Why supporting your grassroots charities is best. You can see immediate results

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  • Dear readers, I have one thing weighing very heavy on my heart. I have been helping a Jessica Hernandez who is trying to refurbish an abandoned property in hopes to house herself and three children, (she is a trade school graduate in carpentry)… In the process her youngest child Eduardo (age two) has been struck with an incurable disease which has effected his brain, It is incurable but not unmanageable.
    HPLA (Habitaciones Para Latinos Association which I Chair) has dedicated all of its resources to get Electric, Gas & Water to the house. 75% of the interior is unfinished. This is an old house and has been vacant for years. Many of you know exactly what we are facing. I am calling on each of you to please help. You can contact Jessica direct at 779-703-2748 for more exact info. Minutes are hard for her to buy so text will work best. But, please don’t hesitate to talk with her. We have purchased a 60 minute phone card and will figure out a way to buy her more minutes. If you can give us carpenter, electrical, or plumbing help at the house please contact me. We are in the Kansas City Metro on the Kansas side.
    All donations coming into www.habitacionesparalations.org will go to this project to buy much needed materials until this house is habitable. Eddie is on a feeding tube now and maybe for some time. If you want to contribute money please make checks payable to Jessica Hernandez and mail to our address 6354 Stevenson Street Shawnee, Kansas 66218. Please give us a heads up that a donation is coming so we can be sure it arrives and we will acknowledge receipt. All donations to HPLA via this website are tax deductible and we will send you a receipt. God Blesses his people via his followers who are the feet to all our prayers. Please pray for this family. Sincerely, Bob Flores HPLA Chairman.

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The starting of fall and life threatening situations dominate the world

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As we extinguish fires and do the great work that goes on daily in this county there continues a never ending stream of poverty, despair and tragedy. So much brought on by our fellow man and yet so much brought on without notice. As “Murphy’s law puts it, “If it can go wrong it will go wrong”. I hope you will take time to read the following as these situations come up everyday and my prayer is for someone with way to much money to consider this situation and choose to reach out and help with overwhelming support.

When it rains it pours…..Please take a second to read this please. To our client friends, personal friends and family. Please help. With so much going on and so much need it is not surprising that those of us who are still alive and well on this earth are being pulled by our heart strings by the tragedy and despair going on. There is so much need.
An urgent need has developed this past week for us and involves a 2 year old named Edward Hernandez. He has been diagnosed with an incurable disease and the folks at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City are doing their best to find solutions and provide a plan to keep this child from hurting or from suddenly dying. In the back round Mom & Dad have been working to rehab a house such as to make it livable for the family which includes two other children below the age of 10. The water line to the house is cracked and a $1000.00 repair is required. HPLA has negotiated the cost down to $600.00 by providing labor support to the project. But in the mean time carpenter work and sheet-rock work inside the house for Edwards room as well as other parts of the house needs to be completed. HPLA will assist with all but could use some volunteers. Bottom line we are asking for your financial support too. Mom had been working at McDonald but is having to spend all her time with Edward so is unemployed and Dad is working as a laborer in construction and work is off and on and day by day. Please contact us at 913-269-4450 to volunteer or donate via www.habitacionesparalatinos.org
All funds & resources of HPLA will shift to this project or any “for profit work” we can get via D&R Services, Inc. Handyman Department will go support Edward.. Thanks for your consideration and may God Bless You. Bob Flores Chairmen

habitacionesparalatinos.org
Free Home and Building Repair Services for those in Need (913) 269-4450
habitacionesparalatinos.org

September’s Opportunities To Help The Poor Broaden

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Great things are happening and your donations are making a huge impact.

Thank you to all of you who have given of your time and money to support our efforts to: “TO PROVIDE HOME REPAIR SERVICES TO LOW INCOME HOME OWNERS AT LITTLE OR NO COST”

There is plenty of concerns that this world faces everyday and plenty of reasons to be working hard to insure survival. As a charity we are dependent on donations but we do take on “for pay” projects to keep our bank balances at levels which allow us to fulfill our mission.

I was so thankful for the support of one World War II US Navy veteran who employed us last week.  At 91 years old he is still maintaining in his own home and is basically self sufficient. As we followed his lead and accomplished the tasks needed to make him happy I was reminded of how much this man had done for our country and at this point in his life how we should be giving him whatever he wants. However, his concern was to make a good showing and keep his neighborhood  vital for the rest of the community and insure blight does not creep into his district. He is proud to be able to pay his own way and encourages everyone to work to that end.

