Spring Newsletter
Our Spring 2008 Newletter is out. If you did not receive one, you may download a copy here. Be sure to get on our mailing list so that you will be able to receive our next newsletter.
16th
Annual Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity Walk-A-ThonIn Memory of Clem Cummings
Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity annual Walk-A-Thon was held on Saturday, May 3. Walkers of all ages walked the five-mile route which began and ended at the First United Methodist Church on Route 11A in Gilford. Click on the map for a larger view. Refreshments were provided.
Despite the rainy weather, our walkers brought in over $7000 in donations. The walkers bringing in the greatest amount were: Heather Jones, Shirley Woodward and Earl Miller. Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity assists lower-income families of the Lakes Region in owning decent, affordable homes. But we can’t do it without the help from it's supporters.
Anniversary Celebration.
Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity celebrates 25 years of Building Lives, Building Houses.
More
than twenty five years ago a
group of adults from Laconia went to Americus Georgia to find out about
helping to build simple, decent affordable housing. They
came
back to NH, and formed the first Habitat chapter, NH Habitat
for Humanity. The Lakes Region Habitat now celebrates 25 years of building lives while building houses. Former board members, current board members, and supporters met for a annivesary dinner at the Laconia Congregational Church on Friday April 18. During the celebration, many shared their thoughts and memories of working for NH Habitat for Humanity and Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity.
Key speaker was Clive Rainey, the first-ever Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) volunteer.
Clive Rainey joined Habitat for Humanity in 1977, soon after the organization was formed, becoming the first HFHI volunteer. For two years he worked with founders Millard and Linda Fuller at HFHI headquarters in Americus, Georgia. The Fullers had recently returned from the African nation of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), where they had tested the model of building simple, decent housing financed with affordable, no-profit, no-interest loans.
From a tent to a home of their own
- Monday, August 27, 2007
The group
accepts applications from those
needing homes and screens the candidates, looking for people who need a
place to live and cannot afford to purchase a home without assistance.
Habitat enlists volunteers to build modest homes and offers no-interest mortgages to those accepted into a progra,m with the owners being required to have a job and pay for the houses, which come in at a cost that is far cheaper than buying or building one normally.
Lylyk
applied to Habitat for
Humanity, was accepted, and has watched her home being built.
However, that's not to say she hasn't done her own fair share of work.
The mother has already put 300 hours of work into the home herself, along with 80-plus more from her boyfriend, John Walshaw.
Habitat requires accepted owners to work for 500 hours and she will be continuing her service, helping to build another home for someone in a similarly difficult position — a role she relishes.
Lylyk said she actually would like to get on the Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity's board of directors to help select applicants and the mother is thrilled about the fact that she and her family will be living into their new home by September.
"They have never had a yard," said Lylyk of her children.
On Sunday, Habitat for Humanity volunteers and board members gathered with the family at the Methodist Church in Moultonborough for a service that saw them praying together and accepting gifts from a dedicated group that has put hundreds of hours into the home.
The Rev. Earl Miller, a volunteer, was among those who worked on the home and talked about a four-day "blitz" in October 2006 when members of the Home Builders and Remodelers of the Lakes Region Association put up the shell of the building at break-neck speed.
The project was assisted by upwards of 100 volunteers from around the Lakes Region and from as far away as Portland, Conn. — the hometown of a youth group that came up to provide a hand in the yardwork.
Among those credited with taking the biggest lead in the project was John Scudder — a Moultonborough resident who put in countless hours and helped spearhead construction that saw volunteers battling snow in March to put siding on the home.
He said helping others is something that keeps him motivated.
"It's very gratifying," said Scudder.
On Sunday, the sounds of children running around the home and its yard set the backdrop for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Four-year-old Samantha came running out onto the deck of the home and proudly proclaimed to Scudder, "This is my new home."
"Yes, it is," replied Scudder.
Lylyk said she is ready to be a homeowner, but noted that the experience of getting her keys remains the realization of a dream.
"I'm still kind of in a daze," said the mother.
For more information on Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity and how to volunteer, go to www.lrhabitat.org.
A
Tapole Tale
Tadpoles are rescued from an open foundation at a habitat building site and given a new home in a local lake.
