Media Advisory: House Blessing Celebrations for 3 Families on Friday

December 03, 2008

Friday, Dec. 5, 2:30 a.m. (Kalisa-Uwamahoro Family)
10 Kanazawa Circle, Twin Oaks, Madison

Friday, Dec. 5, 4 p.m. (Danz-McDaniels and Forsythe Families)
324 and 326 Pine St., Stoughton

Contact: Cheryl McCollum, cmccollum@habitatdane.org, 658-8158 (cell)

Jessica Doyle, Kathleen Falk to help bless Thrivent Builds/Women Build home; Family to rebuild life after Rwanda genocide

(MADISON, WI) – After months of hard work, Evariste Kalisa and Clementine Uwamahoro are ready to celebrate the blessing of their new home.

Thanks to the generosity of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, the Habitat for Humanity of Dane County home will be blessed on Friday, Dec. 5 at 2:30 p.m., at 10 Kanazawa Circle, in the Twin Oaks subdivision in Madison. This home was built primarily by women volunteers and members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. This is HFHDC’s sixth Women Build project.

In May, ground was broken and construction began on their home. The family is looking forward to moving into their home and celebrating their first Christmas there. Evariste and Clementine moved to Madison nearly five years ago. They are originally from Rwanda and experienced first hand the 1994 war in Rwanda.  They lost many of their family members during that genocide.  

“Clementine and I believe that the foundation of a good society is its’ families,” said Evariste.  “The best way to achieve our dreams is first finding a safe place to live. We thank Habitat for Humanity with all our hearts and for helping us to own our house! We also thank the community. You give us hope as we travel to transcend our bad memories from the recent past in Rwanda. We hope to serve our community and serve as a good example for future generations.”

Evariste and Clementine have three sons and an adopted daughter.  First Lady Jessica Doyle and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk will help celebrate the blessing of this Women Build home at the ceremony.

Thrivent Builds, Cummins to Help Bless Duplex on Friday in Stoughton
(MADISON, WI) – After months of hard work, Jennifer Danz and Ruth Forsythe are ready to celebrate the blessing of their new home.

Thanks to the generosity of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Cummins Inc., the Habitat for Humanity of Dane County duplex will be blessed on Friday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. at 324 and 326 Pine St., in Stoughton.

In June, ground was broken and construction began on this Stoughton duplex.  Members of the Danz-McDaniels and Forsythe families have each spent 300 hours constructing their new home. Since 1995, a group of Stoughton volunteers has helped renovate one home and build six other homes in Stoughton. Mayor Helen Johnson will be at the House Blessing ceremony to welcome the new families to Stoughton and to congratulate the Stoughton volunteers for a job well done.

Future HFHDC homeowner, Ruth Forsythe, has lived in Stoughton for more than 30 years. She is a single mother of four boys and works as a service desk associate at the Stoughton Wal-Mart. In her spare time, she quilts, plays cards and recently participated in the Relay for Life. “One of my biggest dreams for years was to own a home. I feel very happy and blessed to finally have my dream come true. I want to thank everyone who will be helping me, and may God bless you all,” said Ruth.

Jennifer Danz is the proud mother of a girl and is thrilled to be moving to the Stoughton community. She works at Care Wisconsin. “This is a blessing and I am very thankful that I have been given this opportunity to give my daughter a home to call our own,” said Jennifer. “To the volunteers, sponsors, family, and friends, I want you to know you always be in my heart and in my thoughts and never be forgotten!”

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is sponsoring construction of three homes this year in Dane County. In 2005, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International joined together to create the “Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity” alliance, a $125 million alliance designed to help address the complex issue of poverty housing.  In its three years, this alliance has built a total of 1,000 homes across the country with Habitat for Humanity.

Cummins Inc. designs and manufactures service engines and related technologies. Its subsidiary is Cummins Filtration based in Stoughton.

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Habitat for Humanity of Dane County provides simple, decent, affordable housing for families who might not otherwise become homeowners. Eligible families pay monthly mortgage payments on a 0% interest loan, and contribute 350 hours of sweat equity in the building of their homes and an additional 25 hours helping other Habitat homeowners build their homes. For more information, call 608-255-1549 or visit www.habitatdane.org.