Fall 1999 Newsletter

Last Update: October, 1999

NEWS FROM THE SITES:
Holy Trinity Dedicates Home

On Sunday, August 22, members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Mercer Island and friends of Seattle Habitat gathered for the dedication of the Ahmed family's home in the Central Area of Seattle. Construction started after Habitat poured the foundation in June. Church members began an accelerated build on July 16, with intensive building on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Rahmet Tahir, Adane Ahmed, Hamza and Saady

The Reverend Woody Carlson led the dedication ceremony, thanking the many volunteers and donors, and pointing out that this is the third house the church members have built with Habitat. The congregation is also involved in other building projects throughout the Northwest, including a migrant mission in Oregon. Not only did the members work on the home, but they financed the effort as well. Through auctions and other fundraising events, the congregation raised all the money to buy the necessary materials, supplementing donations of lumber and other items.

Reverend Carlson thanked the people who through tremendous cooperation, made the build happen. Special thanks went to Peter Lukes for developing the timeline for the six-week build.

The Ahmed family (Adane,his wife Rahmet Tahir, and their children) received a hammer and Bible as gifts at the dedication. This gift is a Habitat tradition that illustrates the importance of a faith community in achieving the Habitat mission of building simple, decent housing. As a Muslim family, the Ahmeds reciprocated by presenting the Koran to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Habitat office. The children from Holy Trinity Lutheran Vacation Bible school created a quilt to keep the family warm in their new home.

Everyone enjoyed the home tour, refreshments, and music on a sunny summer day. Our thanks to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and all the volunteers and donors who illustrated once again that when a community works together, they accomplish their goal and make the dream of home ownership a reality.