UrbanPromise Ministries, Camden NJ

Several members have been actively involved in volunteering and supporting ministries of UrbanPromise, primarily for school age children in nearby Camden. These include Dana Thiede, who helped organize and set up a school library, and Rachel Cooper, a retired college math teacher, who has tutored several students in math and also in preparing for SAT examinations.
Over five years of working with high school students, Rachel has been deeply blessed by the students, and the school principal has made this comment:

“Rachel Cooper has been tutoring for several years at UrbanPromise Academy. In her first year she made a significant difference with an unhappy math student. In fact, she completely changed his attitude about math. Rachel has a gift; she explains things so well that students can do math for the first time in their lives. Her gift to us is that she keeps coming and keeps changing attitudes about math. We are grateful for her willingness to give of herself.”

UrbanPromise's web site is http://www.urbanpromiseusa.org

Habitat for Humanity, Southern New Jersey
Another ministry of this area in which some of our members have volunteered is Habitat for Humanity. Bill and Ruth Hannum have helped in home construction for several years. Ruth says about Habitat, as the name is often shortened:

"One of the misconceptions about Habitat for Humanity is that it is a 'giveaway program.' This is not true! Homeowner 'partners' have to put in sweat equity before they can go to settlement on their home. The home is sold at cost, and the homeowner does not have to pay interest on their mortgage. In this way it makes home ownership possible for many who would not be able to afford housing in a state like New Jersey with such high housing costs."

Habitat for Humanity — Local affiliate Web Site is:
http://www.habitat.org/script/link.asp?url=www.habitatbcnj.org

Habitat for Humanity International Web Site is:
http://www.habitat.org/