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Lending a Helping Hand
By: Diana Klima
Habitat Coordinator
"Unless you've been
there, seen it, and lived
it, even for a very short
time, you cannot realize
what it is like not to have
a home, something to
eat, or clean clothes." -
Hardie Kennedy. Imag
ine being married and
having at least two kids
under seven years of age,
while having to live in a
shelter. At this shelter,
all the space your chil
dren have is confined to
a spot on the floor. Be
lieve it or not, there are
people existing under
these circumstances in
this area, and they need
our help.
Jim Bates, Hardie
Kennedy, Chris Lau,
TracyJob,andI left from
Montreat to stay in The
Shelter in downtown
Asheville for fall break.
We each had a different
reason for going, but the
outcome was the same.
Our central theme was
volunteers (like our
selves) and paid staff
members dedicated to
the idea that every per
son has a God-given
to serve others using the
gifts God graced us with.
That Saturday, we
spent the afternoon land
scaping a house for
Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat is a group of
right to a home of their
own. It accomplishes its
goal by making interest-
free loans to families
who qualify, and com
bining that family's la
bor with that of many
volunteers to build
homes for families that
otherwise could not af
ford their own.
The work was hard
but always enjoyable.
We dedicated Sunday
to worship and relaxa
tion. We played putt-
putt and had dinner at
Ryan's in an effort to
enjoy ourselves before
starting to work at the
shelter Monday and
Tuesday.
The shelter is staffed
almost completely by
volunteers and its finan
cial and material needs
are supported by more
than 150 local churches.
It is truly a God-send to
those who use it. The
shelter provides finan
cial assistance, food, a
bed, and volunteer sup
port to those in need. A1
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