Drop Off Your Donations - It's Easy!

All products and materials in the ReStore are donated by organizations and individuals who support Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County. 

Donating to the ReStore is Smart, Green, and Good!

• Smart - All donations are tax deductible! We will provide a tax receipt for all donations.
• Green - Donating used items that are still in usable condition keeps them out of our local landfills. 
• Good - All sales from the ReStore go directly back to Habitat for Humanity in Santa Barbara and help cover our administrative costs. This allows us to use money raised to fully cover the cost of building affordable and low-income homes in our community.  

Please help Habitat for Humanity spread the word! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, business associates and your faith community about donating to the ReStore. It's easy, convienient, and helps families in our town!

How to donate? Donations can be dropped off during open hours (Tuesday to Friday 12-5pm and Saturdays 9am to 5pm).  If your donation is too large a truck pick-up can be scheduled for big-ticket items. To schedule a pick-up contact Joel at 692-2226. 

Items the ReStore accepts:

6725 Hollister Ave, Goleta, CA 93117

• Appliances: Working condition, less than 5 years old. 
• Cabinets: New or used.
• Carpet or rugs: New carpet only, no used carpet or padding.
• Doors: Exterior, interior, wood, French, and siding glass doors. 
• Electrical:  Switch plates, switches, fuses, breakers, conduit.
• Flooring: No Linoleum.
• Hardware
• Lighting: Working condition.
• Lumber
• Mirrors
• Office Furniture
• Plumbing
• Sinks and Toilets: No rust marks, stains, or chips.
• Tools
• Tubs
• Water heaters: Electric of gas. Not more than than 5 years old.
• Windows: Double pane only.

Interested in becoming a Habitat Homeowner?

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County will begin the application process for the 12 new homes which will be built on Canon Perdido Street. Habitat will be holding a number of information sessions for prospective Habitat homeowners across the community in the month of April to go over the application process and eligibility requirements. All interested applicants must attend one of these sessions to receive a full application packet. 

Saturday, April 14 at 9:00 AM
East Side Library, 1102 East Montecito St., Santa Barbara, CA

Thursday, April 19th at 6:00 PM
Grace Lutheran Church, 3869 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA   

Friday, April 20th at 6:00 PM
Main Family Resource Center, 5201 Eighth Street, Carpinteria, CA


Saturday, April 21st at 9:00 AM
Isla Vista Teen Center, 889 Camino del Sur, Isla Vista, CA

Monday, April 23rd at 6:00 PM
St. Raphaels Catholic Church, 5444 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, CA 

Presentations will be held in both English and Spanish. These are open to the public, please mark your calendar and learn more about Habitat's home ownership opportunity.

Recycle a used vehicle

Do you have an older car, truck, van, trailer, RV or boat taking up valuable space in your driveway? If you live in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Summerland, or Carpinteria, your car donations can support Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County's local mission of eliminating poverty housing and homelessness and save you the time and energy of finding a buyer.

By donating a car to Habitat's vehicle donation program, you can help Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County build houses in partnership with families in need of a hand up, not a hand out. Your donated vehicle will help us fund construction of the 12 new homes we break ground on  this fall.
 
It is quick and easy to donate automobiles, trucks, boats, RV’s, motorcycles, construction equipment and other vehicles ~ running or not! Plus, you may be eligible for a tax deduction. (Consult your tax advisor or the IRS for details.)

To donate a car, truck, boat or RV to Cars for Homes™ - Habitat’s official car donation program, call (877) 277-4344 or visit www.carsforhomes.org and let us take care of the rest. It’s a convenient way to support Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County and create more space in your driveway!

If you've visited the Habitat ReStore recently you've seen this poster hanging. Another way you can help is by spreading the word and letting your friends and family know that old cars can be donated and help fund the construction of low-income and affordable homes in our community. 

Thank you Verizon!

Last Friday Verizon Wireless sent a great group of volunteers to help in the Habitat ReStore. Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County loves welcoming corporate groups to help in the ReStore as it offers our staff a chance to get large projects completed. As the phrase goes, many hands make light work! The Verizon crew was no exception. They were hard-working, cheerful, and willing to work. Join us in thanking them for their commitment to Habitat for Humanity and helping in our mission of building affordable homes in partnership with low-income families.

Family Selection for 12 Canon Perdido homes

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County will begin accepting applications for the 12 new Canon Perdido low-income homes later this spring. If you would like to be added to our list to receive more information on how to qualify, and the application process, please contact us at 692-2226 or mail@sbhabitat.org.

 

How are families selected? 

