Construction Update at San Pascual affordable housing site

Progress is being made over at Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County's affordable housing build site.  Siding is almost 100% complete, doors are hung, vanities are installed, and all four units are now a beautiful shade of green! 

This past week we welcomed a full crew from Emanuel Lutheran Church on October 23rd and Citrix Online on the 28th. We really appreciate our church and corporate sponsors as well as the time and dedication they put into helping Habitat build homes for low-income families.

A big thanks is also due to David Chapman, Joe Sevilla, Michael Vining Construction, Ben Ewart Construction, Jeri Moulder, Joe Veile, Bruce Matthews and Dennis Smith, who all helped at the site this week. Construction remains on schedule because of their help!

Progress In Haiti: Habitat's Report Card

Thanks to your generous donations, Habitat of Southern Santa Barbara County donated over $5,000.00 towards the relief efforts in Haiti.

An estimated 105,000 homes were destroyed and 208,000 were damaged, leaving over 1.5 million Haitians without shelter. Habitat has committed to helping over 50,000 families rebuild and recover from the devastating disaster.

The massive clean-up and rebuilding effort continues. While there is still an enormous need in Haiti, progress is being made. Here is what Habitat is doing:

• Building 70 transitional shelters a week. These provide safe & dry housing.
  
• Working with Habitat Resource Centers to train & employ local workers in building efforts.
• Providing over 21,000 emergency shelter kits, conducting structural damage assessments, repairing homes, & advocating to protect families' property rights as they rebuild.  
  

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to rebuild Haiti. You can continue to donate to the relief efforts through Habitat of Southern Santa Barbara County.  

 

Learn more about Habitat for Humanity's Haiti relief efforts, download the six month progress report & view the slideshow: Rebuild Haiti.

 

A Habitat transitional shelter in Haiti.

 

 

 

 

Corporate Work Day Spotlight: Bank of America

Habitat regularly welcomes corporate groups down at the San Pascual affordable housing build site. Corporate Work Days are a wonderful opportunity for companies to build camaraderie among their employees and provides Habitat will a full day of construction volunteers. It truly is a win-win situation!

On October 2nd we welcomed a hardworking and dedicated group from Bank of America. We loved their team spirit and enthusiasm for the the work that Habitat is doing to provide affordable housing in Santa Barbara. 

Thanks Bank of America, you're welcome back any time!

Got an idle car? Put it to work building homes!

Car donations to Habitat for Humanity can help more low-income families have a decent place to call home.  By donating a car to Habitat’s Cars for Homes program, you help build houses in partnership with families in need of decent, affordable shelter.

It's simple: call Cars for Homes at 877-277-4344 or visit carsforhomes.org to donate your cars, boats, RVs, motorcycles, airplanes or other motorized vehicles -  running or not!

How much of the donation goes to house building? Well, because every donated vehicle is unique there isn't a standard amount. It depends on the condition, location, quality, etc. Late-model cars that are running and in good condition will generate more funds than non-running vehicles. But we aren't picky.  Everything counts!

The Cars for Home program is managed by Habitat for Humanity International and all the net proceeds from your vehicle donation will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County.

Things you will find in the Habitat ReStore

Have you wandered through the Habitat ReStore recently? If not, you are really missing out. The Habitat ReStore in Goleta is stocked with gems that range from chandeliers from the Granada Theater, top-of-the-line ranges, and even low-flow toilets. It's almost impossible to visit the ReStore and not find something you need...er want. 

It's amazing some of the goodies that people donate to the ReStore. But as they say, one person's donation is another's treasure!

If you're remodeling and would like to donate your usable building materials to Habitat for Humanity, please call us at 805-692-2226. Joel is our ReStore assistant manager and he's happy to confirm a pick-up for you. 

Home Depot celebrates Energy Awareness Month with Donation to Habitat

We love hearing about ways that national companies support Habitat for Humanity! Home Depot & MasterCard just announced that 10% of all Energy Star appliances sold in October will go to Habitat.  

“In recognition of Energy Awareness Month, and in light of the increase in energy consumption in today’s average home, MasterCard and The Home Depot have partnered to encourage consumers to make purchases that will help drive energy efficiency,” said Craig Vosgburg, group executive, Market Development, U.S. Markets at MasterCard Worldwide.

We can definitely support that! If our ReStore doesn't have your needed Energy Star appliance in stock, head on over to your closest Home Depot and support Habitat while you shop.

A successful Tour of Green Homes!

Thank you to all 230 attendees who helped make the Habitat for Humanity Tour of Green Homes a success. The purpose of the day was to demonstrate ways that environmentally friendly construction methods and materials can be incorporated into any project. 

And a big shout out is due to the 70+ Thrivent Builds volunteers from local Lutheran congregations who helped throughout the day. From baking cookies to providing docent tours, these volunteer deserve a huge round of applause.  

We're proud to say that the houses Habitat is currently building on San Pascual St. are both affordable AND green! If you missed the Tour, be sure to check out these great recaps of the day: 
KEYT-TV
Santa Barbara Independent
Santa Barbara Edhat

Interfaith volunteers

In mid-September a group of volunteers from different faiths joined together at the San Pascual site for a day of building. How inspiring to watch people of different faiths work together for a common goal of building homes for families in need!

World Habitat Day: What will you build?

Every year the UN designates the first Monday in October as "World Habitat Day". The purpose being to call attention to the current global state of the human habitat and advocate for adequate housing for each and every person. To way to raise awareness, Habitat for Humanity International asked  "What Will You Build?"

In Santa Barbara, we are building four affordable homes for low-income families. These homes will offer four hard-working families with a decent, safe and affordable home to call their own.  In Santa Barbara, many low-income families spend over half their incomes on housing and still live in unconverted garages, many of which don't meet minimum health and safety standards. There is a huge need for affordable and decent housing and because of this Habitat for Humanity of SSBC is dedicated to building affordable homes.

Looking for "A Brush With Kindness"?

We at Habitat for Humanity of SSBC are committed to serving families in need. Recognizing  that the economic downturn has made it difficult for low-income homeowners to make necessary home repairs, we have started a program to address this need. "A Brush With Kindness" provides  home repairs for homeowners that are unable to make them on their own due to physical or financial limitations. The home repairs that ABWK provides consist of exterior painting, landscape clean-up & planting, as well as fence repairs.

If you are a Santa Barbara resident struggling to maintain your home and are interested in learning more about our A Brush With Kindness program contact our office at 805-692-2226.

What are the qualifications to be selected for the program?

To qualify families will need to meet the following criteria:

1. You must own your home and currently live in it.
2. Willing & able to put “Sweat Equity” meaning you will be on site with our volunteers to help.
3. Homeowner must be low-income (see chart for details) 
4. There will be a small no interest repayment to Habitat. Payments will then be used to help another family through our Fund for Humanity. The costs of the project will be supplemented by donations and volunteers
5. Because we can only serve a limited number of families this year we will be selecting the homes with the greatest need within Habitat’s scope of work.

Additional information and eligibility requirements can be found Here.