Our Better Angels

Habitat for Humanity is an incredible organization, and I've been privileged to participate in home building for those in need.  I was unaware of the involvement of President Carter and his wife with HforH, and it was interesting to hear the CEO and the principles he describes in the book.  Definitely a worthwhile read!

Jonathon Reckford is the the CEO of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that “helps people in your community and around the world build or improve a place they can call home.” Habitat for Humanity was found in 1976 in  Americus, Ga and I guarantee that today there is a Habitat organization close to your home. 

When we think of Habitat, we envision people getting together to build a house. Author Reckford also sees this, but he sees more. He sees the virtues that we gain, those better angels of our nature, by sharing together: kindness, generosity, community, empowerment, respect, joy and service. This book brings these virtues to life by sharing stories of people, whether the owners of a Habitat house, or a volunteer house builder who have changed and grown through Habitat. 

These are feel-good, Chicken Soup for the Soul stories. As we “visit” building sites in the US and around the world, we learn that there is power in committed loving and caring. It’s inspiring to learn that an ordinary person with a tool-belt, or a mother who dreams of a better life her family can change the world. My favorite story was about salsa, and Eric, from Immokalee, Florida. The tomato farms of Immokalee produce most of the wintertime tomatoes for America. It’s a poor area.  Eric’s family had qualified for a Habitat home. He and his high school classmates like him now had hope and they wanted to do more, something that would honor and help their community. So they came up with the idea of making and selling salsa! You will enjoy reading how this all unfolded and how it led to more dreams being realized. 

This book is enjoyable and uplifting and would be a good gift. And who knows? Maybe you’ll want to pick up a hammer and start volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press Essentials for a digital review copy. This is my honest review.

This book is by the CEO of Habitat for Humanity and includes a foreward by former President Jimmy Carter who is actively engaged in the work of Habitat. The seven simple virtues covered in the book (each with its own chapter) are kindness, community, empowerment, joy, respect, generosity and service. The author uses stories from various clients of Habitat to expound on each of the virtues. It is a quick read.

This is the type of book that will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it enjoyable and the stories interesting.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page