Women leave jobs, will walk across Colorado for New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan. By Tim Keith.

Two Fort Collins residents will leave their jobs and walk across the state this spring to raise money to build a home in New Orleans.

Jessica Vrettos, 28, and Shannon Farrell, 29, will walk the length of the state along the Interstate 25 corridor to raise $85,000 for New Orleans Habitat for Humanity and an extra $8,500 for local habitat projects.

 The pair will leave their full-time jobs this spring to dedicate their time to their group, “One More Home.”

“It’s exciting to work on something this big,” Vrettos said. “It’s scary but also exciting.”

Vrettos and Farrell first got involved with Katrina relief efforts on a trip to New Orleans last year, two years after the Category 5 hurricane devastated the region.

“To go there made me realize how much I forgot,” Vrettos said. “This is an American city that still needs a lot of attention.”

Vrettos and Farrell stayed with a friend who drove them around at night to show them the remaining damage from the storm.

“There seemed like there was so much to do,” Farrell said.

The idea for the statewide walk came after Vrettos and Farrell met Anna Merchant, who walked across the state to raise money for Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign last fall.

They will begin their trip along the I-25 corridor May 1, using a van for their sleeping quarters.

They will make stops at events to raise money along the way.

Locally, Vrettos and Farrell will sponsor a dinner at Fish Restaurant and an art show at the Bean Cycle to raise money for One More Home.

Information on the dinner and the One More Home is online at www.onemorehomeneworleans.com.