Construction update on the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County is 85% complete with construction. In July Habitat welcomed volunteer groups from Curvature, Procore, and Reality Church, as well as many individuals, who helped prime, paint, hang drywall, install base board and much more at the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes site. 

Construction progress at the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes site. 

Volunteers from Curvature pose for a group photo.

Volunteers from ProCore working on the 2nd floor balcony railing. 

Volunteers from Reality Church pose before the workday begins. 

Volunteers provide a bulk of our labor and allow Habitat to keep construction costs at a minimum. Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who have helped with framing, insulation, drywall, painting and much more. We are able to provide permanent and affordable housing for low-income families because of your time and support.

We are in the final weeks of construction. If you haven't volunteered yet, there is still time. Individual volunteers can sign up for shifts directly online.  If you are interested in confirming a group workday for your business or organization, please contact Habitat by email or at 692-2226.

More United Way Day of Caring Photos

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County was thankful to host two groups of volunteers during United Way's Day of Caring on September 15th.  A group of volunteers from Westmont College joined us at the Habitat ReStore, while another group from Santa Barbara Bank and Trust helped with exterior home repairs at our A Brush with Kindness project in the Hidden Valley neighborhood of Santa Barbara.

Day of Caring volunteers from Westmont College.

Day of Caring volunteers from Santa Barbara Bank and Trust.

One completed wall of the A Brush with Kindness house.

United Way of Santa Barbara posted a number of photos from the day on their Facebook page. See if you can spot the photos of the volunteers out at the Habitat A Brush with Kindness site! 

And thank you to all of the volunteers who spend their day volunteering with Habitat for Humanity! We rely on volunteers to accomplish our mission of providing safe, decent, and affordable housing.

Habitat for Humanity Volunteers and Interns

The driving force behind Habitat for Humanity Southern Santa Barbara County is our corps of community volunteers—those who provide much of the house-building labor, keep our ReStore operational, and help in the office. 

These volunteers represent individuals, students, civic groups, and faith groups who make our work possible. We are fortunate to have three colleges and universities in our service area and welcome volunteer groups, service learning clubs, fraternities, and interns from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College, and Westmont College. 

Many students fulfill their community service requirements by volunteering with Habitat, and both UCSB and Westmont have active Habitat for Humanity campus clubs who are eager to volunteer and help in the community. 

This summer we were fortunate to have Lauren interning with us from the University of California, Davis. Lauren helped with the online marketing and promotion of the ReStore's merchandise. This is no small task as items come and go from the ReStore on a daily (nay hourly) basis. Lauren also helped with the planning and day-of tasks of the ReStore's annual summer BBQ and sale. Last week we celebrated her last day with us. All staff and volunteers were sad to see her go, but thankful for the many hours she interned with Habitat this summer. She will be missed!

Lauren and Erica preparing food for the July ReStore BBQ.

Volunteers and staff posing with Lauren on her last day in the office.

Volunteer Spotlight on Erica!

Two Friday's ago Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County celebrated the one-year volunteer anniversary of Erica Miller. Since July 13, 2011 Erica has been faithfully volunteering in the Habitat ReStore, often as many as four days a week! Erica has become a wonderful part of the ReStore team and can be found wearing her blue apron, greeting customers, and assisting with check-outs most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

We don't often celebrate volunteer anniversaries, often reserving celebrations for when volunteers reach 50, 100, or even 500 hour markers, but Erica was eager to celebrate the day and we were thrilled to join her. Most days Erica navigates the crosstown bus to get to the ReStore in time for her volunteer shift. 

We continue to be thankful for Erica's dedication to the ReStore and for her friendly and caring demeanor. Please join Habitat staff and fellow ReStore volunteers in thanking Erica for her faithful service!

Erica's celebration included an ice cream cake on a hot July afternoon.

Erica's 100 volunteer hours celebration in February 2012.

Erica helping prepare food at the July 21st volunteer BBQ.

Building Homes, Building Hope by the numbers

We are thrilled to share some of Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County's recent goals and results.

GOAL 1: Provide affordable housing in Santa Barbara:

•        Habitat has completed stable homes for 7 families in our community.

•          Habitat will begin construction on 12 more homes in the fall of 2012.

GOAL 2: Partner with low-income homeowners in need of home maintenance:

•        Habitat has completed 6 home repairs through our A Brush with Kindness program.

•         Volunteers from 8 organizations and community groups helped completed these projects.

GOAL 3: Generate a sustainable income for our affiliate though the ReStore:

•        Profits at the ReStore are up 72% for the first six months of this fiscal year.

•          The first six months of the fiscal year ReStore cover 68% of Habitat’s operating costs.

GOAL 4: Facilitate in the re-use of construction materials and home-improvement items:

•        The ReStore truck completed 144 donation pick-ups for the first 5 months of 2012.

•         This is in addition to the 322 donation drop-offs made directly at the ReStore for the same time.

GOAL %: Mobilize volunteers and community groups to support our Habitat's mission:

•         The ReStore welcomed 131 volunteers in 2012, resulting in 1,729 volunteer hours. 

•        From May 2011-May 2012 the ReStore clocked 5,381 volunteer hours. 

·     

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.

A Brush with Kindness this weekend

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County will complete our 5th A Brush with Kindness home repair this upcoming weekend. Over the course of two days Habitat for Humanity will partner with groups of volunteers from Ergomotion and Vandenberg Air Force Base. This project will focus on repairing and providing fire brush clearing work on the yard of a retired school teacher's home in Santa Barbara.

