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Dove Award winner Ginny Owens has appeared at Lilith Fair, the Sundance Film Festival and The White House. She spent this past year releasing two albums and a DVD and touring. Yet she still feels uncomfortable in her role as a singer. An introvert who dislikes the spotlight, she's found that serving others brings more reward than having fame. That's why she formed a nonprofit foundation that helps disadvantaged children, and that's why she's been building homes with Habitat for Humanity. Owens shared with us about life on the road, growing in her faith, her charitable endeavors and her new album,Long Way Home

I hear you've been working on building a house this week.

Ginny Owens: I participated on a build in Slidell, Louisiana, as part of Operation Home Delivery, Habitat for Humanity's ongoing effort to rebuild Gulf Coast areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. NBC's Today Show covered this particular build because it was part of their "Make a Difference Today" campaign to encourage viewer involvement. Then we start my house.

Your house?

Owens All year, the Fingerprint Initiative [her nonprofit organization] has been raising money to build a Habitat home for a family in New Orleans whose parents both are disabled. We planned this before Katrina hit. The money we're raising is for the initial build of the house. The couple pays off the mortgage as time goes on. We start putting up the walls soon. I'm really excited.

How did you start working with Habitat?

Owens I've always loved what they do, so I thought it would be fun to work with them. Almost two years ago, I started talking to them about how we could help. From there, we've worked on various projects together.

What are your main goals with the Fingerprint Initiative?

Owens First, I want to be involved with local communities. Instead of just doing a concert in a community, I also want to serve the community. It's a worthwhile challenge to do something more than just leaving after a show. Secondly, I want to be part of projects that are already there, such as working on a Habitat house. We can adopt these projects as our own and be a part of the larger picture. We will create our own projects down the line.

What other projects are you working on?

Owens I raise funds and awareness with International Justice Mission. We're involved with rescuing young girls from sex slavery in South Asia. We can't go over and physically help with that work, but we can support them in that huge and dangerous mission. We also work with Compassion International. At my concerts, we take the pictures and bios of high-priority children who nobody has sponsored for six months or more and hook them up with sponsor families.

Where did the name Fingerprint Initiative come from?

Owens In my song, "I Love the Way," one line says, "Catching glimpses of your mysteries / I find your fingerprints on everything." God is so gracious to leave his fingerprints of grace on us, so we should go out and be reflections of those fingerprints, of his life and his love.

I read that you always feel slightly uncomfortable as an artist. What is it that makes you feel uncomfortable?

Owens There's a lot of joy in being an artist, but if you're the sort of person who isn't driven by the spotlight, most everything about being an artist is uncomfortable. Signing autographs is somewhat weird. It's strange when people think you're going to have an answer for things. People asked me for my comments on the Hurricane Katrina disaster. My comments are the same as anybody else's—that it's a tragedy. Being expected to give words in these situations is challenging.

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