Bike & Build Grant Finished

Recently, I had drafted up an application for the Bike & Build Grant. I answered six questions about what my club, Habitat for Humanity Whitworth, would do with $10,000 if it was granted to us.

I’m happy to say that I received a final copy – pending approval from Habitat Spokane’s Executive Director – from Mary Jo Harvey, Habitat’s Resource Director. I read over it, and it looks good. So I sent my OK to her, and we will see if it is granted approval from their Executive Director. Hopefully all goes well.

I’ll be praying that everything goes well, and that we will get the grant if it is God’s will. Please keep Habitat for Humanity Whitworth in your prayers as well!

Bike & Build Grant

I got a call from Dennis Reed, the Community Relations Director over at Habitat for Humanity on Wednesday.  I previously had a lunch meeting with Adam Borgman (Habitat’s Volunteer Service Coordinator), Mr. Reed, and my Treasurer Lara Lichten about a month and a half ago.  We discussed ways that they could help our club and start collaborating on some projects.  It was very nice, but I hadn’t heard anything until Wednesday.

I was in class when he called, so he left a voicemail detailing a grant that Habitat Spokane is interested in applying for, the Bike & Build Grant.  What is the Bike & Build Grant?  From their site:

The Bike & Build Grant Program is a competitive application process through which the proceeds from our events are distributed to affordable housing groups throughout the country. Grants are restricted to finance projects championed by students and young adults, ages 18-25.

The last sentence is the one that catches my interest.  Mr. Reed wants Habitat for Humanity Whitworth to assist Habitat Spokane in applying for, and executing this grant.  We can apply for up to $10,000 to address a housing issue.  He thought this would be a great opportunity to get Habitat Whitworth involved.  I’m very excited to say that we are going to start work on this grant very soon, and hopefully, come September, we will have been chosen and $10,000 will be at our disposal for a student-led project.

I would really appreciate some prayer on this because it is such a great opportunity for me, and the other members of my club, to get some real experience.

Habitat Fundraiser

On Wednesday we had a cookie decorating party to raise some money for Habitat for Humanity Whitworth. We spent $36 to buy the cookie dough, sprinkles, napkins and other miscellaneous items. We sold each cookie for a dollar, and managed to raise $30. Not bad for pretty much no planning.

For the next fundraiser I was thinking of having a Pool (or Billiards, if you prefer as I do) Tournament. Almost no overhead, and all profit. We’ll charge $5 to sign up, each contestant will play a couple of games and then the winner will get some kind of prize. I think that will make a lot more money than the cookie thing. Here’s to hoping!

It’s Official

Yup, you read the title right.  It’s official.  And by it’s I mean Habitat for Humanity Whitworth has been chartered as an ASWU club.  Officially.  Yup, I like saying official, because that’s what HfHW is.  It’s official.  Now we can do real stuff!  Yay!

Finally, some officers!

Fitting with the title from the last post, I have some officers, finally! I sent a facebook message to the students in the Habitat for Humanity Whitworth facebook group explaining what is going on with the club. And I also requested that if anyone was interested in being Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer to let me know. And three people did! Which is perfect, because that is the exact number of main leadership positions that I need. So, pending a discussion with them and deciding their roles, I have an advisor and my officers. Awesome! Worst case scenario is that they all decide they don’t want to do it anymore, but I don’t realistically see that happening.

Thank you Lord for granting me the knowledge to be patient and let you work your plan! And thank you for giving me people that want to be a part of my visions to help Spokane and people in need of decent, affordable housing!

I’m so happy right now.

Finally, an Advisor!

Well, it happened today. I finally found a faculty member that was interested in advising Habitat for Humanity Whitworth. I’m so excited! Thanks Mr. Spaun! I have another meeting with him and a student leader from SERVE, a campus volunteer kind of program. The three of us will meet next Tuesday (hopefully) and discuss ways to get the club started. Hopefully we will have an informational meeting in the near future for anyone who is interested in joining the club. The next big step is to find officers! Keep my efforts in your prayers!

And there is one other thing to keep in your prayers as well. My friend Jenna’s brother’s best friend, Randy, is deployed in Kuwait. He was recently injured and the doctors are still trying to figure out which antibiotic to give him. From what I understand he isn’t too badly hurt, thank God for that. Just keep him, the other soldiers, and Brandon’s future deployment to Iraq in your prayers! Thanks!

Leave me a comment, as well. I love getting them.

PS I had the highest traffic to this site the other day. 25 views in one day. Pretty sweet!

