Philippine Nurses Association
of Central Florida
Habitat for Humanity... My Experience
By Rosemarie Apostol, BSN, RN
Habitat for Humanity is one of PNACF Community Outreach Programs. It is a nonprofit organization that builds a decent, safe and affordable housing for qualified lowincome families. It brings the families and communities together thru donated money, resources and volunteers’ labor in building houses. Its purpose is to eliminate homelessness and poverty housing. There's a variety of ways of how we can render our time and service to our community. In Habitat for Humanity, if you don't have the skill to build a house, you can still volunteer. PNACF opted to provide lunch for the volunteer builders. I am glad that I said yes when PNACF asked for assistance in feeding the volunteers. I went to Habitat for Humanity Orlando at Apopka. I met with the PNACF President Manny Ramos and co-EB Ofelia Manaoat. There were 10-15 volunteers working together, giving their time and services free of charge. It was a scorching hot day, but I did not see nor hear any complaints from them. As we prepared the table, the volunteers came with a smile on their faces and were very grateful that PNACF provided them a sumptuous lunch. Manny's baked barbeque ribs was a hit to the point that many of them were asking for the recipe. They were also served with chicken salad croissant sandwiches, chips, cold drinks and refreshing slices of watermelon. They surely enjoyed it. My experience with the Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Builders was amazing, joyful and humbling one. I went home with a smile on my face because, in my own little way, I was able to give back to my community. Thank you, PNACF for this opportunity. I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” -Mother Theresa
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
"Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in approximately 70 countries. Habitat’s vision is of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
Habitat works toward our vision by building strength, stability and self-reliance in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage" (Habitat for Humanity, 2020).
On April 6th, the PNACF went out to Apopka, FL to help build a house! Here are the statistics from that day:
97.5 total hours given by the PNACF, saving them $2479.42 in labor costs! Wow! What the numbers don't show is the team painted a whole porch, sided the side of one of our houses, and installed soffits and fascia. They also provided a delicious lunch and extra funding.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity visit: https://www.habitat.org/