“I have a disease you know.  Do you know what it is?”  asked Jack Wolters at his first meeting with Habitat Tucson staff.  “It’s called Habitat-itis and I don’t want to lose it!”

“I’m very dedicated to building decent homes for people who have never had them,” he said, on a serious note.  “Working with Habitat has been wonderful for me.  It’s been a blessing.”

In the early 80’s, Jack and his wife left the hustle and bustle of the City.  They were trying out churches in their new home town and walked into one where a man was preaching, “It’s not right for people to live in shacks when others have 2 or 3 houses!”

That man was the founder of Habitat for Humanity International, Millard Fuller, and that’s when Jack caught Habitat-it is.

For the next 20 years, Jack and his wife toured the country in their RV, building Habitat homes.

“I’ve been blessed to have Millard and Linda on the road with us,” Jack said of his friends, the Fullers.  “One day Millard came to me and said, ‘do you ever see other RVers on the road involved with Habitat? Why don’t you start a program?’”

And that’s just what Jack and his wife did.

“I called a couple in Ohio and went on the road with them. Pretty soon it grew to 1,700 RVs!” he said.  “It was our life, living out of our trailer, leading caravans, doing God’s work.”

It wasn’t until the late 90’s that Jack and his wife turned the program over to Habitat staff.  They call it “Habitat Car-A-Vanners,” and many RVers are still active today.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful days with Habitat,” Jack said, who is still building today at the Habitat Tucson construction site at the young age of 86.

By Amanda Thomas