Building a Greater Los Angeles: My Trip to Haiti with Habitat for Humanity: An Enlightening and Empowering Excursion

Traveling to Haiti with the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA) team was both an enlightening and empowering excursion – a life changing experience that I felt compelled to share with my friends, family and neighbors here in Palos Verdes on May 7th, 2013 at my home.

John Z. Blazevich and Alex McLeod

As a native of Galveston Island, Texas, I have seen firsthand how natural disasters can devastate families financially and emotionally and how it feels to have your community rocked to the core. In 2011, I made a commitment with Habitat to help 50,000 Haitian affected families and individuals rebuild their lives in 5 years.

One year later, more than 75 enthusiastic women from my own community arrived at my door with no expectations and ended up leaving that day having changed the lives of Haitian communities by raising more than $50,000 dollars through a silent auction and private donations. It was deeply moving to see empowered women of all ages band together, some of whom had never met before, to purchase basic needs for Haitian families, the basics that many of us take for granted every single day; a solar powered street light, latrine, separate shower, clean water points.

Habitat for Humanity has been in Haiti for more than 27 years and I have been volunteering and fundraising on behalf of HFH GLA and Habitat International’s efforts for more than 9 years. Haiti is just one complex example of how the Habitat model just works, the money always gets there, the employees are absolutely determined and dedicated and new homes are being built all over the world - every 5 minutes! I cannot think of a more worthwhile and trustworthy non-profit. I had no idea that making a difference in the lives of others less fortunate, could ever have such a profound difference in my own life and the lives of my loved ones.

Habitat is always thanking me for my contributions, but I want to thank Habitat from the bottom of my heart, for changing my life forever – one home at a time!