Beiusians of Hope
Beiusians gave a helping hand to build Habitat homes around the whole country.
At the end of this week, after 15 days spent with families in need in Baltesti, Prahova, five members of Habitat for Humanity Beius return home. They spent a week helping build the home of the Cornea family and then supporting poor families in a Roma community to repair their roofs and strengthening their homes.
At the beginning of October, the entire team from Beius was involved in Big Build 2011 which this year was organized in Baltesti, Prahova after being held for 2 consecutive years in Beius. Big Build is an accelerated build where 10 homes are built in just 5 days by hundreds of volunteers of whom a large number are from Northern Ireland. Together with Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland, Habitat decided that this yearly national event should also be held in other communities in Romania where there is a great need for decent housing, to embolden local communities in the fight against poverty housing.
In 2010, twelve homes were built during Big Build in Beius. The homes were triplexes (3 homes under one roof), where beneficiaries were a young family with a child, an adult orphan and an elderly person who remained without a home or was abandoned by family. In 2009, Big Build addressed the needs of orphans, families made up of orphans and other vulnerable groups.
“The experience that we’ve accumulated as a team over the 15 years since we started as the first Romanian Habitat affiliate, is our business card. The 200 new homes in Bihor county as well as over 100 repairs and renovations, demonstrates our organizational capacity. This is the main reason why we’re asked to help around the country and we go with great joy, always trying to spread our spirit in the communities in which we help.” said Ionut Ciolos, the construction program director at Habitat Beius.
Volunteers and staff from Habitat Beius have helped other communities and other affiliates around the country because of their vast experience, especially in helping to run special events and accelerated builds. In 2003, Beiusians helped finish the first homes built by Habitat Radauti and a year later they helped Habitat Cluj with an accelerated build. In 2005, the construction team from Habitat Beius made a tour of the affiliates around the country, helping each affiliate for a day. In 2006, Beiusians built the first house in Cumpana which served as a model house for future homes. In 2007, “Euro Habitat Build” the largest volunteer event in Europe was held in Radauti, where Beiusians worked with hundreds of Romanian and international volunteers as 27 homes were built in a week. Again in 2008, colleagues from Beius supported Habitat Cluj in the project celebrating Vodafone’s 10th anniversary where 10 homes were built in a week. In the past 3 years, the Habitat Beius construction team has also worked in Timisoara, Oarja, Clinceni, Medgidia and Bechet.
