Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen

Building Pope Leo Village: Faith, Hammers & Habitat with Pat Baumhover - 10/17/2026

Episode Summary

Bishop William Joensen and Co-Host Jeanne Thill talk with Pat Baumhover of Sacred Heart Parish in West Des Moines about the Pope Leo Village, a Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity build bringing six affordable homes to the River Bend neighborhood. Pat shares how the Catholic Circle of Faith unites Des Moines-area parishes to build a Habitat home every year, and why no construction experience is needed to volunteer. Bishop Joensen also reflects on St. Claude de la Colombière, St. John Paul II, and Respect Life Month. Pope Leo Village: six affordable homes inspired by Pope Leo XIV Catholic Circle of Faith parish build partnership Sweat equity and homebuyer education explained Habitat ReStore and youth volunteers Volunteer day: Wednesday, Oct. 21

Episode Notes

Bishop William Joensen and Co-Host Jeanne Thill welcome Pat Baumhover, a parishioner at Sacred Heart in West Des Moines, Knight of Columbus, and leader of Sacred Heart’s Habitat ministry with the Catholic Circle of Faith.

Bishop’s opening: The Bishop previews confirmations, the installation of permanent diaconate candidates in the Ministry of Lector, and a Respect Life Month Mass. He shares spiritual wisdom from St. Claude de la Colombière, spiritual director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, on asking God for a simple, solid gift of prayer. He also reflects on St. John Paul II’s call, first given to bishops in Denver in 1993, to help young people encounter the living Christ.

Pope Leo Village: An anonymous donor, inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s call to service, is funding Pope Leo Village builds in cities across the country, including Greater Des Moines. Locally, that means three two-story duplexes, six affordable homes in total, at 1528–1530 Arlington Ave. in Des Moines’s River Bend neighborhood. Bishop Joensen blessed the site on April 24, 2026.

Catholic Circle of Faith: Catholic Circle of Faith is a group of Des Moines-area Catholic parishes that raises funds and builds one Habitat home from start to finish each year. Pat talks about:

• How he grew up on a farm near Carroll and started in construction at 16
• How he learned the trade and later handed it down to his son
• Why every build day begins with the Our Father

How Habitat homeownership works:

• Homebuyers put in 400 hours of sweat equity: the first 200 hours on other families’ homes, then 200 on their own.
• They complete 20 hours of classes on credit, banking, mortgages, insurance, property taxes, and home safety.
• They pay a full mortgage.

Habitat ReStore: The ReStore resells donated building materials, cabinets, and appliances at a discount, and the proceeds fund Habitat homes. There are two locations: 2200 E. Euclid Ave., Des Moines, and 4033 NW Urbandale Dr., Urbandale.

Volunteer: No experience is needed. Habitat provides the tools, hard hats, safety glasses, and gloves, and a construction manager teaches you on site. The next Pope Leo Village volunteer day is Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Register and sign the waiver at:
https://gdmhabitat.org/popeleo/

Learn more at gdmhabitat.org

Support for Making It Personal is provided by Serra Vocations Ministry. Learn more at https://joinserra.org/

Hear Making It Personal with Bishop William Joensen every week on Iowa Catholic Radio and https://iowacatholicradio.com/

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