Habitat on the Hill

I know what you must be thinking. Look outside and you might be able to catch a fleeting glimpse of a pig taking flight: I'm updating my blog. Let me defend myself and say that I started this blog with the best of intentions but alas, it fell to the wayside. But its been an exciting week and thus, I'm sending out an update.

On Sunday night I packed up my dress clothes and my love for Habitat and caught a 10:30PM bus to Washington, D.C. to attend the Habitat on the Hill conference, a gathering of Habitat affiliates from all across the country to advocate for affordable housing. And an advocating we would do. We spent two days attending lectures on how to incorporate advocacy into your Habitat affiliate, and listened as HUD deputy secretary Ron Sims and civil rights leader-turned U.S. Representative John Lewis caught and held our attention as we listened to the rhythmic, poetic delivery of their stories unlike any speech I've ever heard. I looked around the room during Mr. Sims' captivating delivery to find not a single dry eye in the room, myself included. Grown men were reduced to crying children with the stories that this man told and the way in which he told them. I'll never forget that speech as long as I live. After being instructed as to the legislation that Habitat supported, we were sent to Capitol Hill to lobby. With 150 participants, representing 42 states and Canada, we attended over 450 legislative meetings with U.S. Senators and Representatives from our respective districts. The highlight (or low point, depending on how you look at it) was going to my Representative's office to meet with Rep. McHugh himself. All of my previous meetings had been with staffers due to the representatives' busy schedules and so this was an exceptionally lucky event. When I entered, I got a regretful look from his secretary that I wasn't going to actually meet him in person, followed by the disappointing news that his schedule had indeed been changed. Only after speaking to his staffer did I found out that, oh you know, he just happened to get nominated by President Obama to the position of Secretary of the Army earlier that morning. Needless to say, I was able to bring myself to forgive him for not being able to meet with me. As someone who was spending his spring break in Albany in 2008 when news broke about Spitzer's wrongdoings, I seem to know all too well the importance of timing in politics. Congratulations to Rep. McHugh for the nomination and it will be more interesting I think to see who throws their hat into the ring for the 23rd congressional seat that will be left vacant with McHugh's promotion, assuming of course he's confirmed by Congress, something that I'm sure will go smoothly.

So as I'm standing here in the Albany bus terminal, an area not far from the Capitol yet lacking considerably in the same aesthetic appeal, I watch a taxi driver perform what I can only assume to be some kind of drunken ballet. I've seen a lot over the last couple of days, and as my schedule takes me to NYC on Friday to obtain my visa to study in France, I can imagine that this is only the beginning of things to come.

Au revoir,
Justin