What does “home” mean?

Home in its fundamental core, is a question of where and what.

The where is location – town, street, and address. The what is, well, a lot more all over the map, so-to-speak.

 HOME can be that safe and warm (and cool!) place a good number of us are fortunate to reflect on both from childhood and today. It’s the place we gathered as families for meals, birthdays, and holidays. It’s the place we played hide-and-seek with enough spots for everyone to hide. It’s the place we baked (or just ate) delicious cookies. It’s the place where we had space to escape when others got on our nerves.

 HOME can also mean a whole lot of angst and anguish. For too many Lakes Area residents, it’s the place dreaded to return to: hard to heat or cool (and expensive); moldy or drafty; cramped and crowded. It’s the place that strips away 50% or more of income leaving hard decisions to make every single day of who to pay next and who not to pay for now; or what groceries to skimp on or which doctor’s appointment to skip. For these families, home is turmoil and chaos.

Lakes Area Habitat For Humanity’s homeownership program brings a glimmer of hope for a better future.

We currently have 7 houses under construction (1 in Brainerd, 2 in Baxter and 4 in Cass Lake). We also have 2 more homes planned for starts: 1 in Pillager and 1 in Park Rapids. Each of these families are on a journey to HOME and quickly share their enthusiasm that one day soon they will have a place to call their own.

It’s true that we haven’t had an open opportunity to apply for a Habitat home for an extended time due in part to a need for more build-site volunteers, and due in part to the quickly accelerating construction costs making raising the funds to build take longer than expected. What’s not true is a shortage of interested applicants. Our tracking list of people wanting nothing more than a chance to apply is well over 200 families long. All because what we deliver brings hope to families in need.

You see, Habitat does more than build a house. Building confidence, hope and dreams = building strength, security and self-reliance. As Habitat homeowner, Jodi, so eloquently expressed, home is PERMANANCE.

With so much to do and so many families waiting for Habitat, we really need you to join us. As always, we ask that you pray for all our families – those we’ve served, those we are serving, and those waiting to be selected for service.

Please consider picking up a hammer or a paintbrush and help build a home (or homes). We ask that you support us and help raise the funds needed to build homes – your own check, asking friends to send checks, participating in fundraisers or planning a fundraiser.

• To volunteer, contact us at 218-454-7021 or visit Volunteer – Lakes Area Habitat
• To donate, contact Lori at 218-454-7019 or visit Donate – Lakes Area Habitat

Together we can bring so many more families HOME!

In peace,

Kevin Pelkey, Executive Director​​​​​​​​​​​​​