National Avenue Christian Church yesterday presented a a $25,000 check to the Rainbow Network, kicking off the construction phase of a project that aims to provide safe, secure homes for 25 poverty-stricken families in the Nicaraguan village of Hilapo Dos.
The gift is the latest in a 10-year partnership between the church and the nonprofit organization and is specifically part of a fundraising push to secure $100,000, or $4,000 for each of the homes being built, according to a news release from the Rainbow Network. Construction is expected to begin in two weeks, with completion anticipated in March. Church members traveled last month to Nicaragua to dedicate the land for the project, the release said.
Each home would comprise 400 square feet, with cement block walls, corrugated metal roofs, concrete floors, two doors and two windows. The extended timeline allows for an important aspect of the Rainbow Network's program – having the future homeowners do much of the work on the homes.
"They must still earn their meager income and keep up with the strenuous demands of day-to-day life during construction," said Keith Jaspers, founder and president of the Rainbow Network, in the release. "But when finished, these are homes they build with their own hands. That sense of personal ownership and investment becomes the stepping stone to their independence."
Laura Vail Fregin, senior pastor at NACC, said the fundraising project has given everyone in the congregation a chance to serve and become involved in changing lives of people who live thousands of miles away.
"From youth group fundraisers to major gifts from core members – even an online donation program – we all have the same end goal, and all are working to help these families have hope for the future," she said in the release.
Through Jaspers Enterprises Inc., Jaspers owns three hotel properties, including Days Inn and Howard Johnson hotels in Branson. Earlier this year, those properties were placed under the management of court-ordered receivers. In February, Jaspers Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and in a March interview, Jaspers pointed to a lack of booked business during the economic downturn as a key factor in that filing, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
