HfHO Newsletter Summer 2010

HABITAT OREGON The Doors of Habitat 1,000th Home Celebration gets Creative

The 1,000th Home Celebration, on October 10, 2010, isn’t just about celebrating this momentous number—this is a time to thank and acknowledge all of the 34 Habitat Oregon affiliates who made the 1,000th home possible. “This is a chance for affiliates to celebrate their

achievements together and look back on all the wonderful work they’ve done over the years,” said Patricia Day TenEyck.

Each affiliate will be represented at the event in Eugene, Oregon by a donated door decorated with photos, affiliate

What We Need from Your Affiliate to Make this Event Great

1. Photos Please send in (by e-mail or mail) enough photos to decorate one side of a door representing your affiliate. Pictures of supporters on build sites with team t-shirts or corporate banners are requested along with shots of families, staff, events and more.

2. Statistics Questions we will ask each affiliate to answer include: When was your affiliate established? Who founded your affiliate? How many homes have you built since your inception? How many homes have you built this year? What area do you serve? What is the population of that area?

3. People Habitat Oregon is requesting that at least one representative from each affiliate attend the celebration. The intent is to honor all of Oregon’s affiliates together.

statistics and more. One side of each door will showcase a poster with that affiliate’s statistics, while the other side of the door will have a collage of photos showing all of the hard work, fun and heart each affiliate has put into building homes for Oregon’s families. These Habitat doors will be displayed at the reception, where guests can mingle while learning about a variety of affiliates and their projects.

To make this great galley of doors possible, Habitat Oregon is asking that each affiliate send in photos (by e-mail or mail) they wish to be displayed on their door. These photos can be of staff, families, those who have supported your affiliate, build sites, events and more. Affiliates are also encouraged to include short stories or quotations to accompany the photos. Let these photos tell your affiliate’s story to hundreds of guests! See below for additional information needed from your affiliate.

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Care-A-Vanners Zoom into McMinnville

Benton Habitat for Humanity hosted its second Global Village team from June 19 to June 26. The Global Village team members travelled from many parts of the United States: Ohio, New York, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Maryland and Klamath Falls.

The Global Village program welcomes all volunteers who are interested in learning about other cultures and working along side community members across the U.S. and the world. Every Global Village trip is different, but volunteers can expect to gain a unique set of

experiences and memories. Volunteers form once-in-a-lifetime friendships as they travel, live, work and eat together.

The Benton team was again led by Carolyn Hinds, a long-term supporter and past board member. Carolyn took a team to Corvallis last year, and with her late husband,

Global Village in Benton

Joe Hinds, has led Global Village teams in other locations. In their time off, the team experienced the beauty of Oregon: the coast, Silver Falls, Hull Oakes historic mill in Monroe, Thompson Mill State Park, Mary’s Peak, Alsea falls and a concert at Tyee Vineyards. On Saturday, June 26, the team helped raise the first walls with the two partner families and many volunteers from the community. The team not only helped with the construction of the latest two homes, they also contributed to the construction costs of the homes and to HfHI’s work.

McMinnville Habitat for Humanity enjoyed two weeks of fun and camaraderie by having 19 Habitat RV Care-A-Vanners volunteer on their current projects. The group—who came from Virginia, Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, California, Washington and Oregon—spent 10 work days on the Women Build/Jon Triest Memorial Build, the West Valley home and deconstructing a building for their ReStore. “They were a wonderful bunch of folks who had great skills and work ethics,” commented Jodi Boundy, the volunteer

coordinator at the McMinnville Habitat. “Seven of them worked with York Rentsch, our West Valley project manager, and homeowner Cody Lawson to go from foundation to raising walls in just four days and then went from walls to roof sheeting the next five days! It was sure fun to watch the progress of these teams.” The team also applied siding to McMinnville HfH’s Women/Jon Triest project and designed and built the porches. At the end of the

two weeks, participants felt this Care-A-Vanners experience was a fun way to make new friends and an amazing way to get the job done.

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Spotlight: The Gilman Family Solange Gilman and her two daughters savor the beauty of a

sunrise from their own front window

Encouraged by her mother to apply for one of The Dalles Area Habitat for Humanity homes, Solange Gilman took the plunge. Now the energetic and spunky mother of two girls beams happily as she watches her daughters savor the space and beauty of their new three-bedroom home.

Until this past February, all three Gilman women shared one bedroom in Solange’s parents’ house where privacy was at a minimum at best. While certainly a closely-knit trio, all three still list “their own space” at the top of things they would most like to have. Reflecting on her own childhood, where moving from one military base to another on a regular basis didn’t allow the family to put down

roots and establish long-term relationships, Solange expresses appreciation for the lessons of frugality and flexibility practiced by her parents.

Now she is in her own house, in her own neighborhood, with family, friends and work colleagues who are nearby and supportive.

Yet another living experience in a lifetime of adventures! Proud of the fact that she earned almost all of her own sweat equity hours, Solange modestly boasts of the building knowledge she acquired while working on various Habitat homes, and the

friends she made in the Habitat volunteer family.

