Habitat for Humanity reaches incredible milestone

Special to La Prensa
With the help of several local organizations, Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio has begun construction of its 600th home.
“We are so proud to reach what we consider a milestone,” said Dennis L. Bechhold, HFHSA President and CEO. “Without the help of these very generous sponsors and the many, many others who assisted us in building the 599 other homes that came before it, we would not be here. We are so proud to partner with these sponsors and the very dedicated and hardworking family that will soon call this house home.”
Joining in to sponsor the 600th house are Bartlett Cocke General Contractors, Republic National Distributing Company, Frost and Concordia Lutheran Church. Each organization made a contribution to fund, in part, construction of the home and will provide volunteers throughout the building process. Employees from Bartlett Cocke General Contractors will be on hand Saturday as construction of the home continues.
“As our economy worsens, many companies who typically sponsor Habitat houses are now not able to step up as in the past …,” said Kevin Ragsdale, Bartlett Cocke project manager, in a recent memo to employees. “But our commitment to Habitat remains strong and true.”
Ragsdale said employees raised well more than half the money needed to become a 600th house sponsor, with the company matching dollar-for-dollar all employee contributions.
This home is one of 50 slated for completion by HFHSA in 2009. Nine have already been completed, 14 others are in various stages of construction and seven more scheduled to start in the coming month.
“Despite the challenges in today’s economy, HFHSA is still able to continue our mission of building homes with Bexar County’s lowest-income families,” Bechhold said. “We are able to do this because of our many generous contributors who donate their money and time.”
Other sponsors of this phase of construction include: St. Luke Catholic Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas and Capital Group; St. Matthew Catholic Church; Holy Trinity Catholic Church; Alamo Heights United Methodist Church and Valero. Homes currently under construction will be dedicated in a ceremony on May 9.