Women Build - Heels, Hammers, and Hair Curlers

I think it's safe to say that if Destiny's Child were still rocking the sound waves, they would send a shout out to Habitat's National Women Build program. How could they not with their Independent Women lyrics?- the house I live in, I built it  (Note: we used our creative license to make a lyric change, but we are pretty sure that if they couldn't buy it, they would have build it!) Despite the lyric change, their anthem has inspired us to grab a hammer, ditch our heels and hair curlers for work books and hardhats, and empower lady friends to take action against poverty housing.

Women Build, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity International, empowers women to be part of the solution to end the poverty housing crisis. Women Build nurtures, recruits, and trains women to build simple, decent, and affordable houses. Lowe's, whose goal is to never stops improving, made one of their greatest improvements by partnering with Women Build. (Well we think it was their greatest improvement.)  Lowe's how-to clinics have "put hammers in the hands of thousands of women" by teaching women basic construction skills. Join us and empower women to make a difference in Saline County.

• Join us for Construction 101 on Thursday, May 9, 6 pm at Lowe's Home Improvement, 2330 N Reynolds Rd, Bryant, AR.
• Join us at the Construction Site - Partnership Village on Saturday, May 11, 8 am for Women Build Workday.

In a sea of daisies be a hammer. Behind every great house stands a women and a hammer.

Don't Be Generic This Mother's Day

Dad is tired of getting ties, and Mom is tired of getting ... well ... let's face it, sometimes we drop the ball when it comes to mom. After all she does throughout the year, she deserves something special! Don't be generic this Mother's Day, skip the flowers, and celebrate the special women in your life this Mother's Day by giving a gift that builds hope for others and leaves a legacy in Saline County. Habitat for Humanity of Saline County would like to introduce Habitat for HumaniKeys. Personalize your HumaniKey, and give the special women in your life a gift that will touch not only their hearts, but the hearts of people across Saline County who are in need of a hand up.

All proceeds go will go to Youth United, a chapter of Habitat for Humanity that mobilizes youth. Our chapter educates youth and adults about housing issues, advocates for affordable housing, and fully funds and builds a Habitat for Humanity house every other year. To date Saline County's Youth United has built four homes. Help them as they help others by building their fifth home in 2014.


For more information please contact the Habitat office 501-315-5434 or visit our website www.habitatsalinecountyar.org. 
We will mail to any HumaniKey necklaces to any location. 
Gift options are listed below.

Act! Speak! Build!

On the heals of Collegiate Challenge, which we in Saline County affectionately coined Habitat's March Madness. Habitat's youth students in Youth United, a chapter of Habitat for Humanity that mobilizes youth, participated in Habitat for Humanity's Act! Speak! Build! Week. A week dedicated to advocating for decent, affordable housing by engaging elected officials and their community to eradicate poverty housing.

Bringing awareness to poverty housing was the theme of the week, Youth United students brought awareness to their local churches and schools about poverty housing in Saline County. The Mayor's Youth Council got involved in advocating and raising awareness by "stickering" the lunch room with Habitat for Humanity stickers and promoting the SleepOut. Throughout the week, Youth United students took to social media outlets to bring awareness and advocate to eliminate poverty housing. They tweeted elected officials statistics about local poverty issues, and tweeted US Congress members to sign on to Rep. Lewis' Colleague letter to advocate for foreign poverty issues. The students used Instagram and Facebook to promote events throughout the week.

The week kicked off with a Chick-fil-A Fundraiser Night. While we are still awaiting the monetary results from Chick-fil-A, the evening was triumphant because Youth United students were able to bring awareness to Saline County residents about local poverty housing issues as they served Chick-fil-A customers. Benton Middle School students participated in a Penny Wars contest, which raised $362.43, and donated all of the money to the Youth United 2014 Build. Act! Speak! Build! Week culminated with a SleepOut event, which took place on the Courthouse Lawn, a perfect setting in the middle of downtown Benton to raise awareness and advocate to eradicate poverty housing in Saline County. Local officials were invited to observe the SleepOut, which commenced with check presentation ceremony.
State Farm, a corporate sponsor for Habitat for Humanity youth programs donated $10,000 toward the 2014 Youth United Build. After the check presentation, the students began building houses out of cardboard boxes. The evening was filled with games, crafts, Zumba, and a drive-in movie on the Courthouse Lawn. Although the evening turned slightly chilly, the twenty-two students had fun and were able to truly grasp the reality of poverty housing conditions. The SleepOut ended with a Pancake Breakfast, which raised $520.00. As of right now, Youth United students were able to raise a total of $11,058.43; all proceeds will go to the 2014 Youth United Build.

March Madness

Habitat has survived March Madness, and no Louisville wasn't at the top of our bracket! Collegiate Challenge has culminated leaving Habitat and Saline County a little richer. Saline County welcomed four Collegiate Challenge groups throughout the month of March and broke ground on Habitat for Humanity of Saline County's 54th and 55th house. Round one went to Stonehill College from Massachusetts. Stonehill broke ground on house 54, which will be for an elderly couple. They also picked up trash on Market St. as a way to beautify the streets of Saline County, and they still found time to do a little Harlem Shake. The entertainment didn't stop with Stonehill; as Habitat welcomed Western Kentucky University and the University of New Hampshire, Little Rock's KSSN 96 caught wind of Collegiate Challenge and had to find out what it was all about. KSSN 96's morning show personality Bob Robbins broadcast live from Partnership Village to bring awareness about poverty housing in Saline County, as well as, commend Collegiate Challenge students who selflessly give up their Spring Break to spend an "Alternative Spring Break" with Habitat.
After the morning show, KSSN 96's crew stuck around to volunteer on the construction site. Not only did WKU and UNH broke ground on house 55, which will be for a single mom and her daughter, they also helped count cars at a local school zone intersections in hopes that a stop light could be installed at the busy cross walks. Finally, Habitat welcome St. Jude Catholic Church youth students from Louisiana, who regenerated the Habitat crew with their energetic personalities. St. Jude brought a little taste of Louisiana to Partnership Village as they prepared a much appreciated Jambalaya dinner for the residents of Partnership Village. St. Jude continued work on houses 54 and 55, and was able to completely weather proof house 54. Although the madness is over, we do miss our newly gained friends, and are incredibly thankful for their generous time. We look forward to Collegiate Challenge 2014!