Do-It-Yourself projects from the Habitat ReStore

Recently the Habitat ReStore received pictures of two creative DIY projects made from recycled items found at the ReStore. We love hearing from satisfied customers, especially when it involves materials from the ReStore that have been reused in creative ways!

The first is a table decorated from students at Elwood Elementary School. Marysue emailed us to say:

"Recently I found the cover to a light fixture and four banisters. I used them to make a small table which I painted black.  Then the first grade class at Ellwood Elementary (here in Goleta) decorated it with mosaic tiles for their Spring Auction. It turned out beautifully. The table top was only $3.00 and the legs were $2.00 each." 

"Recycled" table decorated by 1st grade students at Elwood Elementary

The next project is of a backyard patio. All of the decorative tiles were purchased from the Habitat ReStore.

We'd love to hear from you and see pictures of your projects. What creative ways have you reused items from the Habitat ReStore?

Memorial Day at the Habitat ReStore

The Habitat ReStore will be open this Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 28th from 9am to 5pm. We've had some great donations come through our doors this week, including shelving units from our local Borders Book Store, an old-fashioned stand-up pinball machine, and many hanging chandeliers.

We've uploaded some pictures of the new inventory. Be sure to check it out, but like always, it's better to visit the ReStore in person as we're not able to photograph each item that comes in.

View the complete ReStore Inventory a set on Flickr. 

How are Habitat Partner Families Selected?

We're often asked how partner families are selected. Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County does not build homes for families, rather we build alongside families who demonstrate the need and willingness to partner with us. After a family applies, our family selection committee chooses partner families based on their level of need as well as the following criteria: 

• They currently reside in deteriorated, unsafe or overcrowded conditions;  
• Have a total family income between 40-60% of area median income or $29,600 to $44,400 for a family of four;
• Ability to make monthly mortgage payments designed to fit within 30-35% of the family's income;
• Committed to investing 250 hours per adult family member of their own "sweat equity" labor into their houses, along with attending a training curriculum that addresses topics such as mortgages, insurance, and other homeowner responsibilities.   

We will open the application process for our next Habitat project in Santa Barbara, the Canon Perdido homes,  in 2012. If you would like to be on our waiting list, please email mail@sbhabitat.org

 

Blueprints to 12 new sustainable homes for families in need

In December 2010 Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County acquired a 19,000 square-foot lot (about half an acre) thanks to Redevelopment Agency funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara. This new property is on located at 822 and 824 E. Cannon Perdido Street near Milpas Street.

On this site, which is situated between a multi-family apartment complex and commercial buildings, Habitat for Humanity SSBC plans to build 12 units. The project will consist of 100% affordable low and very-low income unites including one 1-bedroom units, nine 2-bedroom units, and two 3-bedroom units, which range between 750 and 1,200 square feet each. 

Here are a few of our working pans (designed by architects Ryan Mills and Ed de Vicente, from DMA Architecture). These drawings are going before the Planning Commission for concept review in June and are subject to small changes:

We seek to be environmentally responsible in our construction and the Canon Perdido homes will be designed according to Passive House principles. Our goal is to achieve "net zero" energy usable on these homes by combining passive components such as window placement, insulation and building wrap with "active" components such as solar thermal and photovoltaic systems.  


Further reading: Read about Habitat's sustainable and "green" building initiatives.

Responding to Disasters

In 2005 Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara teamed up with Allen Associates to build a home for a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The home was built in a Creole architecture style and was "built to ship," meaning it was assembled in Santa Barbara and shipped to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. It was a wonderful community-wide collaborative build and a way that we here in Santa Barbara could help those affected by the disaster. 

Putting the pieces together in Santa Barbara

The finished house, built in Santa Barbara, now at home in Bay St. Louis

With news coming again from the south this week of more devastating tornadoes and severe storms, Habitat for Humanity International is again assessing the damage and raising money to help low-income homeowners affected by these storms.

According to HFHI: The central United States has been hit by back-to-back disasters with a devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo., other tornadoes across the south and Midwest and flooding from the Mississippi River. Affected communities face an enormous task of cleaning up and rebuilding. Habitat for Humanity affiliates throughout the region will be assessing the damage to low-income housing in their communities. 

Click here for more information and ways to donate to Habitat for Humanity International and the disaster relief efforts. Be sure to designate your gift to: Disaster Response: U.S. Tornadoes and Flooding

Volunteer Spotlight on Jeff Nadel

This month Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County is thrilled to spotlight the volunteer work of Jeff Nadel. Jeff has become a wonderful member of the Habitat family and can be found many days of the week helping in the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Goleta. Whether he's re-stocking shelves, helping customers, or helping with the expansion projects, Jeff is a volunteer who we rely upon greatly.

One of the many ways that Jeff helps in the ReStore is by assisting with donation pick-ups. Every Tuesday through Friday the ReStore donation truck drives around town and collects pre-scheduled donation pick-ups. The ReStore relies upon donated goods so these pick-ups are crucial to the success of the ReStore and help Habitat in our overall mission to provide affordable housing for low-income families. We're always looking for volunteers to assist Joel with donation pick-ups. Sign up here if you're interested. (The donation pick-up shifts are from 9am-1pm Tuesday - Friday.)