After several days of asking me how much he owed, I explained what we do and what our mission is. I said, “you owe us nothing but we will accept a contribution to keep our charity going”. To that he reached into his pocket and took out some bills and gave them to me. He asked if that was enough. I said, “it is more than enough”.  As I thanked him and started out he asked me to wait. He was gone for some time but came back and handed me more bills and said, “this is for you”. He almost brought me to tears. I told him I take no money for myself but would share some of the extra gift with the helpers and use the rest to help others along with his initial contribution. To pay it forward. I also keep him informed on what each dollar of his contribution is doing to help

His donation has been sufficient to buy materials and supplies to complete another milestone for a veteran’s project who is in need of an exterior door and installation. Secondly, to help a young couple who have a water line break on their side of the water meter and to buy plumbing supplies to drain an elderly women’s washing machine into the house plumbing  instead of out on the ground through a hole in the side wall of the laundry room. This will clear a code violation and derail a fine. And there is some money left to do more. Without the free labor provided by HPLA for those in need and without the generosity of this World War II veteran the cost to dig a six foot hole for the water line break would have eaten away almost all the donation.

The labor for all is this work is donated by HPLA and the volunteers who support us. On some occasions, such as these where, ‘for pay’ services are provided; volunteers are given token amounts of money to defer their travel or food expenses. This billing is done via a Kansas Sub Chapter S Corporation and all the remaining proceeds are donated back to Habitaciones Para Latinos Association. (No pay goes to HPLA staffers or Corporate executives).

As the cooler days of autumn and the cold days of winter approach our area it will be vital to keep heat systems operating. To keep hot water heaters providing sanitation and warm therapeutic baths to sore muscules and achy bones.  To keep windows operating to keep out the cold and to insulate cracks and crevasses in these older homes.

Please use the donate button on the banner or the ‘contact us’ form to get our mailing address to mail us your checks. We remain very grateful and ask God to Bless you going forward.

Sincerely,
Robert “Bob” Flores
Chairman
Habitaciones Para Latinos Association
www.habitacionesparalatinos.org
913-269-4450

Week of August 8, 2016 & the work goes on

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The Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have netted the US teams 19 medals including 5 gold metals thus far. These athletes are incredible and have worked hard to get to this point in their career. *HPLA extends it sincere best wishes and prayers for a safe and successful conclusion to this years events and we are confident that “Team USA” will once again show the world our dedication to hard work. honesty and a winning sprit.

While some of these athletes have tremendous and ongoing support others have very little or no support and yet are able to compete and make a good showing. Those with the least support generally don’t medal, with very few exceptions. So is the lesson here that with enough resources anyone can become a gold medalist?  I dare say that natural talent and abilities play a large part in the winners but without resources and support even the most talented will lose.

For HPLA the same holds true for those we help and support. The combined resources of charities working together along with private donations from you make great things happen. Although some charities have earned continued support through hard work and years of dedication much of that support has a hard time reaching the grassroots organizations like ours. The process to get minor home repairs for a home owner who has fallen victim to the accelerated raising cost of goods with little or no increase in income causes structures to go unpainted, leaky faucets to go unfixed and in the hottest part of the year air conditioning systems to remain idle. One utility bill for a elderly person to stay cool may take an entire month of available income. To add insult to injury cities and counties are mandated to issue code violations and demand a home to be kept up or the home owner is fined. In rare cases homeowners are forced to give up their homes and go elsewhere.

So what is the answer?

As we are all very painfully aware, the attraction of a one million dollar grant to help the elderly  can be easily used up in research to locate and contact individuals in need and or by offering a large salary to someone to manage the grant money. It does take special skills and education to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in satisfying the grant demands. But the end result is reduced funds and a lottery system for those in need to jump through hoops and fill out applications with legalese not  translatable to most of these poor folks. The waiting list is long and help months away if not years away. (i.e. Mrs. G has gone without hot water all summer due to a broken hot water heater which is beyond repair)

So for these potential Special Olympians the reward is not fame and notoriety, for these Olympian’s it is the support to have the ability to survive and acquire the most basic of physiological resources; food, water & a suitable shelter. Your private donations can go to replace that hot water heater. Labor and installation provided by HPLA.

