VIDEO - SLIP & SLIDE Start of Aerospace Games Obstacle Course

Reggae music and 65 foot slip n slide...Where were you?

On October 22, 2011 Bay Area Habitat, the Hamlin family and many Aerospace companies teamed up to celebrate community and kick off the Build for the Hamlin family home, at the first annual Aerospace Games! It was a day of celebration and outrageous competitions. Spectators settled in with drinks and BBQ to cheer and jeer messy games of Egg Toss, a vicious Tug of War battle, showy sand volleyball tournament and the challenging, yet hilarious mile-long obstacle race in which competitors had to overcome a 65 foot slip n slide, haybells, NASA trivia, Kayak race and 30ft moon bounce! The day finished off with live Reggae music from Houston's local band, D.R.U.M and the award ceremony for the winning teams, NASA and Boeing.

Can't wait for next year! Read more about the Games in the Bay Area Citizen: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/bay_area/news/aerospace-companies-team-up-to-help-league-city-family-replace/article_cb3222ce-7d21-5e18-ab92-69ef424533ff.html

Dow and Habitat Team Up!!

Thank you for Dow Chemical for a $65,000 full house sponsorship! Dow Chemical has 20-30 volunteers each week coming out to help with construction at 501 N. 7th Street in La Porte, Texas. The new home is being built for Margarita Rene and her three children.



Dow is a finalist for the 2011 Best Partnership Award from the Business Civic Leadership Center. Everyone can vote and read about their remarkable story at http://bclc.uschamber.com/best-partnership-award-finalist-dow-habitat. See what Dow is doing all over the country!

Do Something Groundbreaking...

Today we sent out a mailing to all of the Groundbreakers Club members

introducing our latest homeowner, Felicia Rich!

Felicia a single mother of twin boys has begun the adventure building her Habitat home! Last week Felicia joined the BP, St. Christopher Church and the Regulars as we raised the walls for the next Habitat home in Dickinson. Felicia works hard as a care taker at Hope Village Home for mentally retarded adults. She is described by her peers and co-workers as a hardworking reliable and a "super" person! We feel very blessed to partner with her to build this new home.

If you would like to join the Groundbreakers Club and donate $25 every time we break ground on a new home, visit our website!http://www.bahfh.org/donate/index.php

Laura Santos and Mary Kay Are Trying to Help Habitat Win A FULL House Sponsorship!

Mary Kay Representative, Laura Santos, approached Bay Area Habitat for Humanity with an AMAZING opportunity!...

Mary Kay has decided to hold a contest in which the main prize is a FULL House Sponsorship for an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. This is a HUGE deal! Our homes cost approximately $65,000 to build, and initial funding is not easy to come by. Having the security of knowing someone will sponsor an entire build allows us to continue our mission of building homes in partnership with hard-working, low-income families in our community with more hope and less stress!

We can accomplish this by having as many women as possible agree to get "made-over".

Laura has been amazing in organizing groups and striving to have as many women as she can sign up for this opportunity to help.

The cost to enter: 15 minutes of your time and the willingness to have your "before and after" photos reviewed by a small panel of judges.

What you receive: A FREE Mary Kay makeover, entry into the individual grand prize of a $2500 vacation getaway and $2500 to donate to the charity of your choice, and the chance to offer a life-changing opportunity to a homeless family in your community.

There is no obligation to buy any Mary Kay products, and your photos will not be shared with anyone who is not connected to the judging of the contest.

"Getting Beautiful" has never been so easy and so rewarding!

To "Get Beautfiul" and give back, please join us at our "Mary Kay Makeover Event" scheduled for next Friday, June 10, from 11am-6pm.

Location: TBA (tentatively League City United Methodist)

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Laura Santos:
lsantos@marykay.com
281-332-1339

All other questions, comments, and concerns, please contact the BAHFH office:
281-337-3590

We Need YOU! Won't you help?