Habitat provides homes for people who have low-to-very low income status. The total annual income must be between 40-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Examples for 2011 below. Note: figures subject to change.

• 1 person family total income--$20,280 - $30,420
• 2 person family total income--$23,160 - $34,740
• 3 person family total income--$26,040 - $39,060
• 4 person family total income--$28,920 - $43,3800
• 5 person family total income--$31,240 - $46,860

Applications for Partner Families are accepted based on 5 criteria:

• Currently live in deteriorated, unsafe or overcrowded conditions;
• Family income between 40% to 60% of area median income;
• Willingness to partner with Habitat through "sweat equity" on the construction of their home;
• Ability to pay a no-interest mortgage to Habitat;
• Have lived or worked in Santa Barbara for at least 1 year.

Information sessions will be held in April in Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria. We will keep you undated on when and where these will be held around Southern Santa Barbara County. 

Habitat's last completed project on the west side of Santa Barbara.

Canon Perdido passes Santa Barbara Planning Commission

Last Thursday Habitat for Humanity SSBC presented plans for our next affordable homes project, 12 new homes on Canon Perdido Street, to the Santa Barbara Planning Commission. We are pleased to share that it was a unanimous decision in favor of Habitat's project.  

We hope to present the project to the Architectural Board of Review in February and have completed plans ready to submit to the Building Department this spring. If all goes according to schedule, Habitat hopes to break ground on the project later this fall. This is an exciting time as the Canon Perdido project is Habitat's largest project to date in Santa Barbara. Thank you for joining with us and making homeownership a reality for 12 additional families in our community. 

Stay tuned for more details! 

Side perspective for the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes project.

Back perspective of the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes project.

Anybody Can Serve

“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college
degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tomorrow we mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day in which we remember Dr. King's dream of equality for all. The MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.” The King Day of Service is a way to transform his life and teachings into community service that helps solve social problems. 

There are many ways you can put Dr. King's ideas into practice. Have you volunteered with Habitat for Humanity? Here in Santa Barbara there are many opportunities to serve. Habitat relies upon volunteers to help run our ReStore. The ReStore is open Tuesdays through Fridays - that's a lot of volunteer hours that we need to fill! Additionally, we complete A Brush with Kindness home repairs regularly. We need volunteers to donate one of their Saturday's to help low-income homeowners make necessary repairs to their home. And lastly, later this year Habitat will begin construction on 12 new low-income homes on Canon Perdido Street. We rely on our corp of volunteers to compete construction on these homes. This makes the process both affordable to build and affordable to the future homeowners. 

We'd love for you to join Habitat for Humanity's mission of ending substandard housing in our community. Sign up to volunteer online, or attend one of our monthly volunteer orientations to learn more about our work in Santa Barbara.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ”
—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

12 Low-Income Homes In Santa Barbara

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County was featured on local TV station KCOY last night in advance of the January 12th Planning Commission hearing for the 12 new low-income homes planned for Canon Perdido Street.

In case you missed it, please view the video here and read the accompanying article below.

'Habitat' Planning 12 Low-Income Homes In Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA – Habitat For Humanity is planning its third and largest housing plan to date, which will create new affordable homes for 12 low-income families.

The nearly half acre of land on the eastside of Santa Barbara is the proposed spot for a dozen new townhomes.

The homes will be three stories high and contractors built story poles to let nearby residents know how tall it is compared to neighboring buildings. It's a step Habitat For Humanity is taking to make home ownership for low-income families possible.

"We see many families pay over 50 percent of their income on rent," said Joyce McCullough, Habitat For Humanity Executive Director. "We had one of our families living in a small two bedroom apartment with another family because they couldn't afford the high cost of rent in Santa Barbara."

The housing project is still in the approval process with the City of Santa Barbara. It will go to the Planning Commission on Thursday for the approval to move forward. If all goes as planned, they will break ground at the end of the year.

"It's going to be sort of a little village here and I think it will be a really pleasant place four our families to live," said McCullough.

There is a small open space on the property and Habitat For Humanity will spruce up the yard and add a play area for the kids who will live there.

The low-income housing application process will start in April. A family of four with an annual income of $45,000 to $55,000 a year can qualify. There are already 150 families interested in applying for the new units.

The land for the project cost $975,000. Habitat For Humanity was able to secure Redevelopment Agency Funds for the purchase in 2010.

For more information, click here: http://www.sbhabitat.org/index.php

Habitat for Humanity’s recovery program in Haiti

Habitat for Humanity International put out this press release today on the progress being made in Haiti. We were encouraged to hear that 40,000 families so far have benefited from Habitat's work since the devastating earthquake two years ago. There remains much that needs to be done and Habitat is committed to helping thousands more families. Please read the full press release below.

