Lord of Love Lutheran Church ELCA – Omaha, NE

Success!

Sunday, August 8th, we marked the culmination of this year’s project with the Dedication of a new home for Maria and Oscar Miramontes. Thank you so much to Pastor Bob who performed the blessing of the home on very short notice. It was an extremely hot day, but the house looked great and it was a very touching ceremony. Thank you to all who helped us attain this goal, whether you prayed for us, provided food for the workers, worked on the house, or donated money.

Here is a picture of Pastor Bob speaking at the New Home Dedication Ceremony on August 8th:

There were thirteen churches involved with the ELF Coalition this year. They are: Augustana Lutheran, Bethany Lutheran, Elkhorn Hills UMC, Faith Christian, King of Kings Lutheran, Living Faith UMC, Lord of Love, Lutheran Church of the Master, Northwest Hills UCC, St. Andrew’s UMC, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal, St. Luke UMC, and Underwood Hills Presbyterian. We have had the privilege of meeting and working with some extraordinary people from these churches.

Habitat requires $80,000 in donations to pay for materials and professional contractors for each house that is built or remodeled. Our coalition benefitted from the following corporate sponsors:

Hartley Corporation:    $1,000

Hawks Foundation:     $5,000

Thrivent:     $5,000

Wells Fargo:    $10,000

We also benefitted from two grants. The first is a Neighborhood Stabilization Project grant of $20,000. This grant is in partnership with the City of Omaha and requires the coalition raise matching pledges totaling $20,000, the home must pass the Energy Star rating tests, the worksite must be kept clean and safe, every volunteer must follow OSHA requirements, and a first aid kit must be kept on site. The second is a Habitat ReStore grant of $10,000. This grant required members of the coalition to host a ReStore Donation Day, donate 20 volunteer hours at the ReStore, provide two speaking opportunities for the ReStore, and run a ReStore announcement in the church bulletin. There is more information on the ReStore below.

The ELF Coalition held a Community Dance which raised $1,055.70, and we had on overage from 2009 of $8,225. This leaves just under $20,000 that needs to be raised by the member churches this year. Our congregation has met or goal and donated $2500 to this year’s project. Thanks again to all who donated to help us reach this goal.

Habitat Omaha ReStore:

Habitat for Humanity of omaha ReStore’s mission is to help the environment and fight to end poverty housing. We do this by providing the general public with low-cost building materials and by using 100 percent of the proceeds to help build Habitat Homes in Omaha. With help from the community, they diverted more than 1,000 tons of materials from the landfill last year. Materials are sold at prices 50% to 70% lower than their retail cost.

One requirement for the ELF Coalition to meet in order to get the $10,000 ReStore grant, is to provide 20 volunteer hours at the Habitat ReStore. Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age. This is a great opportunity for those in need of high school community volunteer hours, or anyone who is interested in helping the community go green by recycling. In order to volunteer, call the ReStore at 402-934-1033 and tell them you are with the ELF Coalition.

Habitat Omaha ReStore Hours: Monday-Friday: 9 am-6 pm; Saturday: 9 am-4 pm; Sunday: Closed.

Location: 1003 S 24th St, Omaha, NE 68105.