FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ARMENIA
Aygestan 8th str, h5
Yerevan-070
Armenia
Contact :

Zaruhi Tonapetyan
Resource Development Coordinator for HFH Armenia
(374 10)556-114
zara@hfharmenia.org
Cell (404) 242-8804
Cell (310) 430-3527
amasters@habitat.org tdeering@habitat.org

Armenian Church forges ties with Habitat for Humanity; Armenian
delegation joins the Jimmy Carter Work Project

Head of the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Catholicos, to meet President
Carter in Michigan; His Holiness to announce plans to help combat
poverty housing with Habitat for Humanity

DETROIT, Mich. (June 17) – On Tuesday, June 21, Habitat for Humanity
and the Armenian Church will announce details of a new partnership
to combat poverty housing both in the United States and worldwide.

The announcement, at a 10:30 a.m., press conference at the Masco
Corp. headquarters at 21001 Van Born Road, Taylor, Michigan, comes
on the heels of a breakfast hosted by Masco Corp. to honor the head
of the Armenian church: The Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of
All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II. The Primates of the Eastern
and Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church of America and Canada,
a representative from the office of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm,
the Armenian ambassador to the United States, and a delegation from
Habitat for Humanity-Armenia also will attend the breakfast.

The goal of the partnership between Habitat and the Armenian Church is
to provide homes to 100 families over the next three years, primarily
in Armenia, but also throughout the world. Since it was established
in 2000, Habitat in Armenia has built homes for 600 people in need.

“We are delighted about our blossoming friendship with the Armenian
Church,” said Rick Beech, director of church relations for Habitat
for Humanity International. “The relationship is evolving into a
partnership that will not only strengthen community ties but also
enable us to serve more families in need.”

Masco Corp. is a longtime supporter of Habitat for Humanity,
locally and around the globe, including in Armenia. The Catholicos’
visit takes place during the 22nd annual Jimmy Carter Work Project,
a blitz build in which President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn,
and thousands of volunteers will complete 230 homes by June 24 in the
host cities of Benton Harbor and Detroit, and in more than 60 other
communities in the region as well as in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Volunteers from more than 50 churches will sponsor and build more
than 40 homes.

About Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is
an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty
housing. By the end of 2005, Habitat will have built its 200,000th
house and more than one million people will be living in Habitat homes
they helped build and are buying through no-profit, zero-interest
mortgages.