Volunteer Spotlight on Amy

On Wednesday Habitat for Humanity staff and volunteers recognized Amy for her 25 hours served in the ReStore. We love to celebrate volunteers for their dedication to Habitat's work in Santa Barbara. After 25 hours, every volunteer gets a personalized name-tag and certificate, and for every 100 hours there after, volunteers get a Habitat pin to add to their name-tag.

Are you looking for volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Santa Barbara? Our next volunteer orientation will be held on Saturday, June 16th at 6725 Hollister Avenue. You can also sign up to volunteer directly online here.

Affordable Housing Grant Awarded to Habitat for Humanity!

On May 21st, the Santa Barbara City Council approved a $515,000 loan in federal home funds to Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County to develop the 12 new low-income homes which will be part of the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes project. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME loans and must be spent by the city by the end of the fiscal year.

We are thankful to have support from the Santa Barbara City Council as we move forward on this exciting project which will provide safe, permanent, and affordable housing for 12 low-income families who currently live in sub-standard housing in Santa Barbara.

DMA Architecture rendering of the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes Project.

Poverty in Santa Barbara?

We are often asked where the poverty lies in Santa Barbara. Many visit our beautiful town nestled between the Pacific ocean and mountains and can't fathom that poverty exists here. Unfortunately the pockets of poverty are often well-hidden in Santa Barbara, and the increase in poverty is on the rise  and can be felt personally by 17.7% of the population.

According to Slate Magazine's recent piece How Hard is Poverty Hitting Your County, poverty in Santa Barbara County has increased 5.5% from 2007 to 2010. This is the 4th largest increase in poverty in the state of California.

Poverty is defined as having an income less than $22,113 for a family of four. 15.1 percent of Americans live below that line, and 17.7% of Santa Barbara County live below the poverty line. 

We encourage you to check out the full piece and interactive map at Slate.com.

What are your thoughts? Were you surprised to learn that the poverty rate has increased 5.5% in Santa Barbara County?

Habitat for Humanity is the sixth-largest homebuilder in the U.S.

Great news coming out of Habitat for Humanity International today. For the 2nd year in a row, Habitat for Humanity is the 6th largest homebuilder in the U.S. We are proud to be a part of an international organization which is making an impact not only in Santa Barbara, but across the entire county and world.

Habitat for Humanity is the sixth-largest U.S. homebuilder for the second year according to annual survey

	Habitat for Humanity affiliates built or rehabilitated 4,970 homes in 2011, like this home in Birmingham, Ala. (Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham)

ATLANTA (May 18, 2012) — Habitat for Humanity is the sixth-largest homebuilder in the U.S. based on house closings in 2011, according to the annual survey completed by BUILDER magazine. Habitat built or rehabilitated 4,970 homes across the United States and is the only non-publicly traded company in the top 10 ranking.

"I'm very proud of the work of our more than 1,500 affiliates in the U.S.," said Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity International CEO. "The fact that they are continuing to build and rehab homes in these difficult economic times is a testament to their resourcefulness and their commitment to families, affordable housing and the communities they serve. We are grateful to our donors and volunteers, whose generosity makes this work possible."

BUILDER, a publication for the residential construction industry, annually compiles data from U.S. builders and ranks them by the number of closings. Habitat placed sixth on the list last year and first made the top 10 in 2010 as the eighth-largest builder.

Habitat made an additional 2,795 house repairs to existing homes, which were not accounted for in the survey. Habitat also provides a wide range of services for its homebuyers, including financial education workshops.

About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put God's love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by welcoming people of all races, religions and nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitat.org, or follow us at www.facebook.com/habitat or at www.twitter.com/habitat_org or join Habitat's blog community at www.habitat.org/blog. 

Source: Habitat for Humanity International

Where is the need for affordable housing in Santa Barbara?

Last month Habitat forHumanity of Southern Santa Barbara County held a series of community-wide meetings for interested homeowners of the 12 low-income homes to be built on Canon Perdido. These meetings confirmed what we already knew to be true -- there is a great need for affordable housing in our community.  We were blown away by the number of individuals and families who attended these meetings. In total:  

  

539 Families attended the meetings

382 Preliminary applications were received

305 Qualified families/individuals received a full application

This means that 305 families who attended the meetings are within Habitat's low-income qualifications, have lived and/or worked in Southern Santa Barbara County for the past year, and currently live in substandard or over-crowded housing.  

Family Selection orientation meeting at Grace Lutheran Church.

Family Selection orientation meeting at the Westside Community Center.

Volunteers helping interested applicants at St. Raphael's Church.

Families who attended one of the meetings and received a full application, have until May 31st to complete the application and turn it into the Habitat office. At that time our Family Selection Committee and Board of Directors will choose the homeowners based on the level of need, willingness to become partners in the program, and ability to pay the zero-interest mortgage.  

Habitat for Humanity follows a nondiscrimination policy and neither race, color, religion, handicap, familial status, nor national origin is a factor in choosing the families who receive Habitat houses.

Painted birdhouses for sale at the ReStore

Did you visit the ReStore's booth at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival last month? If so, than you already know that we were part of the festival's children's passport activity. The passport is a game that encourages kids to visit a number of booths around the entire festival and complete designated games or crafts. In Habitat for Humanity's booth we had children help paint bird houses which were built by ReStore volunteers using donated lumber. The birdhouses are now $5 at the ReStore, and all proceeds go directly back to Habitat!


Throughout the two-day festival eight birdhouses were painted by hundreds of children who participated in the activity. It was such a fun weekend and we're thankful for all the kids who helped paint some very colorful birdhouses!

Volunteer Spotlight

The Habitat ReStore was fortunate to recently welcome grounds of volunteers from Lookheed Martin and Ocean Hills Covenant Church.

Are you looking volunteer or be involved with Habitat for Humanity in Santa Barbara?

  

Donate used items to the ReStore. All revenue from the ReStore goes directly back to Habitat and helps build additional low-income homes in Santa Barbara. Read our donation guidelines for  information on what we are able to accept.   

Donate an old vehicle through Habitat's Cars For Homes program. Cars for Homes will handle all of the hauling away hassles, and provide a tax donation receipt. www.carsforhomes.org or 1-877-277-4344  

Get Your Community Involved. Pray, Give, Serve. Click here for ways congregations can put their faith into action.    

Volunteer at the ReStore. The ReStore is open Tuesday - Saturdays and we need volunteers to help in the store. Our next volunteer orientation will be Saturday, May 19th, 10am at the ReStore.