For two weeks in June, two crews of prisoners from the Buena Vista Corrections Center worked with crews from Saginaw Habitat for Humanity building seven houses during their yearly two week building blitz. The walls for the houses were pre-built at the Saginaw Correctional Facility. "Our crews assisted in pouring foundations and basements," said Mike Hamilton, Program Manager, Buena Vista Corrections Center. "They also assisted with building the homes and completing the landscaping."

"We could not have completed the projects on time without their help," said Charlie Wargal, the field supervisor of the projects. "The crews were invaluable."

"We also have a success story involving the program," explained Hamilton.

Bill Clingaman was a resident of the Buena Vista Corrections Center in 2001. During his stay there, he was assigned to Officer Walter Wysopal’s community service work crew and assisted with the Habitat for Humanity project. He had previous building experience with his grandfather’s construction business, Jacobs Builders in Bay City. As a result of the Habitat for Humanity work, he was able to gain employment through L & T Construction who had also worked with Habitat. In 2002 he went back and assisted Habitat for Humanity, this time as an employee for L & T Construction. On June 6, 2003, he received his parole. He is also getting his Builder’s License and has started his own construction company, Clingaman Builders.

Saginaw Habitat for Humanity asked Clingaman if he would like to help them out during their June 2003 Saginaw Blitz, which is celebrating their 100th home built in Saginaw. He accepted the request and because of his hard work and dedication to the Saginaw Habitat for Humanity, the organization assigned him as the House Leader of the organization’s celebrated 100th house. He considered this quite an honor. He is in charge of making sure that the house meets code and can be turned over to the new owner on Saturday. He supervises 22 volunteers who come from Ontario, Florida, Texas and the Saginaw area. On a side note, Clingaman also met his fiancé last year while working on the Habitat project.