Local singer seeks habitat house help

      Like a Pied Piper, local songwriter-singer Terry Prince has drawn in the community with his music to help others.
      Through concerts and an art auction, he and a small band of local artists and musicians hope to raise $60,000 before October to build Las Vegas' first Oprah Winfrey Habitat for Humanity house.
      Last summer, talk show host Oprah Winfrey built a habitat house for a needy family in Chicago and challenged other cities to do the same.
      Prince, who has appeared on the Oprah show twice in the past two years promoting AIDS awareness, took her up on the challenge.
      His "Still I Try" project, which is operated by a small group of local artists, chooses a different local charity every year to help raise funds. This year, it chose Habitat for Humanity.
      "I believe in helping to eliminate homelessness and that's what Habitat does," he said. "It helps people help themselves."
      Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas has built 16 homes throughout the valley for needy families since 1992.
      Executive Director Jim Evans said his group will not choose a family for the Oprah house until the funds are raised. But he expects the house will be built in the Northwest part of the valley by the end of the year.
      He said, typically, many corporations donate large sums to build Habitat homes, and it's tougher to raise money through grass-roots efforts like the ones Prince and his friends have launched.
      "This project is special because it has more widespread support within the community," he said. "These people are a powerful group of local entertainers and have taken on this challenge."
      He said the 400 habitat volunteers that work out of the office at 1573 N. Decatur Blvd. will build the home this winter.
      The $60,000 the group is trying to raise will go to pay for construction materials. The land was purchased with funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. For past projects, Habitat for Humanity has received land donations from area governments.
      A Habitat for Humanity committee chooses families that will live in the homes by their financial need. A family of four cannot make more than $25,000 yearly to qualify for a home.
      "We help people make their dreams come true," he said. "For many people we work with, home ownership is a dream they would never realize without the help of a program like habitat. So, we think of ourselves as dream builders."
      Prince and his friends hope to be dream builders, too.
      His music company, Daharma Music Ink., has produced his first compact disc named after his project. He's donating sales from "Still I Try," a single CD. It costs $5 and can be purchased at Get Booked, Cue Club or Gold's Gym or by calling Prince's office at 362-3039.
      The project's big fund-raiser will be a benefit concert on July 25, 8:30 p.m., in the Clark County Library theater. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased by calling Prince.
      He's also chipping in coin from his local coffee house gigs throughout the valley. He'll be performing every Friday evening at Crocodile Cafe in Henderson until mid-April.
      Meanwhile, his friends are holding private concerts in their homes and planning an art auction at 2780 Jim Hampton Court, May 16 at 7 p.m. Call 254-6358 for reservations.
      Local artist Diana England has been collecting art from local retirement homes, Child Haven and other community groups to sell at the auction.
      One Saturday afternoon, England worked with a group of girls and boys at Child Haven, a local shelter for children who have been removed from their homes because of suspected abuse, neglect or abandonment. They sat around tables drawing mountains, rivers and sun-filled skies on Plexiglas.
      A particularly talented 13-year-old girl lazily sketched out a bighorn sheep climbing up the mountain. Soon her 4-year-old brother appeared at the door licking an ice cream cone, which had begun to drip down his shirt on the warm spring day. (To maintain confidentiality, Child Haven officials requested the names of the children not be disclosed.)
      She ran over to kiss him and came back to the table grumbling, "We don't deserve to be here, really."
      But after a few moments, she'd shaken off the painful twitch and was happily scribbling images that will soon go to help raise money for the Habitat house.
      Recreation supervisor for Child Haven, Kurt Cantrell, said community projects like this one are good for his kids.
      "We want them to do something that benefits somebody else," he said. "Sometimes it's me, me, me all the time. The kids are in rough situations in their life, but it's important to teach them how to give back."
      England, who has craftily coaxed art from the fingertips of people living on many different sides of the community, said her work will give the project a face.
      "I do this so the community can get involved," she said. "Art is for all ages, young and old. It's for the rich and poor, sick and abandoned and abused. It's for everybody."