction but no power tools or roof work.
Ages 18 and over:  No restrictions.

Please come out and join us!

For further information, contact:
Joe B. Fortson, Outreach Associate
fortsonj@hpumc.org

How To Get Involved

It requires about 200 people and approximately 2,000 volunteer hours, to complete a single house. That translates to 10,000 - 12,000 volunteer hours a year. Volunteering to help build is open to ages 16 and over. We’ve had persons in their 80s volunteer for construction!

You can also help by providing 35 lunches for volunteers each work day. Lunches may be simple or elaborate, homemade or store bought.  To provide lunches, contact Carpenters Volunteer Coordinator, Jane Parker at jhp01@aol.com.

Become Part of Our Web Network 

Carpenters for Christ uses email distribution lists to communicate volunteer opportunities and committee information.  You can add or delete yourself from these lists by sending an email to the appropriate addresses below:
 
Add yourself:
hpumc-cfc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com   (volunteer list)
cfc-committee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com   (committee list)
 
Delete yourself:
hpumc-cfc-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com    (volunteer list)
cfc-committee-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com   (committee list)

How to Become a Carpenters Sponsor

Each home undertaken by Carpenters for Christ requires a contribution of $55,000 cash upfront paid to Habitat. Currently Carpenters is building at the rate of 6 homes per year. In an ordinary year that comes to $330,000, very little of which is funded by the HPUMC budget (our regular pledges and offerings). That means that the Carpenters Committee and its friends raise the equivalent of $1,000,000 every three years to attain the goal of 100 completed homes by 2016. Donations come in all sizes and are greatly appreciated. Carpenters is fortunate to have received from Habitat a temporary discount, to $40,000 per house for the next year. Persons giving now, at any level, will get more for their contribution than ever before.

History 

With determination, purpose and encouragement by Senior Minister, Mark Craig, Carpenters for Christ formally organized in 1996 and set out on a plan to build 100 homes with Habitat for Humanity.  Currently, the number of completed homes totals 63.  True to its calling, the group still builds one home at a time with their only purpose to provide a simple, decent place to live for one family at a time. Our mission has been blessed by the financial support of very generous individuals and organizations within HPUMC. Without this critical support, we could not continue to pursue our goal of sponsoring 100 Habitat homes for truly deserving families. We are also blessed by the friendships and camaraderie that we have developed with our partner families, volunteers from HPUMC, and other volunteers who have joined us at the work sites. It is safe to say that, at the end of each workday, the volunteers feel that we have been blessed much more by our experiences than we have given through our labor and financial contributions.

Driving Directions to 1902 Dennison St

From HPUMC:

 Travel West on Mockingbird Lane 2.4 miles to Inwood Road.
 Turn left on Inwood and travel South for about 4 miles, crossing under I-35 and
  crossing over the Trinity River bridge. (Inwood becomes Hampton Road.)
 From the South end of the bridge proceed .7 miles to the third traffic signal,
  which is Dennison Street.
 Turn left on Dennison Street.
!902 Dennison is at the end of the second block on the left.
 

From I-35:

From either northbound or southbound I-35, turn South on Inwood Road for about
 1 mile and cross over the Trinity River bridge. (Inwood becomes Hampton
 Road.)
From the South end of the bridge proceed .7 miles to the third traffic signal,
 which is Dennison Street.
Turn left on Dennison Street.