Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville NC (June 13th-20th, 2009) – Five AmeriCorps, one VISTA, and the AmeriCorps Site Coordinator, Pat Stenhouse, from Our Towns Habitat for Humanity will join more than 500 Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps*State and National AmeriCorps* and AmeriCorps VISTA members and alumni as they help build 20 Habitat for Humanity houses, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as part of the annual Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon.  These homes will be built in partnership with families affected by the floods that devastated much of Iowa in 2008.

“This Build-A-Thon is a powerful way to highlight the need for affordable housing for victims of the Iowa flooding while also celebrating the many contributions AmeriCorps members make to Habitat and other organizations in thousands of communities throughout the country every day,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International.  “We are so grateful to these hard-working AmeriCorps members for their commitment to eliminating poverty housing and we applaud them for their service.”

The AmeriCorps members from Our Towns Habitat for Humanity will join other members and alumni from across the country to work in partnership with Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity and 20 low-income families. The 2009 Build-A-Thon celebrates 14 years of AmeriCorps members helping Habitat for Humanity affiliates and partner organizations build affordable houses and eliminate substandard housing. 

Pat Stenhouse, the  Our Towns AmeriCorps Site Coordinator, says, “The AmeriCorps and VISTA members that serve with us each year enables Our Towns Habitat to engage more volunteers to build homes for families in need of decent, affordable housing.”  “They offer great leadership skills on the jobsite, leading numerous tasks to engage volunteers and homeowners-in-process and serving as role models in our community as they offer their year of service with Habitat.”  “Participating in the 2009 Build-A-Thon is a wonderful opportunity to gather with other AmeriCorps members at the end of their year of service and share their skills in helping others.”

The first day of the Build-A-Thon marks the first anniversary of the day water from the Cedar River crested, leaving nearly ten square miles of Cedar Rapids under water.
The need for affordable housing is especially great in the Cedar Rapids area, where nearly 4,000 homes were damaged by fast-rising water during last year’s devastating floods.  While 90 counties were declared federal disaster areas, Cedar Rapids was the most significantly affected region. Most of these homeowners did not have flood insurance.

For more information about how you can get involved with Habitat for Humanity, please visit www.habitat.org .

About Our Towns Habitat for Humanity
Our Towns Habitat for Humanity is an independent, nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that partners with people of all beliefs. Our Towns has been an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International since 1988. It has built 158 homes locally and has funded an additional 721 homes in Guatemala and 15 in Sri Lanka as part of its tithe program. For more information, visit www.ourtownshabitat.org.

About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built more than 300,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.5 million people. For more information, visit www.habitat.org.

About Habitat for Humanity National Service Programs
Since 1994, Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps*State and National, AmeriCorps*VISTA members have performed more than 5 million hours of service, engaged hundreds of thousands of volunteers and helped build more than 8,500 Habitat houses throughout the across the United States. For information about AmeriCorps programs, visit www.americorps.gov

About the Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation engages four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.