What's Happening Right Now.......

Plans are being made for the spring build, a single house, which starts Saturday, April 14th.  We will build over 8 workdays, including Saturdays and some Wednesdays.  See Schedule below.  This will be at 2922 Dorris Street in the Bon Ton area, 3 miles south of downtown.  For driving directions, click here.  

REMEMBER: No experience is needed to volunteer with Carpenters.  

To volunteer contact Jane Parker at jhp01@aol.com.

To make a financial gift you can: 

     1.   Go to the bottom of this home page and follow the prompts for the Internet.  

     2.   Mail a check to:  Carpenters at Highland Park United Methodist Church
                                          3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX  75205    

     3.  Contact Joe B. Fortson at fortsonj@hpumc.org.                                                                                                                                                              
For driving directions Click here.

For pictures from our recent build:  Click here.

For general information contact Joe B. Fortson at fortsonj@hpumc.org.

Project Location: 

The adddress for our 82nd home is 2922 Dorris Street in Dallas.  Highland Park United Methodist Church built its first home with Habitat for Humanity 16 years ago in the Bon Ton area, and the neighborhood upgrade has been continuing ever since. Generally, Bon Ton lies south of US 175 and east of South Central Expressway (I-45).  For driving directions click here.

Project Work Days:

Project Work Hours::

•  8:00 a.m.      Arrival and check-in.
•  8:15 a.m.      Orientation followed by commencement of work.
• 12:00 p.m.     Free lunch provided for workers.
• 12:30 p.m.     Afternoon orientation and work session.
•  4:00 p.m.       Site clean-up and conclusion of work. 

Workers may also sign up to work a half-day session.  Lunch is served to the morning volunteers.  Water and cold drinks are provided.

To volunteer for this build: 

     Contact Jane Parker, Volunteer Coordinator, at jhp01@aol.com .

Be sure to bring to the worksite:

     Season appropriate work clothing (We work rain or shine)
     Closed-Toed Shoes
     Head covering
     Work Gloves (a necessity)
     Sunscreen
     Hammer and Nail Belt if you have them. 

Volunteer Age Limits:

Every volunteer under 18 must have parental signatures on liability forms.
     Under 14:  Not allowed on the site while construction is ongoing
     Ages 14 & 15:  Can help with landscaping and clean-up on last day.
     Ages 16 & 17:  Can help with construction but no power tools or roof work.
     Ages 18 and over   No restrictions.

 Please come out and join us!

For further information, contact:
Joe B. Fortson, Outreach Associate at fortsonj@hpumc.org

How to Get Involved 

It requires about 200 people and approximately 2,000 volunteer hours, to complete a single house. That translates to 10,000 - 12,000 volunteer hours a year. Volunteering to help build is open to ages 16 and over. We’ve had persons in their 80s volunteer for construction!

You can also help by providing 35 lunches for volunteers each work day. Lunches may be simple or elaborate, homemade or store bought.  To provide lunches, contact Carpenters Volunteer Coordinator, Jane Parker at jhp01@aol.com.

Become Part of Our Team

Carpenters for Christ uses email distribution lists to communicate volunteer opportunities and committee information.  You can add or delete yourself from these lists by sending an email to the appropriate addresses below:
 
Add yourself:
     hpumc-cfc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com   (volunteer list)
     cfc-committee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com   (committee list)
 
Delete yourself:
     hpumc-cfc-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com    (volunteer list)
     cfc-committee-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com   (committee list)

How to Become a Carpenters for Christ Sponsor

Each home undertaken by Carpenters for Christ requires a contribution of $55,000 cash upfront paid to Habitat. Currently Carpenters is building at the rate of 6 homes per year. In an ordinary year that comes to $330,000, very little of which is funded by the HPUMC budget (our regular pledges and offerings). That means that the Carpenters Committee and its friends raise the equivalent of $1,000,000 every three years to attain the goal of 100 completed homes by 2016. Donations come in all sizes and are greatly appreciated. Carpenters is fortunate to have received from Habitat a temporary discount, to $40,000 per house for the next year. Persons giving now, at any level, will get more for their contribution than ever before.

History

With determination, purpose and encouragement by Senior Minister, Mark Craig, Carpenters for Christ formally organized in 1996 and set out on a plan to build 100 homes with Habitat for Humanity.  Currently, the number of completed homes totals 77.  True to its calling, the group still builds one home at a time with their only purpose to provide a simple, decent place to live for one family at a time. Our mission has been blessed by the financial support of very generous individuals and organizations within HPUMC. Without this critical support, we could not continue to pursue our goal of sponsoring 100 Habitat homes for truly deserving families. We are also blessed by the friendships and camaraderie that we have developed with our partner families, volunteers from HPUMC, and other volunteers who have joined us at the work sites. It is safe to say that, at the end of each workday, the volunteers feel that we have been blessed much more by our experiences than we have given through our labor and financial contributions.

Directions to 2922 Dorris Street
Dallas, Texas

(From the intersection of Mockingbird Lane and North Central Expressway)

1.  From Mockingbird Lane proceed south on Central Expressway for 4.8 miles.  (During this phase US-75 becomes I-45.  Bear left following the "Houston" signs.)

2.  Exit I-45, take the exit to US-175 at Exit 283 B, and proceed 1.9 miles.

3.  Exit again with US-175 following the "Kaufman' sign.  (US-175 makes a 90 degree left turn at this point.)

4.  Very soon after the freeway makes its turn, exit right to Bexar Street.

5.  Turn right on Bexar Street and travel 800 feet to Dorris Street.

6.  Turn left on Dorris Street, and travel 1,000 feet to 2922 Dorris Street.  It will be on the right in the second block.