Shreveport woman wins
KSLA News 12/Community Renewal House for Hope

Raffle proceeds go toward construction of a Friendship House 

For release: June 16, 2009

Shreveporter Diane Egans won the four-bedroom KSLA News 12/Community Renewal House for Hope in a June 15 drawing, culminating a four-month raffle which will help Community Renewal build a new Friendship House.

"I am speechless. I am just overwhelmed," she said upon seeing the house for the first time soon after her ticket was pulled in the random drawing. She said she bought a $100 ticket in March just because she wanted to help the community, never dreaming she would actually win a 2,320-square-foot house valued at more than $300,000.

Mrs. Egans said she wondered what had happened when she saw about 10 missed calls from friends who all called her cell phone at the same time. When she was able to answer, her pastor was on the other end, telling her she had won the house in The Haven neighborhood in Southeast Shreveport. She then called home and confirmed it with her son, who watched the drawing on KSLA News 12 and started running around the house in excitement when her name was announced.

Mrs. Egans is caring for her son as well as two grandsons while another son and daughter-in-law are serving the country with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

The custom home was constructed by David Leeth, with tremendous support from the Home Builders Association of Northwest Louisiana and many partners, associates and sponsors.

"The whole concept is a model for one part of the community to help another part of the community. Our members are very giving and we are ecstatic about doing this," said Leeth, president of the Home Builders Association.

Proceeds from the event will go toward construction of a new Friendship House in Shreveport's Queensborough neighborhood. A Friendship House is like a community center in a home, reaching out to at-risk youth and families with after-school programs, community service projects and activities that build positive relationships among family members and neighbors. The proven impact of a Friendship House ranges from significant reductions in crime to major improvements in education.

Community Renewal founder Mack McCarter said the project is about more than building a new house.

"Bridges bring people together and the House for Hope is a bridge to a new Friendship House that will become a haven for broken children and broken families. We are very grateful that the Home Builders Association and KSLA are making this possible," said Mack McCarter, founder and coordinator of Community Renewal.

Community Renewal International is a nonprofit effort to restore safe and healthy communities through caring relationships. Founded in 1994, Community Renewal reaches at-risk youth through Friendship Houses built in impoverished neighborhoods, strengthens education through the Adult Renewal Academy, partners with The Fuller Center for Housing and connects caring partners who turn their neighborhoods into safe havens of friendship and support.