By Ashley Hamann, Tillamook County Pioneer journalism intern
What is a home? A place that you long for after a hard day’s work. Home may also be an escape, a safe place, or a fortress of peace and quiet if that’s your style. However, unfortunately for so many people, home is not always a comfort. It’s a stressor and a worry – finding a home, and owning your own home especially. Habitat for Humanity is helping – one (or two) family at a time – bringing home ownership to families that didn’t think they would ever be able to do. That’s why it’s so important and why the community needs to support the group in its efforts to help other people.
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization dedicated to making sure that families are able to have a home to go to where they can feel safe and comforted. The organization takes families in need and builds houses for them so they can have better lives in their new homes. Habitat as an organization is trying to make a world where everyone has a decent place to live. They do this by bringing communities together in support of these families to gather donations, materials, and the labor necessary to build these homes.
It takes an enormous amount of effort to get these homes built and a lot of the elements needed are donations from the community. According to the building contractor of the operations Russel Rempel, who has been working with Habitat for almost a year now, it is vital that Habitat gets donations from the community. The furniture donated to their store is used either to furnish houses or sold so that the money can help fund the creation of the houses. Companies that are able to donate lumber are incredibly helpful and even people who can just donate their time and skill in physically building these houses are important.
Homes are not the only things that Habitat for Humanity is building for people though. The organization also has a program that helps build ramps (or repairs roofs or makes homes livable, so people can stay in their own homes) for people that require it. This additional service that Habitat provides gives even more reason to pitch in and help out.
Right now is a great time to start helping out and making a contribution to the organization. Currently, there are two houses being built for families who live in the community. There is a house in Garibaldi that will be built and there is a house in Bay City that is currently being built for another family. Although the process began slowly due to some of the bad weather we had in the spring, now that the sun is out and they have their permits the house is getting done quickly.
These homes, ramps, and repairs significantly help people within our community be safer and more comfortable. It is our duty to support organizations like this who want to make a difference. With that in mind, when you find yourself needing a new table or book, stop by the ReStore at 4192 Oregon Coast Highway in Tillamook. The purchase of that book will help support these families in getting new homes. If you find yourself with some time and looking for something to do, volunteer to help with the construction. Everyone deserves a home and we can all help in Habitat’s goal to make them.
Donations: https://tillamookhabitat.org/financial-donations/
Volunteer: https://tillamookhabitat.org/volunteer/
