Connecting Family Stories

We all have different stories that make up our lives.  Many aspects of these stories intersect and relate to experiences that are common to most people - Raising a family, purchasing our first home, having a stable job and income, community involvement and retirement to name a few.  However, along the way we will also have our share of common struggles and disappointments such as stressful debt, unemployment, divorce, physical frailties of getting older, chronic illness and loneliness to name a few.

Even if we have not personally experienced many of these issues, we probably have a family member or friend who has been in these circumstances.  That is why it is critical we share these stories from our ABWK families and relate these common touch points to our communities.  The ABWK stories are in many ways different than the stories of our first time homebuyers and therfore allows us to reach a different audience and expand our influence on safe, decent housing.  The more we can connect the ABWK family stories to our potential constituents, the more resources we will garner to serve more homeowners in need. 

Twin Cities Habitat begins the story gathering process from information received on our homeowner application.  Next, we get a deeper understanding of the family through our homeowner interview conducted by our Project Supervisor.  Upon acceptance into the program, we look for families and complementary work that would make a compelling story to share during or after a project.  If we feel we have a good candidate, we will send them a questionaire that elaborates on the information previously gathered.  The questionaire prepares us for an in-depth personal interview if we feel the homeowner might be a good candidate for a live media coverage.  In most cases however, the information from the questionaire is all we need and portions are used for printed marketing and fundraising materials. 

Much of our success with ABWK in the Twin Cities has come from our ability to relate the housing struggles of our homeowners to our constituents and how Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has brought relief and given families renewed hope. abwk habitat for humanity