Steve Thomas, best known as the host of “This Old House” and “Renovation Nation” on PBS, has taken an interest in Habitat for Humanity’s Domestic Global Village Program for Collegiate Challenge Students. These students, from all over the country, are working on Habitat’s projects in Lake and Sumter counties.
One of the work sites is the House of Hope in Wildwood. House of Hope is a not for profit, Christian, residential abuse recovery program. Local volunteers will be joined by groups of Collegiate Challenge students for 6 weeks of hard, but meaningful work, renovating buildings on the House of Hope campus.
On Wednesday, March 18, Thomas will be visiting House of Hope and taping the work in progress.
As an ambassador for Habitat International, Steve began his work with Habitat Lake Sumter in 2013 when he worked alongside local Habitat staff and 100 AmeriCorp volunteers to serve as well as inspire.
“He has been instrumental in defining our message and methods so that we can appeal to a broader group of people who believe service is more than just a slogan, it is a way of life,” said Kent Adcock, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Lake Sumter.
The buildings at House of Hope suffered heavy storm damage in 2004 and 2005 and most were not fully repaired. Removing and replacing walls, floors and roofs of the buildings and landscaping will be a part of the students’ tasks.
“Volunteers began working on our buildings last year and have made a big difference in the living facilities for our men. The college students add another dimension to our volunteer workforce and we look forward to their assistance,” said Bishop Samuel Cotto, executive eirector of House of Hope. “We hope that seeing the impact they are making on the lives of the men in our program will be a life-changing experience for the students.”
Habitat Lake-Sumter is a progressive, forward-thinking organization which continually strives to meet the ever-changing needs of our community. Habitat’s focus is to work with vulnerable population groups to help provide housing solutions and to have a transformational impact not only those who receive Habitat’s services, but for those who engage as volunteers and
partners. Habitat sees great value in addressing community challenges through volunteer engagement, rather than depending on government to be the answer. Habitat strives to engage the community in solving challenges resulting in making the community stronger as a whole.