Square 1.1

Ok, so I’m slowly moving away from square one on the whole Habitat for Humanity Whitworth chapter. I met with Dr. Sittser, who is on the Habitat for Humanity Spokane Board of Directors luckily, and he gave me some suggestions for recruiting some students to the cause. I don’t know if he will be able to advise us because he already advises two other clubs, but here’s to hoping. These are some of the ideas he gave me:

1) Go for small groups (athletic teams, bible studies, any small group). They already have established leadership and it is is easier for their leaders to influence them to go than me.
2) Advertise a lot. Advertise everywhere.
3) Go to the Service Learning Fair (I already was going to attend that, though. Professor Rhodes is going to make an announcement at the fair for anyone ho wants to get some service hours to volunteer with me tat the local Habitat. And then hopefully they will want to join.)
4) Make connections with everyone I can, and tell them what I’m doing.

Luckily, some of this already happened. My mom knows a brother of a professor here and he passed on my name to him (thanks Mom!), and he passed on my name to Mr. Spaun (the Assistant Director of the Service-Learning/Community Engagement department). He contacted me yesterday and we set up a meeting time to exchange some thoughts on getting Habitat underway. Hopefully he will be able to advise us, or I might have to go back to Professor Rhodes and see if she wants to! At the very least this meeting will give me some more ideas, and that is always helpful.

I really want an advisor because I feel like I’m doing everything for this to get done (which I basically am, seeing as how I’m pretty much alone in it so far. But a big thank you to my RA Jeff for helping me out and encouraging me so much!) It feels just like last year when everyone was too busy for Students for Global Wellness and I took over. There were some great kids involved with it, doing Habitat builds and the such, but not much other leadership.

I just don’t want to do it alone anymore. Even though it is somewhat nice to do things by myself, it would be great to rely on someone else for something. I feel like I can’t handle it, but I know I can. If I don’t do it, it won’t get done. So I will handle it, alone or otherwise. Keep me in your prayers!

Okay, enough of the feel sorry for myself junk. There’s more work to be done.

Back to Square One

I was supposed to meet with a possible advisor yesterday (Friday), and I did. But… we had a meeting at 2:00 PM (which I was 5 minutes early for) but she didn’t come in until 2:10-ish. And when she came in two other guys followed her to her office and began discussing a matter about Work-study. This proceeded for 25 minutes before she noticed me.

I sat there, for 25 minutes listening to their conversation, screaming in my head ‘I have an appointment! My time is important, too!’ I was rather upset, but never let it show. Around 2:35 she suddenly called, ‘Are you Jaryd?’ To which I meekly responded, ‘Yes.’ She was very sorry that she hadn’t noticed the time and let me wait this long. She took another three minutes or so to finish up her other conversation before she called me in to her office.

I understand it was a mistake and I hold no grudge, but at the time I was pretty darn angry. Anyways… so we began talking and she asked me what she could do to help me with the Habitat club. I told her I needed an advisor right now to help bounce ideas off of. She told me she had just met a faculty member that actually was on the Habitat for Humanity Spokane Board of Directors.

Perfect!

We went to go find him. He supposedly was in the chapel, which he was, and we started talking about the club. He is already an advisor to two other clubs, so he said he would be weary about advising another one. Ok, I thought, that’s cool. But he would still like to talk about it… on Wednesday! AAHH!! I already waited a week to talk to Professor Rhodes, now I have to wait another half-week to talk to him??!?!?! I just want to help people!

So now I am back to square one. Waiting. Seems to be a lot of what I am doing these days when it comes to the Habitat club. I can’t get anything going without and advisor and some officers… it will happen though. I will happen.

And also, I tried to go to the Cup of Cool Water (a street youth outreach program) training session last night, but I didn’t know that Spokane was designed by idiot, so that posed a problem. I drove around looking for it (and yes, I google-map’d it, so I kind of knew where I should be). When I kind of found it, there was no parking around. anywhere. The only thing was the pay parking and I didn’t have any change, and I sure am not getting my car-towed to go to an informational meeting. Since I didn’t go to that meeting, I can’t go to today’s meeting. Which means I will have to wait until February to do it. Gar!

And then I spent 45 minutes trying to find Whitworth again because the road I drove down on turns into a one way, so I couldn’t just go back the way I came. Nice.

It is probably for the best though, seeing as how I need to concentrate my energy on the Habitat club. So we will see what happens. Stay tuned for more of my manic mishaps!

Tune in next week. Same bat-time, same bat-channel!

Whitworth Chapter of Habitat for Humanity

I’ve just contacted the Spokane HfH affiliate Volunteer Coordinator, Adam Borgman, and let him know about my interest (my vision, more like it) for a Whitworth University Habitat for Humanity chapter. Hopefully he will reply (to either my email, or my voicemail that I left him) today, or at the latest by tomorrow. I want to get going on this as soon as possible; time is of the essence.

I will be talking to the senator in Duvall (my dorm hall), Candice, about starting the club. Hopefully we can get some funding from ASWU (Associated Students of Whitworth University) or something of that nature. If not any funding, than at least permission to put up posters and other awareness raising materials.

First Whitworth, and then the world!