GM Foundation contributes first $500,000 toward goal.

An F-4 tornado struck the Rancho Brazos subdivision on the evening of May 15 and damaged or destroyed up to 120 homes in the area, including 58 out of 61 Habitat homes.

ATLANTA (May 17, 2013) – Today, Habitat for Humanity is launching a $5 million fundraising initiative to help rebuild homes and communities devastated in the wake of tornadoes that ripped through North Texas on Wednesday. Habitat will assist with clean up, repairs and the construction of as many homes as possible to help families recover from this disaster.

“Habitat for Humanity is working to bring hope to the families who have lost so much,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “We are particularly grateful to the GM Foundation for stepping up and immediately offering the lead gift of $500,000. We hope their generosity inspires others to support our efforts during this critical time for these families.”

Habitat’s initiative in Texas comes after several tornadoes ripped through Texas Wednesday night, including one that struck a community in the Granbury area, where up to 120 homes were damaged or destroyed in a neighborhood that included 61 Habitat for Humanity houses. Habitat for Humanity is assessing the impact on these homes and other affordable housing in the affected areas.

“Helping Texas residents rebuild and repair their homes is a critical priority for Habitat for Humanity International in the aftermath of the recent tornadoes,” said Selim Bingol, vice president of GM global communications and public policy and chairman of the GM Foundation. “Through the $500,000 grant from the GM Foundation and recently donated Chevrolet Express Vans, we are helping the organization immediately provide financial and other important resources to those in need.”

Donations to Habitat’s $5 million fundraising initiative can be made here.

If you are shopping at jcpenney during the month of May, you have a chance to support Habitat for Humanity. jcpenney customers can round their purchases to the nearest whole dollar and donate the difference to support Habitat’s homebuilding in partnership with local low-income families. So if you have been planning a department store purchase, both in-store and online at jcp.com, buy it in the month of May to participate in this partnership. Additionally, customers can make donations to Habitat for Humanity at jcp.com/jcpcares.

Happy shopping!

Homeownership has its challenges. Yard upkeep, a cracked window, a leaky faucet, paper work, taxes and insurance, just to start! The perks are customizing things like paint colors, carpeting and hanging as many photos on the wall a you please. It’s a secure place for your children to grow, cook meals, spend holidays and the best place to relax. If you’re prepared, owning your own home can be a rewarding adventure.

Habitat’s HomeWORKS Education series offers classes designed to help Habitat families prepare for the joys and responsibilities of homeownership prior to buying their home. These classes and workshops, offered regularly and year round, support families in each stage of their ownership experience. Families who have never owned their own home become informed, empowered and better prepared to face all the new and wonderful challenges awaiting them as proud homeowners.

Most of the classes are mandatory and include:

• Financial Fitness (through Portland Housing Center) – Families learn financial planning, money management, understanding credit and how to make their money work for them.
• Tax Education – Many people can miss the details when it comes to taxes. Families breathe a sigh of relief as they understand more about this complicated subject.
• Home Buying 101 and Mortgage Education – Like taxes, this subject can also be confusing. This class helps families understand the process of buying a home and how their mortgage works.
• Home Maintenance – Families discover how to hire a contractor, do home repairs, understand energy efficiency techniques and ways to conserve water.
• Homeowner/Condo Association Basics – From fees to maintenance, families learn the ins and outs of living in a close community.
• Being a Good Neighbor – Families want to be good neighbors as well as have good neighbors. This class presents ways to interact with those living in the community.

There are also optional classes that teach predatory lending, fire safety, emergency preparedness, gardening and weatherization. Families attend classes at least once a month during their Habitat partnership, providing them with the tools they need to be successful homeowners before it’s time to move in.

For more information about our HomeWORKS Education series, please contact Kat Stritzl at 503.287.9529 x34 or katherine@habitatportlandmetro.org.

If you’ve been out to Habitat’s 45-home build site at SE 171st and Division Street, you have seen the transformation of the vacant parcel these past 12 months. Now that the first 22 homes are built and homeowners are moving in, staff and volunteers will soon start work on an 8,000 square foot lot at the end of the cul-de-sac on SE 171st Avenue.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Nike Employee Grant Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, this open lot will be transformed into an open green space, raised garden beds and pathway lined with fruit trees. The pathway will lead out of the subdivision’s north end and onto quiet side streets, encouraging kids to utilize the pathway to get to school and the park.

More information about the Nike Employee Grant Fund of OCF is available here.

About the Garden Beds
Homeowners are excited to have a place to grow their own food and are looking forward to planting their beds in the next few months. Each family will have their own raised garden bed that collects rainwater in an enclosed tank for reuse, eliminating the need for additional water supply. Water is collected during the rainy months and easily accessed year-round by a small hand pump installed on the side of the garden bed. The raised height and use of space means beds will be easily accessible, ensuring that all family members are able to participate in growing nutrient-rich food.

