NCCHFH is growing by leaps and bounds. In the next month we will have five houses under construction. One in Celina for the Bull Family, one at the Job Corps Center built by Youth for the Jones family and three in McKinney. Darling Homes is building in our subdivision, and two familes are picking their lots in the next week.
In addition to the homes, we are currently working towards our Builders Blitz 2008. Our kick-off monthly lunch will be July 18th at noon. We are hoping for at least 7 builders to build in our Phase II subdivision, Charleston Creek.

Special thanks goes out to our wonderful partner, McKinney Community Development Corporation who is not only helping with with infrastructure in the subdivsion, but also our newest Youth Build.

Also we have new business partners to welcome to our team; Simpson Strong-Tie and Blockbuster. They will both be building homes in partnership with churches in the next few months. Our committed Church partners for upcoming builds are; 1st Baptist Church - McKinney, 1st Baptist Drexel St., Trinity Presbyterian McKinney & Plano, Redeemer Presbyterian, St. Gabriel the Archangel, and St. Francis of Assissi.

Thanks to all the partners and volunteers that make a decent home a reality for so many families.

Celeste Faro, Executive Director

Lisa Haltom
Lisa graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois as an Industrial Engineer. She applied these skills at Texas Utilities for many years and is currently employed by Starbuck's. Lisa became active with Habitat by volunteering at fund raisers and continues to work the Silent Auction at all the annual Taste of Collin County events. In 1999, she became a file processor with the Family Selection Committee.
She stated that her years with Habitat have been very rewarding especially with meeting so many deserving families.

DID YOU KNOW???? North Collin County Habitat for Humanity uses the median income of the area to calculate the income window of service for applicants? The median income for north Collin County is $70835, one of the highest in the state. Applicant(s) income needs to be between 30% to 60% of the median income of our service area.

The Martinez Family Celina


The newest Habitat for Humanity family in Celina is Francisco (Pancho) and Maria (Ninfa) Martinez and their two sons, Francisco and Marco. They are a warm and hospitable family and so appreciative of the opportunity to work for a new house.

Francisco, Sr., has a landscaping business in Frisco and Celina. His work includes mowing, tree trimming and other landscaping. He is hoping to grow his business in Celina. He also works on cars and trucks especially Chevrolets since he is experienced with them having worked on them for 4 to 5 years.

Maria works for the Celina Schools. At home she is a gardener "extraordinaire". Their yard glows with the magnificent colors from her roses and iris. The family plans to transplant many of the flowers so they can enjoy them when their new home is built. Everyone agrees that Maria is also a great cook and shopper.

The boys have always attended Celina schools. Next school year Francisco will be in the 6th grade and Marco will be in the 3rd grade. Both boys are avid chess players. Their eyes sparkled as they explained their love for the game. Francisco, Jr., has been playing for about 2 years and taught his little brother the game about 6 months ago. However, they explained, their Mother prefers checkers and is a really good player. Both boys like to swim and the whole family enjoys the lake when they can go. The boys are looking forward to their new house and the experience of having their own rooms. Francisco mentioned hoping his bed would have a coverlet that looked like a chessboard.

Both of the parents expressed a real desire to have a house for the family - a real house where the kids can stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer and can walk around the house in any weather.

Gallardo Family
By Karen Chaffin

Raised in McKinney, Ricky and Elisa Gallardo are looking forward to owning their own Habitat home in McKinney. They had heard about the Habitat for Humanity program through friends at work and family when they decided to call about it. Luckily, a Habitat seminar was scheduled for the next day. "Best idea [North Collin County Habitat for Humanity] ever had" said Elisa a most productive way to spend a Saturday.

Elisa and Ricky were high school sweethearts who have been together now for 10 years. They've been on their own and grew up fast learning to deal with life's problems. Habitat is providing a means to owning their own home for a stable environment for their children.

Elisa and Ricky enjoy activities with their kids, softball, and fishing as hobbies. Both have family as support in the area. Elisa has worked for the post office at a contract station for eight years. Ricky has been with the McKinney Parks for 2 years maintaining softball fields (loves his job).

Sons Jaylen (age 5) and Adrian (age 2) are enjoying a new baby sister Gisselle since March of 2007. Jaylen goes to pre-K school and both enjoy baseball, riding bikes, and going to the park with grandpa.

The family is excited about their new home. Habitat has given them ideas for saving money and planning for the future. They realize that they're not too young to start out new to have a future for themselves and their family.

Volunteer Orientations:
Saturday, June 16th 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 20th 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 14th 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, July 26th 7:00 p.m.
RSVP: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 972-542-5300 x 103 Contessa Corkern, Volunteer Coordinator

• Date TBA Pre-Construction Meeting for Youth Build House - Carla Jones, 701 S. Tennessee. Partners: Youth United Dream Team, McKinney, Community Development Corporation, McAlister's Deli, North Texas Job Corps Center
• June 26th Pre-Construction Meeting for the Canela Home, 701 S Tennessee. Partners: Trinity Presbyterian Church, McKinney & Plano, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 1st Presbyterian Church and Blockbuster
• July 11th Pre-Construction Meeting for Govea Home, 701 S Tennessee. Partners: St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. Francis of Assissi, Blockbuster and one more church to be announced.
• July 18th KICK OFF for Builders Blitz Monthly Luncheon, 701 S Tennessee. Partners: Darling Homes, David Weekley Homes, K Hovnanian Homes, Mercedes Homes
• July 20th - Start Date - Youth Build/Jones Home - North Texas Job Corps Center. You must attend an orientation prior to building on home. RSVP This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to schedule a work date on the home.
• July 20th Monthly Board Meeting 6:45 a.m.