With the security of a safe and affordable home to welcome them at the end of each day, the family can now focus on some of their passions: Christina has her track and field and dance; Shelby, who loves playing with her dolls, will take dance and swim lessons; and Solange plans to

garden with a passion and to continue to photograph the amazing Gorge

sunrises that she enjoys every morning out her front window. The Gilman girls have enthusiastically and successfully embraced Habitat for Humanity’s offer of a hand-up!

Clockwise from top left: Solange, Christina (17) and

Shelby (7) Gilman

-The Dalles Area HfH

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“I’ve been dreaming of a safe place for my kids, a better future for them,” says Guillermo Vega-Sanchez, single father of three boys ages 8, 9 and 11. Although the boys are old enough to have memories of cold winters and cramped space in their present living conditions, there is still time to make brand new ones in their soon to be Habitat home. The Vegas-Sanchez family will be the first of 10 homeowners of Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity’s biggest project yet: the Sweet Place Subdivision. So far, three other families have been chosen—the Cortez family, the LaFord family and the Medina family—all of whom currently live in less than adequate housing. The Sweet Place Subdivision started out as just a dream in the eyes of Executive Director Denise James and former Board President Ron McKinley. They were both in agreement that their goal was to build a community for deserving families willing to make a change for the better along with a “common area” in the subdivision promoting healthy community fellowship. Sweet Place will also represent Rogue Valley HfH’s aspiring effort to build “green” Earth Advantage Homes. “The incorporation of other attributes such as energy-efficient windows, light fixtures and mechanical systems can lead to lower energy usage allowing our affiliate to virtually put the savings into our homeowners pockets,” says Jim Whitlock, the project manager. With all new endeavors come challenges and setbacks. The large costs of development and infrastructure, as well as hours of labor just to start the project, begin to add up quickly. Although some may be discouraged by the sizeable amount of costs, Rogue Valley HfH continues to build on faith. Blessings are blooming as various funders have begun to provide monetary support to make this project a success. Thrivent Financial for

Lutherans has provided funding for the first home as their ongoing alliance continues. A grant from the Ben Cheney Foundation along with Wells Fargo Financial and local church partners have provided Rogue Valley HfH with stability to secure the first phase of the project. Sweet Place draws the affiliate closer together as the search for additional funding continues, and the family selection process begins to fill the remaining spots in the fall of 2010. As we all move forward, fulfilling our mission, we keep in mind that it takes many hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.

Development: Home Sweet Home Rogue Valley HfH embarks on their biggest project yet, the Sweet Place Subdivision,

and makes a dream come true for one single father along the way

Guillermo Vega Sanchez and his boys

Many families involved in the Sweet Place Subdivision came together for the groundbreaking ceremony

-Rachel S. Moore

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Evan TK

Habitat Hero Recognizing the amazing volunteers around Oregon

who make Habitat look great

Barbara Wade

At the age of 80 Barbara has decided to pare down her volunteer hours to six hours a week at the ReStore; that’s down from about 25 hours a week for the last several years. “The ReStore happened this year because of Barbara,” says Newbery Habitat Executive Director Randy Heise. “She has been my right hand for the past three years as well as the president of the board and grant writer. Our organization would not be where it is if it was not for Barbara.” NHfH is undergoing a transition from a small Habitat affiliate to being a true player in affordable housing development in southern Deschutes County. Barbara has been instrumental in reshaping the organization and building capacity through the variety of positions she has held over the years at NHfH: grant writer, chairperson of numerous committees, chief cook and bottle washer, vice president and now president. “She is a true community leader and a true community volunteer and as such, asks nothing for what she has given, yet still gives selflessly to this wonderful place,” says Heise.

Barbara is a shinning example that one person can make a difference.

HfHO Board Habitat for Humanity of Oregon is pleased to

introduce our newest board member

Tom Taylor

Wells Fargo Senior Vice President of Oregon Business Banking Tom Taylor has joined the HfHO board of directors. As the manager of the Business Banking Group in Oregon and southwest Washington, he oversees the activities of 90 team members who provide a wide variety of financial services to about 9,000 local businesses with annual sales of up to $20 million. “I’ve been working with Habitat for Humanity for nearly a decade,” said Taylor. “And during that time I’ve really come to appreciate the incredible commitment and dedication of everyone involved in the process of building a Habitat for Humanity home. I wanted to take my own level of commitment to this cause one step further by joining the Habitat Oregon board, where I hope to help further the mission of providing everyone who wants it, the opportunity to own a home.” “Tom is going to be an incredible asset to our board,” said Patricia Day TenEyck, Executive Director of HfHO. “His vision for the organization is right on par and will certainly help us in reaching the goal of 2,000 homes for hardworking families in Oregon by 2020.”

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Fundraising: How Affiliates Make $

Community support sometimes comes from the most unexpected places. In the case of the McMinnville ReStore, it’s their cat that is building strong community ties. On August 21, the ReStore will celebrate their resident cat’s—named Habi, short for Habitat—fifth birthday.

Habi is an institution at the McMinnville ReStore: “We have at least two dozen people a day come into the shop and ask where Habi is,” says Dawn Witt, the ReStore director. “There are even three small children who come in periodically to put some coins into Habi's jar so we can keep her in food, litter and flee medicine.”

