The First Interview

Ever have an important meeting and at the end thought to yourself, "Gee, that could have gone better."

I'll just tell you now that is not what you want to feel like when applying for a Habitat for Humanity home. I was able to meet with 2 of the women from the board in my home last night and I'll be honest it didn't go as well as I would have liked.

To start off with I should tell you I have 2 very adorable and very sweet miniature schnauzers. Chevy and Carter came into my life both over the past year. They are brothers but Carter is 1 year old and Chevy is 4. (Carter is pictured right) Did I also mention that we had a flu bug go through our house over the weekend? I was actually home sick yesterday but not wanting to blow this opportunity, managed to make it out of the sweats I had been living in to put on something decent and used my make-up to it's fullest extent in an effort to look normal.

Well when these lovely ladies got to my house my puppies very excited ran up to them and jumped. As it turns out these wonderful and gracious women don't necessarily care for dogs... I was nervous and not thinking and should have had them in the backyard. My oops. Not a great way to start things off.

I would like to say that things recovered from there, but I'm not sure I can. I had thought it would be nice to bake some cookies and have tea for them, but that didn't seem to go over to well. I don't think I could tell you even one question they asked because I was just a bundle of nerves and my stomach was still in recovery mode from the flu as it was. I am quite sure I sounded like a bumbling idiot the whole time.

They were impressed with my application. If you remember I put it together in a binder and had a title page. Each paper was in a protective sheet, and I had lots of notes explaining everything all the way through.

Some of the things they asked were about where I live currently, how a co-op works, they asked the kids questions about where they went to school and if they have lots of friends where we live. The big thing was do I understand about the sweat equity. Yes I really do understand that if you help me with housing I need to give you 500 hours of sweat equity. And if you help me get a house I will freely give you every last remaining second of my time for as long as you need it.

I was told there would be another interview with different board members this week. Probably Wednesday or Thursday. I'll make sure the puppies are outside first this time.

The really exciting part is that these really are no nonsense people. They are real life decision makers. It can be easy for a process like this to drag on and on, and truth be told I'm not sure I could handle the not knowing for that long. Habitat for Humanity does plan on having a decision made as to who will get this house in the first week of June. (Silently praying please pick me)

Weekend Fun?

First let me start by saying happy Mothers Day!

I was flying high knowing I was short listed for Habitat for Humanity and was looking forward to taking advantage if the sunny weather to finally stain my deck.

Saturday was going great, the deck has been stained and my son even agreed to get a haircut! How much better could the day get? My kids had even been wonderful enough to bring me breakfast in bed and have snuggle time with an old movie. It was brilliant.

Then just at the end of the day it all came crashing down. Poor lil miss got sick. She was embarrassed and didn't tell me so I didn't notice anything until just before I was going to go to bed. By then the dogs had dragged icky things around the house making an unspeakable mess. Long story short I was cleaning until about 2:00am.

Today being mothers day my mom had wanted to lay to rest the ashes of her mother. My grandma passed away in February this year after a courageous battle with cancer. This in it self is really a whole different story, that I will tell you about another time. I wasn't able to go with my family today because well I was on mom duty dealing with a virus. I'm sure Grandma would understand.

I received a call from Betty Ann confirming our meeting tomorrow which to my surprise is at my house. I figured no need to tell her about lil miss not feeling well as I figured she would be feeling better by then. What I didn't count on was catching it myself. It looks as if mister may have caught it too.

So while there is this strong part of me that wants to clean the carpets before I meet with the board for Habitat for Humanity (the people who are deciding part of my future) I am struggling to stand up without falling over.

Sorry habitat people, the walls won't be freshly washed and laundry will probably not be all done. I'm sure my home will look lived in by 2 kids and 2 dogs, I hope you understand.

Short Listed!

When I called requesting information about Habitat for Humanity I learned I had just missed the information session by 2 days. I was given an application form and told to have it in for last Saturday noon the latest. I had a week and a half to do it all and I had it in last Friday. I had noticed that the paperwork said to have it in for the 12th but I wanted it in as quickly as I could.

I figured that perhaps I wouldn't hear from anyone for a couple weeks while all applications were being reviewed. Wow what a shock to check my voice mail tonight and hear Betty Ann's voice letting me know I have been short listed!

The next step is an interview with board members of Habitat for Humanity. That will be taking place Monday evening at 7:00. Looks like these people are organized and don't waste time. I appreciate that, working with a non profit myself I know how slowly some things can move.

I have no idea what to expect at this next interview. Perhaps they will request more supporting documentation, or just try to get a sense of who I am and see if I understand the requirements of this partnership. I am most looking forward to having my questions answered and try to understand more about this process.

I'll be writing more about it as soon as I can!

Dropping Off and Letting Go

I did it. I dropped off my application for Habitat for Humanity.

I feel kind of sick to my stomach now and my knees are weak. I have no control over what will happen next. I put the application in a binder and created a title page. Each piece of paper was in a protective sheet, and I had notes throughout going into detail about anything that may bring up a question. I did everything I could to attempt to make my application stand out. I was as thorough and straight forward as I could be.

I feel exposed. And vulnerable.