View
this picture story with a happy
ending here.
| Reprinted with permission
by "The Citizen of Laconia" |
|
Imagine living in a campground with six children for seven
months
because you are unable to find a permanent home. Lisa
Lylyk, a single mother, doesn't have to imagine, because it was a
reality for her and her family only five years ago, which made the
turning of keys to her new home that much sweeter. After a 10-month effort to build a house for the family, Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity volunteers and board members gathered Sunday with the Lylyk family to celebrate the completion of a project that gives them a permanent place to call their own. "This was amazing," were about the only words that the 27-year-old mother of six could muster as she was handed the keys to a three-bedroom home on Shaker Jerry Road that is one of two currently being built by Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity — a nonprofit, Christian-based group that works to secure and build affordable housing for those in need. The Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity organization has built 18 homes during its 25 years of existence and covers an area that ranges from Franklin to Moultonborough. |
 Mike Colclough/For The Citizen
All smiles after cutting the ribbon for her new home in Moultonborough
on Sunday is Lisa Lylyk, a mother of six. Lylyk spent time living in a
campground but has just become a homeowner thanks to Habitat for
Humanity. With her are Leonard Campbell, president of Lakes Region
Habitat for Humanity, and two of her children. |
Habitat enlists volunteers to build modest homes and offers no-interest mortgages to those accepted into a progra,m with the owners being required to have a job and pay for the houses, which come in at a cost that is far cheaper than buying or building one normally.
 With keys in hand
Mike Colclough/For The Citizen
Standing on the steps of their new cape-style house in Moultonborough
are Lisa Lylyk, standing in doorway, and her children: from left,
Brandon, 13; Michael, 12; Samantha, 4; Courtney, 10; Ashley, 12, and
Janessa, 5. The house, built by volunteers from Habitat For Humanity,
was dedicated on Sunday. |
Lylyk,
a licensed nursing assistant, and her six young children have been
living in Franklin. She said the assistance of Habitat for Humanity
will give them their own home with a monthly mortgage payment that is
about half of their current rent. Lylyk's children range in age from 4 to 14. She said raising such a large family can be difficult, especially when it comes to finding housing. In 2002 a pregnant Lylyk was living in tents in Lazy River campground in Epsom. Lylyk said she was finding it difficult to find an apartment, as her applications were turned down for what she said were "fire code" problems — but she suspects that most landlords just didn't want so many children living in an apartment. She said living in a campground for seven months was a horrible experience for her, but assured she wasn't the only one making a home in a tent there, with everything from bathing and laundry being a major issue. The mother said she got a small loan from a Housing and Urban Development program but never would have been able to purchase or build a suitable home without help from the organization. |
The mother has already put 300 hours of work into the home herself, along with 80-plus more from her boyfriend, John Walshaw.
Habitat requires accepted owners to work for 500 hours and she will be continuing her service, helping to build another home for someone in a similarly difficult position — a role she relishes.
Lylyk said she actually would like to get on the Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity's board of directors to help select applicants and the mother is thrilled about the fact that she and her family will be living into their new home by September.
"They have never had a yard," said Lylyk of her children.
On Sunday, Habitat for Humanity volunteers and board members gathered with the family at the Methodist Church in Moultonborough for a service that saw them praying together and accepting gifts from a dedicated group that has put hundreds of hours into the home.
The Rev. Earl Miller, a volunteer, was among those who worked on the home and talked about a four-day "blitz" in October 2006 when members of the Home Builders and Remodelers of the Lakes Region Association put up the shell of the building at break-neck speed.
The project was assisted by upwards of 100 volunteers from around the Lakes Region and from as far away as Portland, Conn. — the hometown of a youth group that came up to provide a hand in the yardwork.
Among those credited with taking the biggest lead in the project was John Scudder — a Moultonborough resident who put in countless hours and helped spearhead construction that saw volunteers battling snow in March to put siding on the home.
He said helping others is something that keeps him motivated.
"It's very gratifying," said Scudder.
On Sunday, the sounds of children running around the home and its yard set the backdrop for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Four-year-old Samantha came running out onto the deck of the home and proudly proclaimed to Scudder, "This is my new home."
"Yes, it is," replied Scudder.
Lylyk said she is ready to be a homeowner, but noted that the experience of getting her keys remains the realization of a dream.
"I'm still kind of in a daze," said the mother.
For more information on Lakes Region Habitat for Humanity and how to volunteer, go to www.lrhabitat.org.
Tadpoles are rescued from an open foundation at a habitat building site and given a new home in a local lake.
View
this picture story with a happy
ending here.