To celebrate Habi’s birthday, the ReStore will throw a party

Most development directors will tell you that it’s not just fundraising that they do—they also do friend-raising. Relationship fundraising, which revolves around the development of a "unique and special relationship… between a charity and its supporter," wrote Ken Burnett, author of Relationship Fundraising. The concept of friend-raising involves a single organization or individual following a setup of guidelines and principles to establish friendship with another entity—the relationship is a sustainable one of genuine care and concern where each

Not Just Fundraising: Getting Community Support and Exposure

party involved is there for the benefit of each other and therefore, the community represented. One way to start friend-raising is to hold creative events that the community is invited to attend. Community-based events create a wonderful, relaxed atmosphere for relationship building and getting donors involved with your affiliate at a deeper level. Read the article below for a fun, creative way to increase exposure, raise awareness and making lasting community bonds.

Friend-raising Basics

with birthday cake and hot dogs for the community to enjoy. Also, anyone who brings in a picture of Habi gets a 50 percent discount on one item that day. To further connect the ReStore and the community, the best picture submitted will receive a $50 gift certificate to use at the ReStore and all photos will be used in a Habi Habitat collage to hang in the ReStore. “This is a great way to get the community involved, the ReStore recognized and have some fun,” exclaimed Witt.

If your affiliate is using creative ways to fundraise and draw community support, let us know! Past fundraising successes (and even bloopers!) can help all affiliates find creative ways to keep Habitat growing in Oregon.

E-mail Lydia@habitatoregon.org with your stories.

Habi at home in the McMinnville ReStore

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News Bites: Habitat Happenings

New ReStore Policy

The multistep review and approval process for HfH ReStore retail operations policy is now complete. The best time to find out if your affiliate has the infrastructure, capital and plan in place to open and manage a successful Habitat ReStore is before you decide to open a store. The new policy provides that affiliates planning to open a Habitat ReStore for the first time, or affiliates planning to open a ReStore after a previously unsuccessful attempt, must receive approval from HFHI. The Habitat ReStore Affiliate Readiness Checklist is the tool affiliates will use when seeking to open a ReStore. The checklist was created by the National ReStore Working Group and is based both on their experience opening stores and on research conducted around the country. The policy, readiness checklist and supporting materials are available on My.Habitat.org.

Barn Deconstruction

The McMinnville ReStore recently finished a deconstruction in Yamhill of a large grooming and storage shed, measuring about 20 ft. by 80 ft. It was a paid deconstruction, $975.00, and the donor was so concerned that next to nothing go into the landfill that the few items that the ReStore couldn't use were taken to Smurfit. The only material from the deconstruction that went into the landfill was wet and ruined insulation.

“It was a very fulfilling project seeing a nice totally level space where an old building once stood,” said Dawn Witt, the ReStore director. “Our deconstruction manager, Wayne Stocks, did a wonderful job and the donor was very happy.”

The next reconstruction project the ReStore will tackle is a barn in another field that should yield some nice, old wood barn siding.

Habitat in Haiti Update

As part of a three-phase response to serve 50,000 families affected by the January 12th, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Habitat for Humanity has assembled more than 21,000 emergency shelter kits, conducted more than 2,000 home safety evaluations and is building up to 70 transitional shelters per week. To date, Habitat has built nearly 400 transitional shelters. Habitat’s upgradable transitional shelters have a permanent foundation and represent the first stage of a permanent house.

Find the full report on reconstruction in Haiti, at: www.hfhap.org/ap_update/images/haiti_progress_report.pdf

HfHO Newsletter Summer 2010

Potpourri: Events, Announcements and More

Florence Events

Florence Habitat will have a very active August with an open house and tour of its newly completed four-bedroom home—the first home in a new development called Keener Place. The open house is scheduled for August 21st and will be held between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at 1520 15th Street in Florence. On August 28th the new home will be dedicated and the keys handed over to Libier Rodriguez and five of her seven children.

On August 7th at 9:30 a.m. there was a groundbreaking ceremony for the first duplex at Keener Place: new homes for Amber Dietz and her daughter and Angie Grover and her son and daughter.

All this leads up to the biggest event of the year for the Florence affiliate: On September 18th they will host the BeachWalk and after party called the BeachWalk Blues. Between

We want to hear from you! Comments and suggestions are warmly welcomed. Also, if you have any

news, upcoming events and meetings or great stories to share, please e-mail Lydia Holden at Lydia@habitatoregon.org.

Reminder

Please fax in (503-249-1193) ALL building permits so we can keep counting to 1,000th homes and beyond.

8:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. everyone walks the Heceta Beach, starting at the North Jetty and heading north to the Driftwood Shores Hotel for refreshments and music before returning to the Jetty via the beach. The party will be hosted at the Wakonda Brewery in their tasting room at 1725 Kingwood Street in Florence from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with grilled oysters, brats, burgers, beer, wine and wonderful live music. Don't miss it!

If you want your affiliate’s events featured in the HfHO newsletter for other affiliates and community members to see, please e-mail Lydia at lydia@habitatoregon.org.

An eager BeachWalk participant