Volunteer Spotlight on Robby Guevara

Robby Guevara recently passed a milestone with Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County and we were excited to celebrate with him. Robby has volunteered over 200 hours with Habitat and celebrated his milestone in true Habitat fashion - by volunteering a full afternoon in the ReStore.

Word spread that we would be celebrating Robby and sending him off (a new job means he will not be able to volunteer with us weekly) and other volunteers joined and even provided a homemade cake. Thanks, Michelle!

Robby's positivity and friendliness will be missed in the ReStore. Customers love his assistance and we love his dedication to the Habitat mission. He has been a tremendous asset to the ReStore team. We hate saying goodbye to such a wonderful volunteer and a true friend. Thankfully Robby isn't moving away and promises to volunteer when his work schedule allows.

Robby receiving his name tag pin signifying 200 volunteer hours

Staff and fellow volunteers posing with Robby.

The famous "ReStore Robby" cake

Changing Lives Near and Far

At Southern Santa Barbara Habitat we talk often about the impact of each donation. Every dollar helps break the cycle of poverty for a family in our community. With the stability of a permanent home, families can devote increased attention to jobs, education and health. As the crushing cycle of poverty is broken, their children benefit, neighborhoods are revitalized and entire communities improve. However, the impact of every donation is even more far reaching than you might think.

As we near completion of the four homes being built in Santa Barbara, we are reminded of the lives we are also transforming abroad. Through Habitat for Humanity International’s Tithe Program, we are changing lives in Mexico. Our contributions in 2010 have helped transform the lives of 4,232 Mexican families!

It doesn't end there. Because we are committed to fighting the crippling effects of poverty, Habitat of Southern Santa Barbara County has donated over $5,000 towards the relief efforts in Haiti. We invite you to lend support and donate today. Please indicate "Haiti" as the Special Designation, and your gift will be sent to Habitat for Humanity International to support permanent recovery efforts.

Each year we tithe to help build additional homes in communities in Mexico and Haiti, where the critical need for simple, stable housing is imperative. Learn more about Habitat for Humanity's work in Mexico and Haiti. 

Giving Thanks

This truly is a special Thanksgiving for Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County. We have so much to be thankful for this year.  We are just a few weeks away from finishing construction on our second major home building project - the four family homes on San Pascual Street. We're thankful for a project that will be completed on-time, and under-budget. That's no easy feat! And we're thankful for our generous donors, volunteers and corporate partners who help make it possible! Without their help we would not be able to complete our mission of eliminating substandard housing in Santa Barbara. 

And just because photos are fun, here's a visual of some other things we're thankful for this season:

The members of all faith communities who have joined together to support Habitat!

Our ReStore volunteers who keep the shelves stocked and the store tidy!

Our construction volunteers who have put in thousands of hours at the build site!

And lastly, we are thankful for our Partner Families and their children! We believe that homeownership is a vital step to help families break the cycle of poverty and contributes to pride in families and communities. It is our joy to build simple, low-cost homes in partnership with these families.

What are you thankful for?

Corporate Work Day Spotlight: Starbucks!

Here at Habitat for Humanity we love our coffee and we love our volunteers. So when Starbucks asked if they could send a full crew of baristas down to the San Pascual build site for a day of team-building and volunteering, we eagerly signed them up. And boy did they prove to be an enthusiastic and productive (shall we say caffeinated?) crew.  

The dedicated crew from Starbucks

And we'd be remiss to not also thank our local Santa Barbara Starbucks for the traveling containers of coffee that they have donated for Habitat events in recent weeks. Thanks to Starbucks we have been able to provide coffee at our Tour of Green Homes and our Women @ Work events.

We could not complete our mission of building decent, affordable, and stable homes for low-income families in Santa Barbara without the help and support of volunteers and organizations. Thanks to all who help make Habitat for Humanity a success in our community!