Homelessness in Central Pa

Recently, a survey was completed by Lycoming College’s Center for the Study of Community and the Economy which was done in conjunction with the Lycoming County United Way.  What I found interesting in this study is the number of people in our communities who think that affordable housing and homelessness are now a major concern as opposed to just a few years ago.  Not only did the residents say this is the number one concern of theirs but representatives of our area social service agencies ranked this among their main concerns as well.  Loved ones, we can’t see this crisis coming to our area because it is already here and there is no relief in sight.

Many families have fallen through the cracks of socials services helping them because they are now living with other family members since rents have skyrocketed partly because of the natural gas industry.  In fact, I have heard that many of the lower waged gas industry workers can no longer afford the rents in the region as well.  We at Habitat deal in these types of situations all the time, but mostly they come from low to middle income families who are striving to reach home ownership to take them out of what many consider poverty housing.

Habitat is happy to be in the low to moderate income home building business and now nationwide, Habitat for Humanity is ranked as the 6^th largest builder in the US.  But we can’t do all the work we need to do to eliminate poverty housing without your help.  We need your time, your talents, and yes your donations.  We are in the midst of breaking ground for a new home in the City of Williamsport on Diamond Street, and will soon be planning for two more homes in the future Brodart Commons area.  But we can’t do without you.  Please help us with your donations to get three families into their own homes.  Then, with their 0% interest mortgage payments, they can help others like them realize that a hand up is much better than a handout.

Lots of sex with no romance

That was the headline in The Daily Item printed in Sunbury, PA recently.  No doubt the headline on the front page was meant to grab the attention of readers who glanced at the paper.  It’s when you actually read it that it becomes less titillating and just plain sad.  The article goes on to show what college students are going through in their personal lives at our universities.  Even though the article was about Bucknell University it can be said it goes on every where.

This is not good news to those parents who have kids in college (my son is a senior at York College – so I know this to be true) and may be wondering what actually goes on during after school hours.  In case you are not up on the current vernacular, its called “hooking up”.  What this means is that kids get together, drink a little, party some, and then have sex.  Kids may not even know each other very well or at all and more than likely its unprotected sex since it is done in the “heat” of the moment.  Isn’t it great moms and dads, you daughter or son is having sex with someone just because it feels good.  Gone are the days that sex is saved for marriage, gone are the days that sex is for that someone special, and in are the days of doing it just because you can.  No wonder our young girls are disillusioned about relationships, and no wonder that our boys treat women as sex objects.  As I said earlier, its just plain said.

If there is any good news to this “hooking up” culture, it’s that most kids involved in it want out. It’s just that they keep participating in it.  Our young people want a normal relationship, just plain old fashioned dating, this according to Donna Freitas, a religion professor at Boston College.  Freitas goes on to say that there is not any dating on campus anymore and that is what students want.  Somebody needs to start the dating trend so it continues.  I’m sure we realize that a great percentage of marriages come from dating in college.  Today that does not seem to be true.  Just look at you son or daughter’s facebook page and see what goes on in your child’s life.  Scary, very scary.

Hats off to new Bucknell University President John Bravman for looking into to the “hook up” culture on campus.  Universities should be compelled to do this to at least cut down on the number of sexual assaults, unwanted pregnancies, kids dropping out of school and even worse – suicide.  But the thing that we must do as parents is talk to our kids in college and warn them of the impending eternal consequences of this activity as well as the consequences here on earth.  STD’s, depression, isolation, fear, peer pressure, and lack of good grades are all possible.  Bring your children up in the House of the Lord and teach them the way that Jesus wants us to live.  We need to get them involved in one of the many religious organizations on campus (Campus Crusade for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and InterVarsity just to name a few) so we can give our young people a fighting chance for some type of normal relationship that will carry through for the rest of their life.

Need A Guest Speaker?

The Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity has many individuals who can speak to your group, civic organization, or place of worship about a number of topics.  Please email Bob Hickox at bob.hickox@lycominghabitat.org to schedule a date.

Habitat for Humanity's Sweat Equity Program

The principals of “Sweat Equity”

Many of you know that every Habitat for Humanity requires each new home owner to have the responsibility of working to give back some of their time towards their local Habitat Affiliate office.  This can be done in many ways.  Each adult in the family must do 250 hours of “Sweat Equity” in which 100 of those hours must be spent working on the construction of their own home.  Additional hours may be done by family members, attending home owner classes, their children getting good grades, working at the Habitat office or in the ReStore are just a few examples.

But “Sweat Equity” is not a simple programmatic requirement, nor is it in any way meant to be a test for partner families to pass or fail.  Rather, sweat equity is an exciting cornerstone to the Habitat ministry, designed to meet three important goals:

Partnership – “Sweat Equity” provides meaningful interaction between partner families, affiliate representatives and Habitat volunteers.

Pride in homeownership – Investing “Sweat Equity” hours in their own homes helps families in the construction phase begin the transition to homeownership.

Development of skills and knowledge – On the building site, partner family members should gain a real understanding of the construction of their home and of maintenance issues they will face after occupancy.

So you see, it is not just a requirement, but a way of life in the Habitat for Humanity community that all must take part in. For more information on “Sweat Equity” or volunteering, please email:  bob.hickox@lycominghabitat.org.