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Hammer Time — No matter where you live or what motivates you, there is a role with Thrivent Builds for a volunteer just like you.
By Jennifer Krempin
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sliding Into Home
Rome wasn’t built in a day—but a week might have done it. That’s what Lutherans in Milwaukee are bargaining for, gathering hundreds of volunteers for a “blitz build” to construct eight Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity homes during five days in May. The homes, plus two more being constructed later this summer, will fill out an entire neighborhood along 38th Street on Milwaukee’s north side.
“Milwaukee Habitat averages about 24 homes per year, and because of Thrivent Builds, we’ll be building 35 new homes this year,” says Klint Knueppel, manager of Lutheran community services for the Southeast Wisconsin Region of Thrivent Financial.
The Milwaukee Brewers also are lending support. At the conclusion of the blitz build, one Habitat partner family will be presented the key to their new home before the Brewers game on May 12.
Lockport, Illinois
Starting Over
 A restful sleep was rare for Helen McMurtry. Every night she put her three children, ages 1 to 7, to bed in a tiny apartment in a rough neighborhood where gunfire and unsafe conditions were a part of daily life. A single parent who left an abusive relationship, McMurtry found herself living paycheck to paycheck, with nearly half of her income going toward rent.
Today her family is living in a new three-bedroom home in Lockport, Illinois, thanks to Thrivent Builds. “Our board has been wiped clean, and we’re starting over,” McMurtry says. “It’s indescribable; we all have a place to sleep. The neighborhood is awesome. My kids can play outside. Before I would drive them to a safe park to play—it was our vacation.”
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