03/28/2025
“Habitat for Humanity offers free, twice-a-week classes for 10 weeks that teach home maintenance. We cover topics like electrical, plumbing, weatherization, lawn care and home safety and security. Many people own houses, but never had anyone teach them how to take care of the house and do minor repairs. That’s where these classes come in.
Class runs twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. People that come will do 10 classes, two classes a week. Classes are set up to build upon each other. So, if today is plumbing one, then the next class would be plumbing two. Then after that, it might be home safety and security. Then the next day, it might be weatherization, or minor electrical. Over the course of those 10 classes, I teach all these different areas of home repair and all of the classes are free.
The great part about it is the classes are for anyone. I've had doctors, lawyers, ministers, nurses, teachers and more in my classes. This is for just regular people who want to come in and learn something about their home. I take this teaching just like I take my ministry: people are important to me. I tell them when they come to class, ‘If you think that your problem is minute, it’s not. It's big to you.’ If you have any issues that are going on in your home, bring them to class. I don't know everything, but I will do some research on it and the next time you come to class, I’ll have an answer for you.
When people come in, they are all excited, so I'm excited to see them excited. I love teaching, because I love that they come and they say, ‘Oh, I didn't know that.’ These classes are not putting contractors out of business, because what I teach them is I teach them how to work with contractors, teach them what type of contractor to look for, and how to look for them.
I love it so, because if I’m out in the community, people are hollering, ‘Oh, there goes the teacher.’ But I'm the type of person where I don't like to be out in front. I like to push people forward. That's the thing that I love, is pushing people forward.
Since I've been teaching these classes, I’ve met all types of people. I have people in class that say, ‘I can't do that.’ But then at the end of the class, they'll say, ‘Well, you know what? I'm going to try that’. They'll see me out at one of the stores or maybe in my yard, and they'll stop and tell me about something they fixed in their house. Matter of fact, I had one of my students stop by recently and he said, ‘I had a plumbing problem and a leak in my basement. I went down there, and I did exactly what you said, and boom, got it done. I didn't even have to call in a plumber.’
Those are the types of things that I love to hear."
- Foster Moore, Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity
