Twice now, the team members of the Ultimate Black Belt Test, along with many of their students and friends, have raised money for building projects for the poor in rural Alabama.Our first project was for an elderly man, Henry Lawson, who had lost his home in a fire. Mr. Lawson was living in a decrepit old trailer when we 
met him.
met him. Over the course of several months, 60 members of the UBBT Teams 1 and 2 rallied their students and communities and raised more than $10,000 for materials –and then Team 2 traveled to Alabama to supply labor to build Henry a new house.
The house we built was, appropriately, called “The $20,000 House” ($10,000 for labor, $10,000 for materials). The design came from two young students at Auburn University’s RURAL STUDIO architectural program (http://www.ruralstudio.com/). The house, specifically designed to work within the budget of people living at poverty-level incomes, was meant to cost less than a mobile home (which decreases in value over time).
The project was set up and completely coordinated by Pam Dorr of the Hale County Resource Center. I’ll tell you more about Pam later.
We were able to build about 80-percent of Henry’s house in just 2 days! While we were in Greensboro, we trained, we met, we gave a big demonstration at a local high school, and we toured a number of the amazing structures constructed by the Rural Studio.
On our second trip to Alabama, last year, The UBBT’s Team 3, with help from the other UBBT teams (and again, many students and other friends of the program) raised more than $40,000!
And then almost 100 team members and volunteers traveled to Greensboro,
AL and worked on seven different building projects! We renovated a trailer for a elderly blind woman in great need of help.
The house we built was, appropriately, called “The $20,000 House” ($10,000 for labor, $10,000 for materials). The design came from two young students at Auburn University’s RURAL STUDIO architectural program (http://www.ruralstudio.com/). The house, specifically designed to work within the budget of people living at poverty-level incomes, was meant to cost less than a mobile home (which decreases in value over time).
The project was set up and completely coordinated by Pam Dorr of the Hale County Resource Center. I’ll tell you more about Pam later.
We were able to build about 80-percent of Henry’s house in just 2 days! While we were in Greensboro, we trained, we met, we gave a big demonstration at a local high school, and we toured a number of the amazing structures constructed by the Rural Studio.
On our second trip to Alabama, last year, The UBBT’s Team 3, with help from the other UBBT teams (and again, many students and other friends of the program) raised more than $40,000!
And then almost 100 team members and volunteers traveled to Greensboro,
AL and worked on seven different building projects! We renovated a trailer for a elderly blind woman in great need of help. We added two porches to a trailer for an elderly couple, we built about 25% of a new Habitat for Humanity house, worked on finishing another (for a single mother and her daughter –who were just out of their minds with excitement and gratitude), and we helped students from the Rural Studio finish a beautiful house for a low-income family made of mud bricks (our team mixed and made more than 1000 mud bricks in cardboard boxes in just two days). 
Because of all of this work, the UBBT has received a good deal of press. Black Belt Magazine presented us with the Industry Award for BEST HUMANITARIAN PROJECT in the martial arts world). What is Enlightenment? Magazine published an interview with me about the UBBT –and we were featured in a number of magazines, newspapers, and television stories.
NOW we’re going back for third project –and this one promises to be the most important and amazing UBBT Alabama Project yet. We are renovating the property you see in this picture, for a housing and seminar center/base for The UBBT, the 100, an amazing program in the graphic design industry called PROJECT M, and for the Hale County Housing Resource Center.
Because of all of this work, the UBBT has received a good deal of press. Black Belt Magazine presented us with the Industry Award for BEST HUMANITARIAN PROJECT in the martial arts world). What is Enlightenment? Magazine published an interview with me about the UBBT –and we were featured in a number of magazines, newspapers, and television stories.NOW we’re going back for third project –and this one promises to be the most important and amazing UBBT Alabama Project yet. We are renovating the property you see in this picture, for a housing and seminar center/base for The UBBT, the 100, an amazing program in the graphic design industry called PROJECT M, and for the Hale County Housing Resource Center.
This will be a plaqce all UBBT and 100 teammembers can go as a base for team-building projects --AND, we will be using this site to host a variety of educational programs for local area youth. We're looking to raise $60,000 to $100,000 for this project.
More to come in my next blog!
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