Habitat For Humanity brings
women together to learn construction skills and help solve the issue of poverty
housing.
Do
laying bricks, pounding nails and raising walls to build a house seem like
unusual activities for pre-Mother’s Day celebrations? Try telling that to
construction crews of women volunteers at 150 Habitat for Humanity construction
sites across all 50 states during Habitat’s National Women Build Week, May
4-10.
National
Women Build Week, the latest national initiative for Habitat’s Women Build
program, underwritten by Lowe’s, brings women together to learn construction
skills and then use those skills to help solve the issue of poverty housing. In
addition to providing construction know-how at in-store clinics and build
sites, Lowe’s is committing $750,000 to the initiative, contributing a $5,000
grant to each National Women Build Week participating affiliate.
“More
than 12 million U.S. children live in poverty,” saidLarry D.
Stone, Lowe’s president and chairman of the Lowe’s Charitable
and Educational Foundation. “Mother’s Day is the right time to remind people
that we can help parents provide warm, safe homes for their children and solve
poverty housing by supporting Women Build and other Habitat projects. National
Women Build Week is also an opportunity to welcome new volunteers and transform
communities together.”
“No
one appreciates better than a mother the importance of a safe, secure living
environment for children and their parents,” addedJonathan
Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “It’s not
surprising, then, that women volunteers make enormous contributions every day
to support Habitat’s efforts to create that kind of home environment in all
corners of the world. There’s no better time than National Women Build Week to
celebrate and increase the impact women make through their Habitat
involvement.”
Women
have been building Habitat houses since 1991. Lowe’s became the underwriter of
the Women Build program in 2004 and provides financial support and volunteer
support at Women Build sites nationwide. Since the program’s inception, more
than 1,200 Women Build homes have been constructed with Habitat partner
families.