Habitat for Humanity of Shawnee, OK

History. The Newsletter was started in June 1994. Copies were mailed to all churches, a few businesses and a few prospective volunteers. The Newsletter was published at regular intervals through Sept., 2001 with one issue mailed in 2002 and one in 2003. It has been quite a long time since a letter has been mailed so it seems appropriate to recall briefly the history of Habitat in Shawnee.

   HFHS was organized under the leadership of Dr. Rick McClatchy, then pastor of University Baptist Church, in the summer of 1994. The group incorporated, elected a Board of Directors and was granted Affiliate status on June 1,1995 with HFH International.

    Prior to receiving Affiliate status volunteers painted five houses for Shawnee citizens and repaired a number of others. Once approved as an Affiliate, fund raising and construction planning began in earnest. The first project was an existing house that had to be completely gutted before reconstruction began; however, since then all houses have been new construction. A total of seven homes have been provided for partner families. In addition, Habitat volunteers during summer 1998 worked with the Shawnee Community Development office and painted ten homes.

   One of the early homes built was in honor of the father of Wade Hayes, country music entertainer from Bethel. Hayes, Wal-Mart and Sony, Inc. provided $40,000 for its construction and Hayes came to Shawnee for its dedication. Habitat received wide public recognition as a result of this gift and a concert given by Hayes at the Shawnee Expo Center.

   In 1999 another house was funded by a gift from John and Gloria Slavens. The W. P. Wood Trust, a local organization, also made a major gift to HFHS during its early years. White Lumber Company has donated numerous materials and sells additional materials to Habitat at cost.

   The annual Fiesta Dinner was begun in March 1997 to raise funds and publicize the work of Habitat. Other donations have come from Shawnee individuals, churches and businesses.
 

   Moving forward. An eighth partner family has been selected. The family has 125 hours of sweat equity completed and construction of their home will begin within a few weeks. An additional building site has also been obtained and the Family Selection Committee is working on approving two more partner families.