Sunshine and Light

Not in the Habitat

This past summer, I was reading about how Habitats for Humanity was still building houses along the gulf coast to help recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I really like Habitats for Humanity, I think their model of helping people out makes more sense than most. Rather than just a handout, they require the people they're assisting to really work for what they're getting. Good, they'll appreciate it!

Anyway, I emailed them to get details. The details were, they wanted a one week commitment. All travel expenses were on you (not a big deal with frequent flyer miles). Housing was a dorm room for $40/night. Er.... If it's a dorm room, try $10 a night. I can rough it, but I'm not paying hotel prices. If you could not commit to a whole week, they wouldn't guarantee you a place to stay. And that's the point I just stopped corresponding. Having just taken 2 weeks for the honeymoon, I knew there was no way that I could commit to a whole week.

This is where I get frustrated with a lot of charities. The reality is even without kids, I cannot make large commitments of my time. I know it can be difficult to deal with people working smaller blocks of time. I guess the question is, do you have enough volunteers with your current model? Because if the answer is no, my suggestion would be to make it easy for people to volunteer. I'm not giving you 20 hours a month. I work during the day, I'm not going to be there from 9AM to 5PM. In a situation like Habitats, how about offering some "extended weekend" options for those who don't have the vacation for a whole week?

Give me that scepter, I'm taking over the world and straightening it out. Fer cryin' out loud...

Labels: Charities

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 2:31 PM