While many of their peers spent this weekend on beaches or in the comfort of their homes, local students from the Multimedia Arts and Design Academy gave up their time to build homes in the San Carlos Apache Reservation for families who didn’t have one.

Working in conjunction with Amor Ministries, a San Diego-based organization that builds simple homes for poor families, 161 students came all the way to Arizona for one week to change the lives of 6 families who currently live in crowded, inadequate homes.

These students did it all without toilets, running water, or beds. They will do it without power tools or pre-mixed concrete. And they will do it without earning a dime.

The students from Santa Barbara had their eyes opened to poverty and experienced how much they can do for others in a short time if they work together.

The houses these students built are 24 ft. x 24 ft. with two rooms, a cement floor, four locking windows and two locking doors. These houses met a family’s physical need for shelter as well as released a financial burden on the family.

Thirty nine percent of families live in substandard housing and 40 percent of the families live in overcrowded conditions. Council members and the San Carlos Housing Authority receive at multiple visits a day from families who have no place to go and are in desperate need of housing. Local community leaders say that it is heartbreaking to tell these families that the waiting list is too long and that there are no homes for them.

Amor Ministries provides adequate housing for needy families in order to keep families together and flourishing.

More about Amor Ministries:

Amor Ministries has been working since 1980 to eradicate spiritual and physical poverty around the world. Amor Ministries provides more than 1,000 new homes annually for Mexican, South African and Apache families. Amor works through a network of local pastors in each location to achieve its mission. In 30 years, more than 300,000 volunteers have served with Amor to construct more than 16,000 homes. Amor also supports local Pastors through the Project Hope program which helps provide food, clean water, school supplies and more to families in need.

Amor Ministries is a San Diego, Calif.-based company that was founded by Scott and Gayla Congdon. Amor has been a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability for 17 years. For more information about Amor please visit www.amor.org or call 619.662.1200.

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