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association has dedicated it’s efforts to help Latinos but, to date, we have done less work and supported less Latinos than any other culture. We do not turn anyone down if resources are available!!

It is a first come first served system but, we are doing our best to get the word out to those neighborhoods that tend to house Latinos. Please help us educate everyone on our existence and to call if a need arises which would require basic home repair. Secondly, please donate. Even one dollar. All donations go directly to buy materials and supplies and not to operate or propitiate the existence of our association unless so designated by you.

Si se puede.

God Bless You.

Sincerely,

Robert Flores-Chairman

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association

HPLA

*We operate in Kansas City Metro & Wyandotte County Kansas

 

 

Week Ending July 31, 2016-Funds are depleted but the work still goes on

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For the past two weeks volunteering to help those in need has been especially difficult. As temperatures in this area reached 100 degrees and heat indexes over 110 degrees. For HPLA our work had kept us outdoors but where forced to stall progress for several days.

With cooler days and some much needed rain a significant phase of our number one project has now been completed. There has been some minor projects completed too.

  • A used washer which had been provided for one project broke down and needed to be repaired to continue washing.
  • HPLA was able to acquire and loan a portable air conditioning unit for a person temporarily without a suitable way to stay cool.
  • A floor around a toilet needed to be re-enforced due to rioting wood and the fixture reset.
  • A yard with dangerous levels of sumac was sprayed with weed killer and still needs to have vines growing into the walls of a structure cut down and the structure re-skinned.
  • Finally a victim of circumstance needs to have a fence repaired after a police chase ended with the bandits car plowing it down. Praise to the Police department for making every effort to remove the car carefully and make a concerted effort to temporary fix the fence. HPLA will make more permanent repairs. Sadly, this incident included the death of a veteran police captain involved in the chase of the suspects. It is a senseless loss of life and a tremendous reminder that our men in blue work in danger daily. Sincere condolences to the Cpt. Dave Melton Family. http://www.kshb.com/news/region-kansas/kck/police-officer-shot-in-kansas-city-kansas

HPLA (Habitaciones Para Latinos Association) takes great pride in helping those in need and supporting the efforts made by our first responders. It is through your donations which supplement our volunteer efforts to give labor and home repair experience for the needy of Wyandotte County and the City of Kansas City Kansas. Please use the donation icon on our home page to contribute to those in need.

Sincerely,

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association

Bob Flores

Chairmen

 

Week of July 18, 2016-Things are heating up to a dangerous level

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With the National Republican Convention starting this week the political race will bring some dangerous heat to the City of Cleveland and to the Presidential Race. In the mean time some other dangerous heat is brewing among men who have had enough and are giving up their lives to make their point. Finally the weather is heating up such that being outdoors and working or playing outside is going to be very dangerous in the coming days.

Which is the most dangerous? For HPLA our mission is to help low income home owners with maintaining their homes and insuring that the basic physiological needs of the occupants are in place. There are plenty of safety nets in place to help the old and “shut ins” as long as their presence in known. To many people don’t know what they don’t know and as a result danger lurks nearby. We are looking for these folks and educating them as we can.

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association can not comment on our political favorites and won’t begin to every try to explain the socio-economic impact this election will play on each of us but please know the funds that trickle down to the grass roots level to help those in need is difficult to attain and requires skills and knowledge of politics and the rules of law. “Red Tape” is an understatement. Elected officials have the key to the vault.

The message this week is simple. Insure that the folks you elected to office have your input on what you feel is best for our neighborhood, city, county, state and federal governments to enforce. The government is responsible to provide services for the general public that we can not provide totally for ourselves. One of those services is to provide help for those who cannot help themselves through to fault of their own. I keep emphasizing this in almost every post that I make. A senior citizen  who is living on social security and has a home of their own can not afford a $150.00 service charge from a plummer just to change a flush valve or a flapper valve in their toilet. Habitaciones Para Latinos Association does this for free and provides the parts because of the donations received by you. There are hundreds of other very justifiable examples of why organizations like ours exist. The paperwork to get help may require days to be processed. Unable to use a toilet for days is not an option. To anyone of you who reads this and is not moved to open up your wallet and give even one dollar suggests you will never reach out for help from anyone because everyone should be self sufficient. Right? When folks find themselves in desperate situations they do desperate things. The effect of someones desperation could impact you directly today.

