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"I am so proud to say that I am now part of that."
Making a house—and a home
Inga Theeke has a condition to which she has given the name “Habitatitis.” Its symptoms include a passion for eliminating substandard housing and the intense desire to tell everyone about the work done by Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity!
“A year ago, I knew next to nothing about Habitat for Humanity and even less about how our local affiliate has worked with 34 families in my community over the last 17 years to help them become homeowners,” Inga says. In her role as Lutheran Community Service Specialist for Thrivent Financial, she witnessed firsthand the impacts of her employer’s unprecedented alliance with Habitat for Humanity—a $105 million commitment to build hundreds of homes over the next four years.
In the Chicago area, Thrivent Builds worked with local Habitat affiliates and congregations to provide funding for and facilitate the building of nine homes. As a result of their efforts, “Monyca Wells and Louise Bell were able to move off of Fox Valley Habitat’s three-year waiting list of potential homeowners and begin working on their own homes,” says Inga. “I am so proud to say that I am now part of that.”
The build began in June of 2005. “Every Saturday that I was able to join the volunteers on-site, Monyca Wells and Louise Bell were there,” Inga recalls. They literally built their own homes with help from Thrivent Builds. “As construction progressed, Monyca’s language changed from ‘I’m putting on the floor deck’ to ‘I’m raising my walls!’” By the time drywall was hung inside the homes, Louise was choosing window treatments and the color of towels in her bathroom. “These were no longer houses we were working,” says Inga. “They were definitely the Wells and Bell family homes.”
Monyca and Louise moved into their homes shortly before Christmas. Inga stopped by one day as they were getting ready for the dedication of their homes. “As Louise and I stood in her kitchen talking about how she’ll decorate for Christmas, Monyca burst through the side door with the most sincere ‘Hi, neighbor!’ and smile I’ve seen yet. I wish every one of the 600 volunteers who donated more than 4,000 hours towards construction were standing there to see it.”
Thanks to their efforts, Monyca and Louise could host a family Christmas this year “at a real home that they’ve worked so hard to provide for their families,” says Inga. “That’s something I’ll never take for granted again.”
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