Building Houses, Building Hope

Hi all, my name is Travis Boeskool and I serve as the community outreach and development coordinator at Habitat for Humanity in Lansing, Michigan. My position here is just one of many that are part of the Habitat for Humanity Michigan's AmeriCorps program. Our members serve in many different capacities including construction liaisons, site supervisors, volunteer coordinators, family services, and outreach functions. We volunteer at sites from Detroit to Muskegon and from Lenawee County into the Upper Peninsula. 

My fellow members and I all serve to advance the underlying goal of Habitat for Humanity; to provide every human being with safe, decent, and affordable housing.  In my capacity as the community outreach and development coordinator, I attempt to accomplish that goal through meeting, listening, and speaking with the community our affiliate has targeted. We are in the process of launching a repair program for low-income homeowners and half the battle involves making sure we are meeting the needs that the community itself identifies.

Many of my peers interacted with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) in their hometown early in life, whether it was through churches, their parents’ companies, or just out of an early commitment to service. I, however, wasn’t lucky enough to encounter the ‘Habitat Model’ until the summer of 2011. Of course I had heard of Habitat for Humanity before but I thought of it in the way that many do- that organization that Jimmy Carter founded that gives away houses to ‘poor’ people. Well that belief could not have been farther from the truth.

That summer I embarked on a bike trip that changed my life. I teamed up with 33 other passionate young adults from across America to ride our bike across the country and raise money and awareness for affordable housing through a wonderful program called Bike & Build. To me, the adventure of moving under my own power from Charleston, South Carolina to Santa Cruz, California was the draw, but I took away much more. As the nation’s foremost provider of affordable housing, most of our stops to build homes during our trip meant working with Habitat.

Through the seemingly endless history and safety presentations, as well as by volunteering on the job site, I came to understand the genius in Habitat’s model. It is best explained through this simple phrase, “a hand up, not a hand out.” By utilizing a primarily volunteer workforce, Habitat is able to sell homes to partner families at a zero-percent interest mortgage, creating a significant savings over a traditional mortgage. Our homeowners come from an incredibly diverse background but all have a few things in common. They must work closely with the affiliate in construction of their new home, as well as the homes of partner families, spending sometimes 500 hours on the construction site and volunteering at other non-profits to complete their ‘sweat equity’ and purchase their home.

After graduating from Michigan State University in May 2012, I was a little lost on where to go next, until I found out that my local affiliate had an AmeriCorps position open in community development. I signed on right away and dove into the service my position required.

I quickly realized that trying to effect positive change in a community is not easy. Not everyone is ready for it and the ‘solution’ isn’t always readily apparent. I have talked to neighbors in our target community whose first reaction was, “Oh we know this, people like you have come before and they all left without changing anything.” The skepticism some of our neighbors express can be frustrating, but it is easy to understand, too. Most people want to see their neighborhood improve and frustration is natural when big promises are made and nothing is changed.

That is why we are taking what we think is a more effective approach. We are partnering with local community based organizations and associations, but most importantly, we are partnering with the residents themselves. My role means that I spend time going door-to-door, talking with my neighbors (I live in our target area), attending community meetings, and really listening to the concerns our residents’ voice. A quick example: At one of my recent outreach presentations, a neighbor I was acquainted with approached me wanting to talk about a local community garden. The garden was in the process of being paved to allow neighbors with wheel chairs access, but the man doing most of the bricklaying had hurt his back and couldn’t do the labor anymore. The garden needed to be completed in two weeks for a potluck they were holding to encourage neighbors to get out and meet each other. Her question was simple; could HFH Lansing supply any volunteers to lay bricks and tidy the garden before the potluck? While our base of volunteers generally prefers construction, I was able to put her in touch with a local group seeking volunteer opportunities to work in the garden.

That is what I am hoping to leave behind after my service. Sure, I hope my affiliate continues to fix up our neighbors houses, but more importantly I hope

the neighbors are able to make those important connections with each other and continue to improve their own neighborhood. I truly believe that positive change like this only comes when the residents themselves are intimately involved with each other.

In closing, I want to say that service, and in particular my AmeriCorps service, has inspired me. I am now able to see that extra value that comes from doing ‘work’ you truly believe in. I hope that every person has the opportunity to have their life enriched in the same way that my volunteering has mine. So, on that note, Let’s Get Things Done!

PS. Habitat for Humanity was founded by Millard Fuller in 1976, not President Carter.