A Brush with Kindness (ABWK) is a program that assists low or fixed income homeowners with external home repairs, landscaping, and painting. ABWK allows Habitat to create better health, safety, and independent living conditions for seniors and low-income families in our community. 

Do you or a neighbor need A Brush with Kindness? Please fill out the eligibility checklist and return to ABWK@sbhabitat.org or Habitat for Humanity of SSBC, PO Box 176, Goleta, CA 93116.



View photos of previous A Brush with Kindness projects here.

Vandenbeg Air Force Volunteers help in the Habitat ReStore

On Tuesday, January 24th over 25 Vandenberg Air Force Bank volunteers helped in Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. We love it when groups of volunteers come down from Vandenberg because they are always a fun group, and extremely hardworking. We often set aside larger projects for them to complete and are always amazed by how quickly they are able to complete the projects.

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.

Vandenberg AFB volunteers

Yesterday morning Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County welcomed a group of 15 hard-working volunteers from nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base. Over the course of the morning the volunteers built and installed new shelving, cleared out an entire section of the ReStore, and moved hundreds of doors.

We're thankful for their support and commitment to volunteering in the community!

ReStore Volunteer Appreciating

There has been a lot of volunteer appreciating going on at Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County. That's because we love our volunteers and they have given us many milestones to celebrate! Earlier this week we marked Jeff's 500th volunteer hour! And just today we marked Charley's 400th hour and Robert's 100 volunteer hours! That's a combined 1,000 hours. We sure are lucky to have such dedicated friends in our midst. 

Jeff smiling after clocking 500 volunteer hours!

Charley and Robert each celebrating a volunteer milestone.

If you're interested in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity the next volunteer orientation will be held on Saturday, November 12th at 10am at the ReStore, 6725 Hollister Avenue.

Day of Caring

On Saturday we welcomed a wonderful group of volunteers through United Way's Day of Caring. The volunteers were enormously helpful in our ReStore and a hardworking crew!

Three of the volunteers help Joel clear out an entire portion of our parking lot where we store oversized material and items that do not need to be covered. It was a huge job and they completed it all! The remaining volunteers organized the ReStore's blinds, nuts and bolts drawers, the tool section, and cleaned many of the large appliances. It's a huge blessing getting big groups of volunteers like these and we're thankful for all the work they did last Saturday.

Welcoming Habitat's New Program Coordinator

Late last month we welcomed a new program and volunteer coordinator to the Habitat family. Jett is a great addition to the team and has already hit the ground running getting volunteers sign-up and confirmed. We gave Jett a few big challenges right off the bat including securing volunteers for our ReStore expansion BBQ on Saturday, July 9th as well as lining up volunteers to help on Tuesdays. Our ReStore will now be open on Tuesdays starting next week and that means we need the volunteers to help man the store. Thankfully Jett likes a challenge. 

If you're interested in volunteering with Habitat NOW IS THE TIME! The ReStore needs volunteers Tuesday - Saturdays. If you haven't volunteered with Habitat in the past we will be holding a volunteer orientation on Saturday July 9th at 11am in the ReStore.

And if you'd rather take the orientation online, that's possible too. Simply visit our website here and register to volunteer. 

We hope to see you soon!

Calling All Volunteers

We need your help! It's summertime and you know what that means...long and sunny days. What better way to spend your summer than by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Volunteers are crucial to our programs and we wouldn't be able to operate our ReStore in Goleta without volunteers.

Why volunteer at the Habitat ReStore: 

1. The ReStore has kept over 300 tons of building materials from our local landfills. ie: you're being GREEN
2. The ReStore provides an affordable way for families to make improvements to their homes.
3. All proceeds from the ReStore go directly back to Habitat and help us build low-income housing for families in need.

It really is easy to sign-up to volunteer online: sign up to volunteer. The program will walk you though our online volunteer orientation or you can attend one in person next Saturday, July 9th at 11am here at the ReStore.  

Volunteer Rachel, a college student home for the summer!

Volunteer Spotlight on Habitat Interns Jessica and Brandon

We at Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County love to celebrate our volunteers and interns. They make our mission possible. This month we are proud to spotlight our two spring interns from UCSB; Brandon Fox and Jessica Buenaventura. Jessica and Brandon were valuable members of the Habitat family and helped with a number of projects and projects. They both went above and beyond their duties and were always willing to help whenever and wherever needed. Countless times they stayed late, answered phones, completed necessary errands, and always did their assigned tasks with a smile on their face. Both volunteered in the Habitat booth during the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival and helped as servers during Habitat's May fundraiser event.

Please join us in thanking Brandon and Jessica for their commitment and dedication to Habitat for Humanity.

Jessica and Brandon along with Westmont volunteers at our May fundraiser.

Brandon with the "A Brush with Kindness" poster he created.

Jessica with the ReStore poster she designed

If you are interested in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Santa Barbara please view our volunteer calendar and sign-up to volunteer online. Every month we hold volunteer orientations which are a great way to learn more about Habitat and the various ways you can be involved. 

Our next orientation will be held: 

Saturday, July 9th @11 a.m. at the Habitat ReStore: 6725 Hollister Avenue in Goleta

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.

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!

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