NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Sandy Pearson
Habitat for Humanity of Michigan
President & CEO
Telephone: 517.485.1006
Jamie Schriner-Hooper
CEDAM, Executive Director
Telephone: 517.927.8629
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2011
Statewide Coalition Celebrates Summer-Long Community Service Initiative
Lansing, MI: Today, legislators from across the state came together to celebrate their efforts to help revitalize Michigan communities. Through the Legislators Building Communities initiative (LBC), sponsored by the Living in Michigan Coalition, more than eighty legislators, coming from all four caucuses, volunteered on a housing or community development project. The legislators volunteered more than 300 hours of their time during the course of the summer with additional projects scheduled throughout the fall.
“The LBC provided a tremendous opportunity for legislators to get to know their local nonprofits,” said Sandy Pearson, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, and co-director of the Living in Michigan Coalition. “In addition to rolling up their sleeves and improving their communities, they were able to work side-by-side with their constituents.”
Legislators worked on a wide variety of projects, including restoring a historic church in Saugatuck; planting and harvesting vegetables at community gardens in Southeast Michigan; setting up for a classic car and bike show in downtown Clare; sprucing up homeless shelters in Hillsdale and Detroit; chopping down a dead tree at a senior housing building in Fremont and distributing the firewood to an area family; building or rehabilitating dozens of Habitat for Humanity homes around the state; and much more.
“Nonprofits around the state benefited from the legislators’ efforts,” said Jamie Schriner-Hooper, executive director of the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) and co-director of the Living in Michigan Coalition. “The LBC is bipartisan, apolitical and helps many Michigan citizens. Our hope and intent is that the legislators continue to volunteer in their communities long into the future.”
The LBC was cosponsored by Senators Rebekah Warren and Mark Jansen and Representatives Wayne Schmidt and Lisa Howze. “It is my honor and privilege to take part in the Legislators Building Communities initiative,” said Senator Jansen. “Habitat for Humanity, CEDAM and other nonprofit members of the Living in Michigan Coalition are leaders in successful transformations of the lives of people, neighborhoods, and communities by encouraging people to believe in themselves and their futures.”
For additional information on Legislators Building Communities, see: http://legislatorsbuildingcommunities.org
or visit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Legislators-Building-Communities/145159195553041
The Living in Michigan Coalition brings together over 30 statewide and regional organizations, including the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), to promote quality affordable housing and strong community development throughout the state. Living in Michigan strives to educate policy-makers and the public on the importance of investing in our communities. The coalition is led jointly by CEDAM and Habitat for Humanity of Michigan.
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