Mike Christian has been volunteering with Habitat for 25 years. He was an original member of the Cobb Catholic Coalition, which has built 35 Habitat houses and starts two more houses this year on September 12. He and his wife, Pam, started as the “in-kind” chairpersons for the Riverside Revival project in Marietta. They solicited materials for rehab projects. The Riverside Revival project renovated six houses over two years.
After three years as a general volunteer, Mike took the crew leader training in 1996. To date, he has served as general construction volunteer for 100 builds, as a volunteer Crew Leader for 96 builds and a House Leader for 20 builds.
In 2005, he took over St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church’s Habitat ministry and became chair-person for the Cobb Catholic Coalition. In 2008, he was named as co-chair of the affiliate’s Construction Committee.
In 2010, he began Chip in for Habitat, a 501(c)3 whose sole purpose is to raise money for Habitat through its annual golf tournament. The next one is Monday, October 5, 2015 and Mike would like to see you there. Everyone is welcome and will have a great time.
Today Mike serves on NW Metro Atlanta Habitat’s board of directors, chairs the Cobb Catholic Coalition and is a volunteer crew leader. When asked why he works with Habitat, he said he loves the work and the people he has met through Habitat.
Mike has had a lot of experiences with dedicated Habitat volunteers. For example, in 2005 their project started in September, but ran into many difficulties. The normal completion schedule ran beyond the finish date by months! However, the volunteers stayed with it faithfully throughout the entire time, coming out day after day until the houses were done.
In 2008, a house was in Week 4 of construction when the project ground to a stop due to a problem with the plot that required the house to be bulldozed. The homeowner burst into tears. Mike, being the “can do” guy that he is, said, “If Habitat can find another lot, the Cobb Catholic Coalition will have the house built by the original deadline.” Everyone rose to the challenge. Habitat found another lot. The Coalition raised more funds for additional building supplies. Volunteers took vacation time to work on the house during the week. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC subcontractors rescheduled. Everyone was completely committed and the family moved in on time. That kind of fidelity and dedication is inspiring.
We want to publically thank Mike for all the work and the many hats he has worn throughout the decades. When you see him out on the build sites, please add your thanks to ours. Without him and our dedicated core of construction volunteers we could not have a successful affordable housing ministry. Thank you, Mike!