Washington D.C. — Members of AmeriCorps joined with members of Congress to build a new Habitat for Humanity home for Charlissa Tomlinson and her three children in a low-income neighborhood in the nation’s capital today.

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The bipartisan build kicked off Congress Building America, a national campaign in which members of Congress will build Habitat for Humanity homes in their home states and districts. More than 60 members of Congress have already signed up.

Members of Congress participating in the build included Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Representatives John Boehner (R-OH), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, (D-OH), Clay Shaw (R-FL), David Price (D-NC), among others.

Working alongside the elected officials were two dozen AmeriCorps members from the D.C. chapter of Habitat for Humanity and AmeriCorps*NCCC. Nationwide more than 400 AmeriCorps members served with Habitat for Humanity chapters last year, recruiting and supervising more than 120,000 community volunteers and supporting the construction of 1,200 homes. In addition, more than 100 members of AmeriCorps*NCCC supervised thousands of college students building homes during their spring break.

Several speakers noted the key role AmeriCorps plays in helping Habitat build homes. “I can’t tell you how much AmeriCorps and VISTA and NCCC mean to Habitat’s productivity across the country,” said Tom Jones, director of Habitat’s Washington office. Brendan Fox, the site supervisor of D.C. Habitat chapter, called AmeriCorps members the “backbone” of their operation and noted that half of the affiliate’s staff are former AmeriCorps members.

In his remarks, Corporation CEO David Eisner thanked Congress for supporting the agency’s 2004 budget which provided record funding for AmeriCorps. “I want to say thank you to the members of Congress for coming here, for helping build America, but also for supporting AmeriCorps and helping it reach its largest level ever, 75,000 members, doing this kind of work all across America,” Eisner said.

The Habitat family that will buy the house has overcome enormous challenges, including enduring the lost of a son in a homicide/robbery two year ago. Tomlinson, a single mother of three, has struggled to keep her family together and out of harms way—not an easy task as the family lives in one of DC’s most distressed neighborhoods.

The event was a joint effort among Habitat for Humanity and several major corporations and trade associations and included an afternoon Spouses Build, in which congressional spouses also worked on the construction site. Dawn Balsam, a D.C. Habitat AmeriCorps member who worked with Senator Frist, summed up the day by saying, “It’s nice to know that Habitat and AmeriCorps have so much support.”

AmeriCorps engages Americans in innovative, intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security, and other areas. Members serve with national non-profit organizations, as well as with hundreds of smaller community organizations, both secular and faith-based. AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is part of USA Freedom Corps, a White House initiative to foster a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility, and help all Americans answer the President's Call to Service. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.org.

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