What’s built through donations, generosity, care, and volunteers? A Habitat for Humanity house! On November 5, 2009, the FIJI LA office took a trip to Downey and Imperial, Calif., to spend the day with Habitat for Humanity.

At the Habitat for Humanity site in Imperial, Calif.

Employees split up into teams at two different sites in various degrees of completion. Some were hammering, building, and constructing, while others were painting, gardening, and putting the trimmings on an almost finished house. The site in Imperial, still in the early stages of construction, will be one of Habitat for Humanity’s many LEED-certified homes. At the Downey site, a home is in the final stages for Betty, a single mother of three children, two of whom require special services for their autism. For years, Betty has been known in the city of Downey for her volunteer work, and when she spoke to us during our lunch break, she mentioned how being the beneficiary of others’ generosity has enabled her to afford a home for her family. The best part: She and her children will be able to spend Christmas in their new house.

Betty, the owner of the Habitat for Humanity House in Downey, CA

If you’ve never heard of Habitat for Humanity, it’s a nonprofit organization that works in communities around the world to select and support homeowners, organize volunteers, and coordinate house building. The homeowners themselves must personally contribute to the work of their home, in addition to assuming the no-profit mortgage once the home is built.Their mortgage payments, in turn, go to help fund other projects.  Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses internationally, providing more than 1.5 million people in 3,000 communities with safe and affordable shelter. They’ve even helped construct/rehabilitate 671 homes in Fiji! It’s a great organization dedicated to alleviating the global housing crisis, and we were honored to be part of their mission.