Two years after the Haiti earthquake, Habitat for Humanity's recovery program has benefited more than 40,000 families through emergency, transitional and permanent housing solutions

Habitat's five-year recovery program on target to serve 50,000 families

ATLANTA (Jan. 6, 2012) - Two years after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, Habitat for Humanity's five-year disaster recovery program has helped more than 40,000 families or approximately 200,000 individuals in Port-au-Prince, Léogâne and Cabaret.

As part of its effort to provide 50,000 families with pathways to permanent housing, Habitat has distributed to-date more than 24,500 emergency shelter kits with partner organizations, constructed more than 4,000 transitional or upgradeable shelters, conducted 12,000 house damage assessments, repaired or rehabbed more than 350 houses, and constructed 150 permanent core houses as part of its permanent housing community in Léogâne.
"Habitat has a long-term view of its work in Haiti. We are committed to remaining in the country for years to come and reaching more families in desperate need of simple and decent permanent shelter," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. "While our earthquake recovery program has focused largely on temporary housing solutions, our primary focus over the next three years will shift to partnering with Haitian families to provide permanent housing."

The Léogâne development has the potential to house up to 500 families, or approximately 2,500 individuals. Volunteers constructed 100 core homes in one week as part of Habitat's 28th annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. An additional 50 Habitat homes were built in partnership with Haven, an Irish non-profit. Habitat will construct another 100 houses in 2012 with more to be constructed, pending additional funding.

"We are extremely grateful for the support Habitat has received from donors, supporters and volunteers, without whom our recovery efforts in Haiti would not be possible," said Mark Andrews, vice president of Haiti recovery for Habitat for Humanity International. "Our hope is to be able to help even more families through the continued generosity of people who share our commitment to Haiti."

Habitat is also helping to build long-term economic growth and sustainability by training and hiring Haitians through Habitat Haiti's main office and Habitat Resource Centers. Approximately 700 local job opportunities have been created by Habitat's recovery program and nearly 80 percent of its full-time central staff is Haitian. In addition, Habitat has trained approximately 4,450 individuals in construction techniques, financial literacy, damage assessments, disaster risk reduction and business development.

Additionally, since land tenure remains the biggest roadblock to reconstruction, Habitat is leading a coalition supporting land tenure reform. Land ownership was nebulous before the earthquake, and now it is even more of a challenge. Building permanent homes on land that is not properly deeded is not an option for Habitat.

To address this challenge, Habitat has created and fostered the Haiti Property Law Working Group, a diverse coalition of Haitian government officials, lawyers, academics and business leaders, along with representatives of the World Bank, USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, the government of France, the Organization of American States, Architecture for Humanity, the Clinton Global Initiative, foundations, development partners and other nongovernmental organizations engaged in reconstruction and development. The goal of the Haiti Property Law Working Group is to support the government of Haiti in the recovery effort through the appropriate development of property for job creation, wealth creation, housing and other purposes by defining each step of the current processes applicable to land transactions and recommending improvements to be incorporated in future policies.
The earthquake damaged nearly 190,000 houses in Haiti, of which 105,000 were completely destroyed. Of the more than 2 million affected survivors, 550,000 are still displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.

About Habitat for Humanity Haiti
Habitat for Humanity has been at work in Haiti for 27 years and has provided housing solutions through a variety of initiatives including new home construction, progressive building, home repairs and improvements. Habitat also builds capacity in construction skills, disaster risk reduction and financial literacy, and works in coordination with community and government agencies. For more information, visit Habitat.org/Haiti.

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.

200 volunteer hour milestones

2012 is already off to a great start at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore! Yesterday two of our regular Thursday volunteers, Bob and Suzi, reached their 200 volunteer hour milestones.  They're commitment to Habitat for Humanity over the past year has been wonderful and we rely on their attention to detail and wonderful organizational skills!

Bob and Suzi took a break from restocking the ReStore shelves to pose with Joel, Ruairi, Jeff and Dennis. Join us in thanking them for their commitment to Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County!

Volunteer thank-yous

In early December Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County celebrated our wonderful ReStore volunteers with a Saturday BBQ lunch and ReStore sale. It was a beautiful day and a great way to kick-off the holiday season. Enjoy some belated pictures from the day:

We also celebrated Mathias' 60+ hours that he volunteered in the ReStore.

The Starbucks crew who helped with the BBQ lunch, and provided coffee!

Westmont College volunteers looking very festive in their Santa hats.