A big thank you is due to Jeff, who recently celebrated his 100 hour volunteer milestone with Habitat staff and volunteers.

Habitat ReStores in USA TODAY

USA Today had a great article in today's issue about the success of the Habitat ReStores.  With an economic environment that seems full of doom and gloom it's wonderful to read stories like this that emphasizes how the ReStore is a model that is able to succeed. In total there are now 750 ReStores across the country! 

"In an economy where it's unusual to find a business opening new stores, expanding existing ones and enjoying brisk sales, the non-profit Habitat for Humanity is bucking economic trends with its ReStore outlets."

Read the full article here and tell us what you think? Have you shopped at a ReStore?: Habitat ReStore outlets growing - USATODAY.com

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning is in full gear at the ReStore. This past Tuesday we welcomed a group of 20 volunteers from Vandenberg Air Force Base for a full day of moving doors, windows, bathtubs, sinks, and more. Thankfully we recruited a strong volunteers for this project!

Moving and assembling the shelving units

Shelving in their new location

And now fully stocked!

A big Thank you to the Vandenberg volunteers who dedicated a full day of hard work! This spring cleaning could not have happened without their handiwork!

Ever Need a Brush with Kindness?

Do you own your home?

Does your house need exterior paint?

Does your yard need new landscaping or fence repairs?

Are you low-income or on a fixed income?

If you (or someone you know) answered yes to any of the above you may qualify for Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County's A Brush with Kindness home repair program.

A Brush with Kindness (ABWK) assists homeowners impacted by age, disability and family circumstances who struggle to maintain the exterior of their homes.  Our aim is to allow these homeowners to reclaim the pride and dignity of homeownership by offering an affordable means of exterior home improvement to maintain the value of the home.

ABWK joins forces with other nonprofits, corporate partners, an volunteers to repair, repaint, and landscape homes. We are looking for homeowners to receive help from the A Brush with Kindness program.

If you would like to receive help or want more information, please read our Homeowner eligibility checklist or contact Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County at 805-692-2226 or by email. Family income must be under 80% of Santa Barbara's area median income so be sure to check the income chart here. 

A Brush with Kindness driveway before and after.

A Brush with Kindness fence before and after.

Double your giving

Citrix Online volunteers at the Habitat site

We at Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County appreciate financial contributions of any size. All gifts help Habitat with our mission of building simple, low-cost homes in partnership with low-income families in need of decent and affordable housing. We're also thankful for the many companies that encourage employees to donate to Habitat with matching gift programs. 

Many companies offer matching gift programs to encourage employees to contribute to charitable organizations and match match tax-deductible charitable contributions made by their employees, retirees and employees’ spouses. Some provide matching funds to support employee volunteer hours. 

There are over 1,000 companies that offer matching gift programs to their employees or provide matching funds for volunteer hours. It's easy to find out if yours offers matching gifts and it's easy to start making your donations pack twice the punch.   

Check and see if your company is one Habitat's matching partners Here and be sure to designate your donation to Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County. 

What can I donate to the ReStore?

The ReStore truck.

Here at Habitat for Humanity Santa Barbara we are often asked what specific items the ReStore can accept. We recently updated our Donation Guidelines cheat-sheet and wanted to share it with you. Bottom line - we hope you consider the ReStore first when you're looking to donate used household items.

 items The ReStore Is Not Able to accept:

·      Mirrors and Glass without frames

·      Sinks or Toilets with stains, rust or chips

·      Water heaters older than 5 years

·      Carpet or rugs

·      Single pane windows

·      Hollow core or Slab doors

·      Linoleum

·      Non Low flow toilets (Low flow toilets have a 1.6 gallon mark near top of seat)

·      Electrical fixtures that are missing parts or not in working order

·      Tile in quantities less than 12 square feet

·      Items that are broken or missing parts

·      All Liquids:  Paint, Solvents and Chemicals

The ReStore offers pick-ups:

·      Tuesday afternoons

·      Wednesday – Friday mornings

 To schedule a pick-up, please call 805-692-2226 and ask for Joel.

 

A few examples of the ReStore's inventory. Many more photos can be found on our Flickr page.

Photos from Goleta's A Brush with Kindness

A Brush with Kindness, Goleta April 2011, a set on Flickr.

We're happy to share pictures from Habitat for Humanity Santa Barbara's second "A Brush with Kindness" home repair. Over the course of three workdays Habitat welcomed groups of volunteers  from Starbucks Coffee, Goleta Valley Beautiful, Santa Barbara City College and many more to the home repair site in Goleta. In total we had over 40 volunteers help at the site. Be sure to check out the before and after photos - they speak a thousand words. 

Thank you to all who volunteered. This project was completed thanks to your time and effort.

Habitat's press release from the project: Habitat for Humanity Southern Santa Barbara Joins with Goleta Valley Beautiful To Complete "A Brush with Kindness" Home Repair in Goleta