I have invested time energy and hope into this. The time and energy not a big deal. The hope of a home, of a brighter future for my kids, of attaining a goal of home ownership while still serving in a non profit organization, that, that is a very big deal.

The application was just the beginning. Some people are weeded out at this point. If you get through this then there is the first screening, more people are weeded out. After that is the first interview, more weeding. Then comes the credit check and income verification. I`m a little nervous here because while for the past 5 years especially I have been very good about finances, this was not always true of me. There is more weeding here. After that is a home visit and more weeding. Then the reference and police checks for more weeding and finally the families are selected.

While it helps to know what the process looks like I don`t know how long this takes. Will this be over weeks months or longer. There is this sense of having your whole life hanging by someone else's decision and I don`t know the direction it is going to take.

When I picked up the application I was excited. Just to have this opportunity is absolutely amazing! Filling it out   was fine I had most of the required documents at home and only needed to track down a way to get a rent receipt.

Handing it in though.... it was a loss of control. I need to just trust that God has a plan here and come to terms that it may not be His will for me to go this route. I hope it is but right now it`s time for me to just have faith that God knows what He is doing and He is in control.

ReStore Sale!

The ReStore is a part of the Upper Fraser Valley Habitat for Humanity, and they are having a HUGE sale right now. This sale is to help kick off fundraising for the new house being built here in Abbotsford. The same house I am applying to get.

So that being said support support support people!

It is a spring clean-up sale with up to 90% off. Wow that is huge. So if you want some supplies to fix things around the house or to decorate a room to make it feel fresh and add your own personal touch, you will not want to miss this.

The sale runs from Tuesday May 1 - Tuesday May 8, 2012 and I believe they are open Monday - Saturday 9-5. Some of the kinds of items they have (but not limited to) include:

• Doors, lumber
• Full kitchens from $650
• Laminate, hardwood & tiles
• Lighting fixtures
• Bathrooms
• Cabinets
• Sinks
• Bathtubs
• Paint
• Doors
• Windows
• Wall paper

They are also collecting pennies for the Habitat for Humanity national goal to collect 1 million pennies.

There will also be a BBQ Saturday May 5 from 10-3 by donation. Guess where I am going to be lol. Who knows maybe I can find some great buys to continue to fix up my current home some more. I figure even if I get picked for an interest free home, it is still 2 years before I move and I want my home to be as inviting as I can make it.

God Bless and hope to see you all there!

ReStore

12-34220 South Fraser Way (across from the new Tim Hortons)

Abbotsford, BC

604-557-1020

Habitat for Humanity

Have you ever wondered about Habitat for Humanity? Who is it really for and how do you apply?

I found myself asking these questions, and I'm glad I did.

Maybe I should back track a bit first and tell you more about where I live now and why I am interested in Habitat for Humanity. I currently live in a 3 bedroom townhouse that well has seen better days in a neighborhood that is known as one of the worst in Canada. I work for a non profit company and get wages that reflect that. I'm not complaining, in fact I am right where I feel that I am meant to be. It's just that costs for housing are steadily on the rise with everything else and I would much prefer to raise Mister and Lil Miss somewhere that pushers and prostitutes weren't hanging around. Crazy notion I know. Now if I wasn't shoeless (single) and actually had a double income I could afford to go out and get a mortgage but as it stands alone I can't afford a 400000+ mortgage.

Enter Habitat for Humanity. This fabulous organization partners with families like mine and helps put home ownership within reach.

Right now there are (approximate) 10 families applying for 1 house to be built here in my home town. I picked up an application last week and thought I would share the process with you as I am going through it.

The criteria for applying in the upper Fraser valley area include need, ability to pay a mortgage, and sweat equity. Need covers a few things. So first there is looking at if a family has enough rooms, proper plumbing, what kind of neighborhood they live in etc. yes this is for lower income families but there must be a demonstrated ability to pay an interest free mortgage on the home. I was told the income for this region is between 35000-52000 per year. They want home ownership to be a blessing not a burden, so looking at money is a huge priority here, you can't be shy about it. Sweat equity is the term Habitat for Humanity has for volunteer hours. It's really about making sure the partner family has buy in on the project and it helps carry the projects ahead. Well and really how cool to say you hped build your house and why wouldn't you want to help an organization that has made giving your family a home a reality. UFV Habitat for Humanity does require 500 hours of sweat equity from the partner family so if you aren't committed this isn't for you.

The application form is quite in-depth, it felt like I was just bearing all for a committee of strangers. It asks about where you have lived, where you are living now, work history, T4's and all financial information. You need documentation for everything too even copies of your birth certificate to prove your a Canadian.

I struggled the most trying to get a rent receipt. I picked the application up 1 week ago and had it all done except for that. I did get my bank to send me copies of the rent cheques to add to the paperwork. I also wasn't shy about including pictures of my current home things like my fence that is falling over that was supposed to be replaced a year ago. Pictures of the flooring that is pealing up or the carport off of its foundation.

I don't know how long it will take before I find out if I remain in the running for this amazing opportunity but what I plan to do is keep writing about this. With any luck someone will find this that could use this information for themselves.