MIDLAND, Mich. — The Dow Chemical Company is continuing its support of Habitat for Humanity and its mission to provide safe, affordable homes through sponsorship of Habitat’s 29th Annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, an internationally-recognized weeklong event of building. This year’s build is taking place Nov. 23 – Dec. 1 in Léogâne, Haiti.
President and Mrs. Carter will join nearly 600 volunteers to help build 100 homes in the Santo community in partnership with families affected by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 2010. This year’s Carter Work Project is the culmination of a two-year effort to help families left homeless from the disaster. Volunteers helped build 150 houses in the Santo community in 2011.
For nearly 30 years, Dow has partnered with Habitat to create safe, affordable housing for families around the globe, and is the longest standing corporate sponsor of the Carter Work Project. To date, Dow has supported the construction of more than 25,000 homes in more than 20 countries worldwide through product donations, financial contributions, and employee volunteers.
“It’s evident that there is still a need for long-term recovery support in Haiti, due to the devastating 2010 earthquake,” said Bo Miller, global director for Corporate Citizenship at Dow. “Dow employee volunteers are proud to join hands with Habitat to continue rebuilding efforts in Léogâne through the Carter Work Project.”
The Carter Work Project is the culmination of a two-month observance to bring attention to the need for safe and decent housing and the pivotal role of housing in community development, which began with special events on World Habitat Day, Monday, Oct. 1.
World Habitat Day is designated each year by the United Nations to call attention to the need for adequate housing for everyone by raising awareness and mobilizing people to take action in response to the need of better shelter around the world. This year’s World Habitat Day theme was “many homes, one community.”
The Carters are Habitat for Humanity’s most famous volunteers and give a week of their time each year to help Habitat build, renovate or repair homes, and raise awareness about the need for affordable and decent housing. They joined Habitat for Humanity in 1984 to help renovate a decaying building in New York City’s Lower East Side. Today, the building is part of a thriving, reinvigorated and dynamic community. Since that build, the Carters and thousands of volunteers have worked with Habitat for Humanity across the United States and in Mexico, Canada, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam.
For more information, visit www.dow.com or www.habitat.org/Haiti