Habitat’s Annual Building a Dream Breakfast Fundraiser

At the Habitat for Humanity’s early morning Building a Dream Annual Breakfast on Wednesday, October 26, from left the Joint and Wall Sponsors Nat and Leela Krishnamurthy (a HFH Director) with Gaynell Dexler, Board Chair of Houston HFH behind them; Manisha Mehta, Farida Abjani, Rosmein Premji, guest speaker Jim Pate and Jawahar Malhotra.

At the Habitat for Humanity’s early morning Building a Dream Annual Breakfast on Wednesday, October 26, from left the Joint and Wall Sponsors Nat and Leela Krishnamurthy (a HFH Director) with Gaynell Dexler, Board Chair of Houston HFH behind them; Manisha Mehta, Farida Abjani, Rosmein Premji, guest speaker Jim Pate and Jawahar Malhotra.

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: It takes a pretty determined crowd to come out for an early weekday morning, 7:30am breakfast at the Junior League in the Uptown area, but that’s how you have to describe the supporters of the Houston Chapter of the Habitat for Humanity. The truly committed bunch of directors, volunteers, supporters and advocates for affordable housing in the Bayou City fought the morning rush hour traffic on Wednesday, October 26 to come to the 90 minute event that was truly to the point.

The annual event allows the Houston HFH to feature their achievements and at least one homebuyer who is fortunate enough to qualify for a home built by the organization. This year that was Joe Schumack, a veteran, who attended the breakfast and will close on a 1,646sf, 3 bedroom, 2-car garage home in Brentwood valued at $118,000.

The event began with a welcome by Sherman and Nicole Lewis, the Brick and Mortar Sponsors and Breakfast Chairs; with Sandra Torrance introducing Joe Schumack and invocation by Rev. Harvey Clemons, of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Allison Hay, the Executive Director of the Houston HFH spoke of the “deep thinking, collaboration and innovation” of the guest speaker as she introduced Jim Pate. KPRC TV news anchor Owen Conflenti did an onstage informal conversation style interview with Pate.

 

Joint and Wall Sponsors Nat and Leela Krishnamurthy with guest speaker Jim Pate

Joint and Wall Sponsors Nat and Leela Krishnamurthy with guest speaker Jim Pate

Pate has become somewhat of a legend among the HFH community nationwide, and even internationally, for his dedicated and inspirational style of motivating volunteers, suppliers and community activists to build homes for those who can otherwise not afford them. He established the Dallas Chapter of the HFH, and in 2001 became the Executive Director of the New Orleans Chapter and had driven down from the Big Easy for the event.

Pate explained how he had been able to involve college students in the effort and his work overseas in the Philippines, South Korea, Botswana and Hungary (the country of the first overseas homes sponsored by the founders Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter) to build homes. Pate described his experiences with a folksy humor and explained that in Dallas he was building 40 homes a year. He then described the nightmare that unfolded after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in November 2005 and how he was able to recruit and mobilize thousands of volunteers to clear up the area of debris and gutted out 2,400 homes. “Of the 101 HFH homes we built, there was almost no structural damage,” he said proudly. “And we are building 30 to 35 homes a year now.”

From the Indian community, Leela Krishnamurthy has been a Board Director of the Houston HFH for the past five years and has been a dedicated supporter and fundraiser. She was joined at her table by her husband Nat who is always by her side, and other Indo-Americans Manisha Mehta, Farida Abjani and Rosmein Premji. Brief closing remarks were made by Tanya Williams, who stood in for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who was busy on the campaign trail during the recent national elections.