"If sometimes our poor people have had to die of
starvation, it is not that God didn’t care for them, but because you
and I didn’t give, were not an instrument of love in the hands of God,
to give them that bread, to give them that clothing; because we did not
recognize him, when once more Christ came in distressing disguise, in
the hungry man, in the lonely man, in the homeless child, and seeking
for shelter." Mother Teresa
A Gift for God, "Suffering" (1975).
The Pottawatomie Habitat Partnership is a consortium of eleven Geneva/St. Charles Illinois area churches, Harris Bank/St. Charles and Illinois Youth Center. We are allied with the Northern Fox Valley Habitat For Humanity affiliate. Our steering committee is made up of representatives from these churches and Harris Bank/St. Charles. We maintain our own budget and all funds come through donations and various fund raising efforts. Administration of our partnership is accomplished through the steering committee. The committee meets monthly. The steering commitee is comprised of sub-commitees focusing on building, nurturing, publicity/fund raising and finances.
We began construction of our first house in Valley View, north of St. Charles in August of 1996 and completed the project in July of 1997. The family that now lives there is comprised of a mother and her two sons. They are thrilled to have a real house of their own!
We completed construction of a second home in May of 1998. This site is located very near the first site in Valley View. Labor at the work site was performed almost entirely by volunteers from our member churches and bank.
Construction of a third home began in April of 1999 in St. Charles and was completed in February 2000.
The fourth home, located in Valley View was completed in early 2001.
Most work at the sites is performed on weekends but various tasks are also accomplished during the week.
How we got started.
In the summer of 1995, Bruce & Elaine Tietgen, heads of the Church Relations Committee of Habitat for Humanity Northern Fox Valley, sent letters to 37 churches in the St. Charles/Geneva area asking them if they would be interested in becoming associated with Habitat and in forming a partnership. By forming a partnership with an established affiliate we would be able to start building a house sooner because the affiliate has a credit line with a bank which allows them to purchase property more quickly. (If you form your own affiliate, you have to have at least $40,000 in the bank before you can even get started). Of those 37 churches contacted, 10 churches signed an agreement to participate in the building of a Habitat home.
After we formed the partnership (which was official in January 1996), we were approached by Harris Bank St. Charles. They wanted to become part of our partnership because they like to keep their community service projects local. They help us with publicity and also donate money collected on their casual days, send volunteers etc.
We were also approached by Jack Norgaard, who was working for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) at the time. He had been working closely in prison ministry for LSSI and was instrumental in bringing together a building trades instructor from Elgin Community College and the Illinois Youth Center. The youth are taught to read blueprints and how to construct wall panels for the various houses. Jack asked if we would include the Illinois Youth Center as one of our partners. We felt it was a win/win situation for everyone. LSSI gives grants to the Youth Center and all of the exterior wall panels are constructed at the Youth Center and then trucked to the home site where they are erected.
Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley has boundaries (as does every Habitat affiliate). The borders are Route 47 on the west, Route 38 on the south, Barrington Road on the east, and Route 176 on the north. Because of this large area, the partnership idea has really caught on - because we can still build locally without forming another affiliate. There are quite a few affiliates in the Chicago area and the partnership approach seems to get more donations locally and volunteers who like to see things happen in their own community.