Looking for a rewarding activity that will get you out of the house? Consider helping someone in need get into a home of their own. Volunteers across the country are finding many ways to help meet a growing need for affordable housing -- and achieve their own giving goals at the same time.

With home prices skyrocketing over the last few years, more and more Americans have been squeezed out of the housing market. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an estimated 5.4 million households face worst-case housing needs. Receiving little or no government housing assistance, these families are unable to find a decent place to live at a price they can afford.

One organization offering hope for these families is Americus, Ga.-based Habitat for Humanity International. The nonprofit Christian housing ministry has built or rehabilitated nearly 57,000 homes throughout the United States and more than 150,000 homes overseas since it was founded in 1976. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat's 1,700 U.S. affiliates build basic houses with the help of partner families who will own the homes. The homes are sold to the families at no profit and financed with affordable, no-interest loans. Payments on the loans are used to build still more Habitat houses.

If you'd like to help build some of those future homes, a new opportunity to consider is Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' Thrivent Builds Homes program. The national effort will join the nearly 3 million Thrivent Financial members with Habitat for Humanity volunteers, other Lutherans, their families, and their communities to build more than 300 homes across the United States in 2006. Thrivent Financial funds 70 percent of the cost of each home, with the remaining 30 percent raised by the local Thrivent volunteers' chapters and Habitat affiliates. The program expects to boost annual U.S. construction to 500 homes by 2008.

Thrivent Financial, whose members already have worked with Habitat to build more than 500 homes since 1991, makes it easy to get involved in local construction efforts. Just visit www.thriventbuilds.com to learn more. What's more, no previous building experience or skills are required.

Paula Page, a Thrivent Builds Homes volunteer in Michigan, gained handy carpentry skills along with a sense of purpose on her project. "We were assigned to build fly rafters on the roof, but I had no idea what fly rafters were," she related. "With our team leader's patient guidance, we soon learned how and were navigating the table saw with near-expert precision."

Volunteers receive a lot more than new building skills, though, said Mark Andrews, executive director of Thrivent Builds."From the first nail to the last, building a home with Habitat for Humanity is a profound experience for all involved. It's not just sticks and blocks. It's tears and smiles, born of hard work and faith. And it's the knowledge that you've helped change lives."

Not only that, boosting families' standard of living tends to benefit our society overall as well, Andrews continued. "A home is the biggest asset most families own, and a key ingredient to achieving economic independence," he said. "Helping hundreds of families get on the path toward economic independence fits well with Thrivent Financial's business purposes of helping members achieve their financial goals and care for others."

For more information about the Thrivent Builds Homes program or to find a local build, visit www.thriventbuilds.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content.com

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