Hoosier United Methodists to fund, build five homes in southern Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS – The members of the Indiana United Methodist Conference Disaster Response Team approved July 13 at the Indiana Conference Center the sponsorship of two Habitat for Humanity homes, one in Henryville and one in rural Madison. The two houses will be part of an 18 house Habitat for Humanity Southern Indiana blitz week beginning Sept. 10. Each home will cost $50,000 in materials and will require up to 20 volunteers per house per day. All volunteer scheduling will be done by Habitat. Habitat also will need volunteers with special building skills as well as other volunteers who do not need certified skills such as framers, painters and landscapers. More information will be published as it becomes available, according to the Rev. David Powell, chair of Disaster Response and pastor of Danville United Methodist Church. Habitat hopes to dedicate all 18 houses the week of Thanksgiving in November. The Disaster Response Team also allocated up to $150,000 to build three more houses in the Henryville area to be administered through Volunteers ROC at www.volunteersroc.org based at the Country Lake Christian Retreat Center north of Henryville in rural Underwood. Five houses now under construction were begun by the Henryville Community Church, which needs assistance in completing them. The $250,000 commitment by the Conference Disaster Response Team is made possible by using Indiana Conference Disaster Response funds administered through the Conference Treasurer, Jennifer Gallagher. According to Gallagher, the generosity of Hoosier United Methodists received March through June provided $658,085. For more information about the Indiana Conference Disaster Response to the recovery of homes in southern Indiana, visit www.inumc.org/volunteer. More information about the builds will be posted in the July-August issue of Hoosier United Methodists Together both online and in the mail.