Habitat for Humanity home repair in Carpinteria

Tomorrow marks Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County's first home repair in Carpinteria. Habitat has wanted to work in Carpinteria for some time now and we're thrilled to be able to debut the new "A Brush With Kindness" home repair program in this wonderful community. Over the next two consecutive Saturdays, Habitat volunteers we will be repairing the driveway, plastering and painting the house exterior, fixing eaves, and re-landscaping a house in need of maintenance.

Like our home building program, "A Brush with Kindness" relies on individual and groups of volunteers to help with the home repairs. For this particular project we have volunteer groups coming from Westmont College, Santa Barbara City College, UCSB, and Santa Barbara Firefighters.  Venoco is confirmed as a half house sponsor of the whole project and St. Joseph's Catholic Church is providing lunch for all volunteers.

A Brush with Kindness is about restoring homes and helping people through simple acts of kindness.  If you'd like to volunteer and help homeowners remain in their homes, please sign up online. This is a program that is not limited to just this one house. We will keep you informed on upcoming A Brush with Kindness projects. 

Related link: How to qualify for A Brush with Kindness

Students make a difference by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity

It's always inspiring to see students engaging themselves and their campuses to make a difference in the community. Today we heard of two such examples! 

First, Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County is lucky to have one of the state's finest institutions literally in our backyard. UCSB's faculty and students support Habitat in many ways, one of which is through the student run UCSB Habitat for Humanity campus chapter. 

Yesterday the UCSB Campus Chapter took a break from studying and held a fundraiser at the IV Drip Coffee Shop. Over a hundred students donated a portion of their coffee money to Habitat and learned about how they can volunteer and make a difference to end sub-standard housing in Santa Barbara. The campus chapter also volunteered a work day in our ReStore earlier this month!

And, later in the day we received information from Habitat for Humanity International on their upcoming Collegiate Challenge. During this year's spring break, thousands of students will volunteer their week off by helping Habitat improve communities across the country. This spring break more than 10,000 students from 600 spring break groups will travel to 185 locations and donate over $1.4 million to Habitat for Humanity. Now that's inspiring!

Read more: Making a difference through Collegiate Challenge

HFHI cr: Steffan Hacker

Before you remodel, consider what can be reused in the Habitat ReStore

Are you remodeling your home and looking for an environmentally friendly way to demolish and deconstruct? Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County does not provide deconstruction services ourselves but we partner with the Deconstruction & ReUse Network to assist with local deconstructions. 

Many items removed from a remodel demolition can be reused and we hope you'll take advantage of DRN's services. They provide the deconstruction work and give many reusable materials to the Habitat ReStore. Instead of filling up our local landfills the material is used in local Habitat homes or purchased at discounted rates by families that might not otherwise be able to afford them. 

Contractors saving reusable items.
cr: HFHI/Steffan Hacker

Reusable items include:

• Lumber
• Doors & Windows
• Roofing
• Cabinetry
• Countertops
• Plumbing Fixtures
• Fireplaces & Mantels
• And more...check the ReStore's website for all materials accepted.

So if you're thinking about remodeling your home or office, consider minimizing your environmental impact and contact the Deconstruction & ReUse Network. 

Why deconstruct to REUSE? The DRN reminds us: 

34 Billion tons of construction waste ends up in the landfill each year. Deconstructing to reuse one 2,500 sq. foot home can divert 25 tons of construction waste. 

You can be part of A Brush with Kindness

We've told you about Habitat for Humanity Santa Barbara's new program A Brush With Kindness a few times and are still in need of volunteers to help repair a home of a low-income homeowner in Carpinteria. A Brush With Kindness is a new program that allows Habitat to serve a greater number of people in Santa Barbara and is in line with our core values of homeownership and community revitalization. 

Habitat's first home repair will help Suzanna, a low-income homeowner in Carpinteria who cares for her disabled sister. After years of deferred maintenance, Suzanna's driveway is in need of complete repair. The driveway has become a hazard and hindrance to her sister who is wheelchair bound. Habitat is working with a local contractor to lay a new driveway, plaster holes in the exterior of the home, repair eaves, paint the full exterior, and landscape the yard. 

We have a great group of Westmont College students confirmed to help on 2/26 but still need volunteers to sign up for Saturday, February 26th and March 5th. Please sign-up to volunteer online or contact our volunteer coordinator Lydia.

A portion of the driveway that needs repair.

Support Funds for Affordable Housing

According to the Los Angeles Times, California's budget shortfall is estimated to be $28 billion. This deficit has prompted Governor Brown to propose drastic cuts, including the elimination of state Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs).  Like food and clothing, Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County believes that shelter is a basic human need that must be met. Our mission and highest priority is to meet the housing needs of low-income, working families in Santa Barbara County and the elimination of RDAs would affect our ability to do so.

Our local affordable housing projects have been possible due to RDA funds. RDAs are the single largest source of local funding for affordable housing in California. Please learn more and take action to keep local redevelopment funds in our community.

From Housing California's Budget Fact Sheet:

Next to food, adequate shelter is the most fundamental of
human needs. In California, however, rising rents and job
losses have made families the fastest growing segment of our
homeless population. As well, foreclosures are forcing more
families into the rental market, further reducing the available
supply of affordable rentals and driving rents even higher. 

These facts highlight the most valuable role of redevelopment
funds in our communities: The production of affordable places to
live. On its own, the private market does not build enough
apartments with rents Californians can afford. Public investment
is crucial to providing these choices in the market. 

Today, February 15th, the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance is meeting for a hearing on the proposed redevelopment elimination. We will be keeping a close eye on results from this meeting and would love to hear from you. What are your thoughts on Governor Brown's proposed budget cuts?

Update: If you believe Redevelopment Agencies need to remain, tell the legislature here.