Monday, April 3, 2006 10:58 PM CDT
Mobile program exposes substandard housing conditions
By KRISTA LEWIN, Staff Writer
The inside of a 48-foot semi-trailer parked in front of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School Monday allowed visitors a small glimpse of what living inside substandard housing looks like.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat For Humanity International sponsored the mobile housing experience and organized the tour to create awareness of the need for quality housing, said Michael Coniaris, spokesman for Thrivent Builds with Habitat For Humanity.
To address some of that need for quality housing, Thrivent has teamed up with Habitat For Humanity by making a four-year, $105 million commitment to Habitat for Humanity. The plans include constructing an additional 500 Habitat homes per year.
The inside of the 48-foot trailer was staged to resemble a small substandard home needing many repairs. Television monitors played videos of people talking about living in these conditions
“Thirteen million American families pay half of their income on living expenses,” said Coniaris. “That doesn’t leave a lot of room for clothes, food and utilities.”
An estimated 5.1 million people live in substandard housing, according to Thrivent. An estimated 13 million children live in poverty, according to the Thrivent tour.
Even without natural disasters such as tornadoes or last year’s hurricanes, there would still be housing problems worldwide, said Coniaris.
But the 12-minute tour wasn’t all bleak. As visitors continued through the trailer, they heard the mock sounds of hammering and sawing and viewed video pictures of volunteers building homes.
Mattoon was about the 13th stop on the nationwide tour, Coniaris said. The response from the public has drummed up new volunteers to build houses and secured donations, said Coniaris.
The pairing of Thrivent and Habitat has worked out well, said Coniaris. They are both faith based and have chapters based locally, said Coniaris.
“It’s people and communities finding solutions to problems,” he said.
Matt Homann, Thrivent financial representative, told St. John Lutheran School students touring through the trailer that the Coles County Habitat For Humanity is preparing to build another home in Charleston. The ground breaking is at 2 p.m. April 9 at 933 Second Street.
“Substandard housing is a global problem, but it’s also a problem that touches the lives of people right here in our own community, said Ann Siverling, president, Coles County Habitat For Humanity. “Unfortunately, until a person has seen and experienced this need, it often remains a problem hidden from view.”
Homann said the Blitz Build at the new Charleston home will begin at 7:30 a.m. April 29. The Blitz Build is where volunteers work from 7:30 a.m.-- 3 p.m. to get the shell of the house and roof up, said Homann.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, with main offices in Minneapolis and Appleton, Wis., is a not-for-profit Fortune 500 financial services organization helping nearly 3 million members achieve their financial goals and give back to their communities, reported a Thrivent news release.
Thrivent Financial is a faith-based membership organization called to improve the quality of life of its members, their families and communities by providing solutions that focus on financial security, wellness and caring for others, according to a news release.
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