We will do all we can at HPLA to help someone out of a desperate situation today and everyday. We can help more folks with your help. We need your financial help and your physical strength by volunteering to do the work necessary to accomplish filling the needs of those who come to us for help. Please use the safe and secure PayPal system connected to our Donate Button and give. God Bless You & God Bless America

Sincerely,

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association

Robert Flores

Chairman

Special July 4th, 2016 Holiday Call For Help Post

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Undoubtedly one of the most emotional and prideful holidays of the year has come and gone. The celebration of our 240 years of independence, this year, carries with it some the most historical events recorded in history.

  • The largest number of causalities reported in a mass shooting on US soil
  • Zeka Virus
  • Bexist
  • North Korea completes successful H-Bomb test
  • Iran & Arabic countries cut ties
  • Summer Olympics fiasco
  •  First Women Presumptive Presidential Candidate
  • Weather from Hell
  • Fires in the Western States
  • Floods in the Carolinas

With all these events going on the need to help those in need keeps growing exponentially.  Flood victims who have lost everything in recent floods, fires taking everything from families who tried so hard to plan for all emergencies and lost. Most importantly the lose of life which these catastrophes  have taken is sad and life changing. For us at Habitaciones Para Latino Association to be calling on your generosity to help those less fortunate through no fault of their own is appalling as so much effort is being made to protect our society. But, for those that we serve at HPLA the over-whelming stress and desperate needs weigh just as heavy. The funds budgeted to help mostly unavailable due to all the red tape and bureaucratic obstacles created to supposedly stop fraud. The answer is your donations to local charities where you can see your donations at work first hand.

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association is truly transparent as I know most organizations try to be but, the potential for fraud still remains and dedicated and skilled management is the best way to insure the mission of our organization is not lost. We need you to watch us but help us to keep our promise to do the right thing always.

Our needs are simple, we can do so much for so many with your contributions of skills, building materials, labor and money. Paint is readily available but of no use without someone to apply it. Old useless electronics, cars, lawn mowers and brush which needs to be disposed of can only be taken to certain spots at certain times and the cost to transport are out of site. Rejuvenation of neighborhoods has tremendous economic value to a city and its neighborhoods but, the skills and funds necessary to keep America Beautiful is overshadowed by new construction being built further & further away from a working force without resources to reach the jobs. The tax revenues to help neighborhood associations maintain public areas and the needy folks on their streets reduced to hardly cover the cost of a gallon of re-cycled paint.  Instead the money is going to attract multi-million dollar corporations who can easily afford to pay their own way without help but won’t. Kansas City is a central hub and offers the best location for redistribution of widgets, any widgets. The taxes paid by corporations are soon recovered as the cost of their products includes that burden.

Get involved with your neighborhoods, your city, your county, your state and our federal government. Know what is going on and get the facts. All sides of the facts not just CNN or Fox.

Week of June 27, 2016 HOT HOT HOT

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As I start my blog for habitaciones para latinos association this week I am torn between all I believe to be true in what Donald is saying and what I believe to be true in what Hillary is saying. To bad this country is at two polar opposites.

But, I just got a call from a lady that has her floor rioting under her toilet and she is teetering on the sewer pipe every time she goes to the toilet. Another has no hot water because her basement floods when it rains and that water has rusted out the burner section of her hot water heater. Both this folks fall below the poverty income level but fortunately paid for their home before retiring. It is just that social security hardly pays enough to buy food and forget home repairs.

Today I am working on making one garage door functional and will do the other side as well plus, re-skin the face of the garage because together it is a code violation in this county. This is a Air Force Veteran taking care of his mate who has COPD, Every spare nickel goes to try to maintain the property but it has gotten out of control. Being behind on back taxes negates help from local government. What is wrong with this picture? Ten year tax abatements for wealthy corporations makes more since because it puts people to work but when wages paid does not cover the cost to meet basic philological needs???……..Hummm!
D&R Services, Inc. has contributed to HPLA the funds necessary to fix this garage but then we need to move on to the house. Look at these pictures and you decide who needs tax dollars most……..To borrow a slogan once made popular by Home Depot…”We can do it and you can help”.

www.habitacionesparalatinos.org 

“Helping the needy with minor home repairs”. Please Donate!