BAT Blog #2 and AmeriCorps Awareness Week

The AmeriCorps are back and in the full swing of things here at Bay Area Habtiat for Humanity. Rhia, Nathan and Jackie spent one week working with Pensacola Habitat to build 3 homes and raise the walls on 3 more!! They worked alongside Pensacola staff, homeowners and dedicated volunteers, as well as a group of Blue Angels! What a rewarding week!

Rhia worked with Family Services AmeriCorps members and staff to compile a welcome packet for new homeowners. Nathan and Jackie worked on the construction site. The affiliate had materials prepared for the crew to build 3 homes, but everone's expectations were exceeded! The last day, more walls were delivered and the skeletons of 3 more homes were put up. One of the homeowners received their address that Friday morning, and when they came to the worksite, they were pleasantly surprised to see a group of AmeriCorps members and Blue Angels raising their walls! The wife and husband team, along with their five children, thanked all of the volunteers and work crews at the closing ceremony Friday afternoon. At the ceremony, the Navy choir and colorguard performed, Pensacola's first Executive Director who just retired her position this year came to show her support, and the homeowners received hardhats that were signed by all of the AmeriCorps members present.

It was a long week full of blisters, bruises and hardwork, but it was well worth it for the AmeriCorps members. Though that week is over and our 3 AmeriCorps are safely back home, this week marks the 3rd week of the 2011 AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon. This week is also National AmeriCorps Awareness Week! We would like to invite everyone to learn more about the AmeriCorps program, how it works, who can benefit from it and the amazing things that get accomplished when a group of people decide to dedicate their lives to serving others. Please take a minute to visit the AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon website to read stories and see pictures of Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps taking action around the country. After that, head over to the official AmeriCorps Awareness Week website to see what else and where else AmeriCorps are involved!

"This year of service has been the most formative year of my life. College wasn't working for me. I got to a point I needed to refocus my time and energy into something good, something more meaningful than myself. With my year almost over, I feel confident that I am ready to go back to school and start the next chapter in my life. AmeriCorps did that for me." - Jackie Moran, AmeriCorps VISTA Member

BAT Blog #1

Greetings from sunny Pensacola, FL! The 2011 AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon is well under way! This year is the first time Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps are meeting in 8 different locations over a 3 week period to help over 80 families in North America through new home construction and rehabs. This week, approximately 60 Habitat AmeriCorps members from the southeast region of the country are working with the Pensacola affiliate to construct 3 new homes for local families. The 3 homes are just the beginning of 240 homes Pensacola Habitat has promised to build over the next two years! Bay Area Habitat's own Rhia, Nathan and Jackie feel blessed and honored to be a part of it!

Arriving late Sunday evening, the AmeriCorps members bonded over dinner and making beds in their dormitory accomodations, graciously provided by the University of West Florida. Monday and Tuesday were long days of building and Community Mapping. Nathan and Jackie raised walls, secured hurricane clips, installed trusses and tar-papered roofs, while Rhia scoped out local schools, hospitals, churches and other "need-to-know" places; The location information compiled by the Family Services crew will be put into a new welcome packet for the future homeowners. The progress they have made in just two days has been incredible! It has been wonderful for them to work with other Habitat AmeriCorps members, get to know their styles and the best (and not so successful) practices of their affiliates.

Fun Fact: Nathan and Jackie have been working under two Pensacola Crew Leaders who are Habitat homeowners turned full-time Habitat employees!! Way to go Rich and Cal! Y'all are awesome!

Each night on the UWF campus, HFH International and AmeriCorps team members have prepared fun activities for all of the "worker bees". Monday night was karaoke and board games. Tuesday, baseball and wings!

Wednesday is a much needed day off! No work, all play! Members will enjoy an agile and aerodynamic performance of the Blue Angels in the morning, and spend the rest of the day soaking up the Florida sun on the beach.

We will continue to keep you updated on Jackie, Rhia and Nathan's Build-A-Thon adventure throughout the week!

Please keep them in your prayers as they work to help fulfill the mission of Habitat for Humanity that have learned to love. Please pray that they are safe in their work, travel and play.

Thank you and God Bless!