Stone Soup partnership

Stone Soup cartoonist Jan Eliot has become a favorite of Habitat for Humanity International’s Women Build department. In March 2004, Stone Soup readers followed Holly and Alix as they visited Aunt Margie in California for spring break. Expecting to spend the week on the beach, boy-crazed Holly was not happy to find out that Aunt Margie had made plans for the sisters to volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity construction site helping a family build a much needed new home! Readers recently followed Gramma as she went to Africa to build a home with a family in need of shelter – just like volunteers who build with Habitat’s Global Village Program.

Women Build volunteers have followed the cartoon strip and its characters with great enthusiasm and dedication. Needless to say, the laughter and smiles that have come from reading Stone Soup have added another dimension to the Women Build program! Jan Eliot and the Women Build department have formed a partnership aimed at raising awareness of opportunities for women and girls to address poverty housing in their communities through Habitat for Humanity’s International Women Build program and Girls Build program. In 2005, Jan Eliot and a crew of 25 women volunteers came together at the Suffolk HFH in Middle Island, NY to build the first “Stone Soup” house and to announce her partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

At the wall-raising ceremony, Jan said, “This weekend I’ll be following in my comic strip characters’ footsteps and swinging a hammer on the Women Build worksite. Along with the other women volunteers, I’ll be helping Kinte, a hard-working single mom of three young children, build a Habitat home where she can safely raise her family.”

Just over six months later, on in May 2006 the “Stone Soup” house was dedicated and Kinte and her three young children moved in to their new home. Jan Eliot joined Kinte’s family and HFH Suffolk’s Women Build volunteers for the dedication ceremony in celebrating their achievement. Whether as a volunteer or through her words and illustrations, Jan continues to inspire others to pick up a hammer and help build homes with families in need of a simple, decent place to live.

You can also see Jan’s work in the Girls Build program kits. The Girls Build curriculum features cartoons and illustrations by Jan as part of the program’s effort to work in partnership with youth organizations to educate preteen girls about homeownership, Habitat for Humanity, community needs and the ways in which girls and women can actively meet those needs.

Join all of us at Habitat in cheering Jan Eliot for her superb work and touching depiction of the life of two young girls being raised by a single mom. It will not only bring joy and laughter into your daily life, but also some new tips on how to become involved in your community through volunteering!

Stay tuned for Stone Soup updates on future projects and other happenings that will be posted on the Women Build website.