Week of June 20, 2016-Blight Reduction

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This week we move forward knowing many Fathers had no family or no friends to celebrate with last weekend. There is much effort expended to reach out to those who have out-lived all their friends and family. In the same light I see so many seniors who are widowed or divorced and have little resources to maintain their dignity. Reading  through the list of those in need it is hard to prioritize which class is most important. For Habitaciones Para Latinos Association we are focusing on the latino community who falls at or below the poverty level. Our expertise in home repair and handyman services are vital to all those in need who own their own home and are struggling to maintain it. Currently we are working with three high priority properties who all need roof repair. This is one of the most expensive areas for the home owner to maintain and home owners insurance is a luxury for these folks in need and unaffordable.

We are currently having a long dry, hot spell in this area so leaky roofs are prime for repair and must be done quickly as when the rains come they come will come with a vengeance.

So, what is your priority when it comes to helping others. Has your employer talked you into a payroll deduction for the United Way. They are a wonderful charity and have a positive impact on many projects but little money trickles down to an SSI recipient with Leukemia who is trying to rebuild her home which has become uninhabitable. The cost of operating some of these big charities, some of which are paying huge salaries to executives and lobbyists are not trickling down to these individuals who are forced to jump through hoops to get help. Many of these folks have no idea help is available much less have the ability to work through the process while trying to sustain their health and other basic physiological day-to-day needs. (i.e. food, shelter).

What can you do as an individual? From the Internal Revenue Service to Habitaciones Para Latinos Association I quote the following:

“We’re pleased to tell you we determined you’re exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c) (3). Donors can deduct contributions they make to you under IRC section 170. You’re also qualified to receive tax-deductible bequests , devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106, or 2522.” 

Please know that all contributions received will go directly to help those in need and the cost of maintaining and operating HPLA will be done with profits earned and created by D&R Services, Inc. a for profit company which dedicates 90+ percent of all its profit to support HPLA.

Please visit our website and click on the donate button or send your checks directly to:

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association

6354 Stevenson Street

Shawnee, Kansas 66218

http://www.habitacionesparalatinos.org

On-behalf of all those we serve please accept our sincere gratitude for your support to us in need in our community. “Look at your gift as if you are personally feeding a hungry child yourself with your own hands” No bureaucracy in the way!

SIncerely,

Robert L. Flores

Chairman

HPLA (Habitaciones Para latinos Association)

Week of June 13, 2016-Tradgety Rears its Ugly Head

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The tragedy in Orlando, Fl. is already known to almost everyone in the world. Events such as this one are common place in everyday life. In most large cities gun violence takes life everyday. The number of deaths keep getting larger and in Orlando the number of deaths reached a historical high for a mass shooting. There is no end in sight and unless we become prisoners of our own environment armed and on  guard duty 24/7 no one can be truly safe. To that point even our most secure facilities have been breached.

We can do more than pray. That is the best place to start but, this invisible spirit we call God, I believe, will never condone murder or sacrifice in any since of the word in today’s societies. Spiritual leaders must be convinced that any interpretation of the word of GOD that suggests you take lives is WRONG!! Let God do his/her own judging. Let God bring down the evil doers. Let God take charge. Let God bring his own army to earth and straighten us all out. God does not need humans to pass judgement on our society or on any individual. To suggest God has called you to be an executioner is to believe you are above all others in this world. There is no such person. You are not that worthy.

My prayer is that we as human beings hold each other sacred and that religion become an instrument to guide us down an individual path of righteousness, respecting the rights and thoughts of others without conflict.

There is so much pain caused by uncontrollable circumstances such as birth defects and brain injury that managing those sorts of issues should be enough to distract differences between ideologies.

At HPLA (Habitaciones Para Latinos Association) we are working hard to make life better for those who may not have the resources to take care of themselves through no fault of there own.

Join us by sending a tax deductible contribution through our donate button above or by mail to:

HPLA

6354 Stevenson St.

Shawnee, Kansas 66218

This week we have an electrical issue which must be corrected so power can be established to a Hispanic family whose mother has cancer and father is without work. We are also working to clear code violations for a women with three kids on a property which will end up being their home. Currently they are in temporary housing an safe but to move into their own home and begin the rebuilding will be a true blessing for them and the community around them.

Regards

Habitaciones Para Latinos Association

Shawnee, Kansas 66218