We’d like to introduce and give a warm welcome to three new staff members, Danell Norby, Rod Hilkiah and Jane Christensen, who have all joined the Habitat team this spring!

Spearheading Habitat’s newly launched Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative efforts is Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator, Danell Norby. Danell brings significant experience in community development and affordable homeownership and is graduating from Portland State University this June with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree. Danell will work closely with the Homeownership Programs department to help build the NRI program and identify potential homeowners in need in the NRI focus area.

On the construction side of NRI, Rod Hilkiah has joined the team as Habitat’s NRI Construction Supervisor. Rod will work closely with the construction team, volunteers and the Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator to evaluate and execute home repairs in the NRI focus area. Rod brings over 20 years of home remodel and carpentry experience to this new position, as well as experience leading construction teams and mentoring young adults.

Jane Christensen accepted the role of Habitat’s Annual Fund Manager, and will work closely with Habitat’s development team. Jane will lead Habitat’s annual fundraising efforts and events such as the HopeBuilder Breakfast and Hard Hat & Black Tie Dinner and Auction as well as be the contact for third-party fundraisers. Most recently, Jane has been on the development teams at The Audubon Society of Portland and The Portland Art Museum.

Welcome Danell, Rod and Jane! We are thankful to be able to work alongside staff members like you, with such experience and enthusiasm for the Habitat mission.

Thank you for a wonderful morning! Today more than 1,100 people gathered at the Oregon Convention Center for the HopeBuilder Breakfast, raising $287,174 in donations and pledged commitments! Thank you to everyone who attended for your enormous support and generosity! If you slept in today or couldn’t make it, Habitat presents you with a challenge. Help us reach $300,000 by donating now.

Our work is not done until we all are living in a city where everyone has a decent, affordable place to call home! We need your help to eliminate poverty housing.

Leadership build day kicks off a partnership providing homes for families in need. On Thursday, April 11, at Habitat for Humanity’s Orchards build site  in southeast Portland, Standard Insurance Company launched a partnership with Habitat to build a two homes for families in need. In celebration of the partnership, Greg Ness, chairman, president and CEO of The Standard,  joined by over 30 members of The Standard’s leadership team, spent the day raising walls on the homes.

“Habitat for Humanity provides a unique community benefit, helping those in need by engaging them in the hands-on construction of their future homes together with community volunteers,” said Greg Ness. “At The Standard, we place high value on building healthy and sustainable communities, and we are proud to offer the financial support and employee volunteers necessary to build new homes for three families.”

From April through October 2013, The Standard will encourage its more than 2,250 Oregon employees to participate in the build. As an additional incentive, employees will receive eight hours of paid time off to participate in the project.

“Thanks to the volunteer hours and donations provided by The Standard and its employees, we’re creating a decent, affordable place to live for two families who desperately need it,” said Steve Messinetti, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East. “With the generous support of companies like The Standard, we can continue building the community we want to live in; the community where everyone has safe place to call home.”

Habitat for Humanity is also the beneficiary of The Standard’s 2013 Jeans Day program, which gives employees the opportunity to wear jeans to work on Fridays in exchange for a donation of $100 to a nonprofit organization chosen annually by The Standard. Through the Jeans Day program and a dollar-for-dollar match by The Standard, more than $175,000 has been raised for Habitat for Humanity to support construction of the triplex.

Click here to see news coverage from KGW on this awesome partnership.

For more information about community involvement at The Standard, visit www.standard.com/community.

Getting a phone call that will change your family’s future is an emotional moment, especially when the call is about something every family needs – a simple, decent place to live. Habitat is proud to have recently made such calls to 23 local families, who are living in some of the most desperate housing conditions in our community.

These 23 families represent 119 people, including 46 children, who are now on the road to escaping moldy walls, unaffordable rent, overcrowding and an unceasing cycle of generational poverty. Nine of these families include a member with a disability or illness that presents mobility problems in their current living conditions. Thanks to our generous sponsors and volunteers, Habitat is able to partner with these families to  build homes that are accessible, so they can thrive.

Habitat handed out a record 370 homeownership applications during this latest homeowner selection process.111 were completed and sent to a team of volunteers and staff for review. The review process includes several steps to identify families with the greatest need and ability to partner with Habitat by investing 500 hours of sweat equity and paying an affordable monthly mortgage. For most of these families, renting a decent place to live easily consumes more than 40% to 50% of their income, leaving very little for life’s other necessities such as utilities, food, clothing or saving for college. These families will now have the opportunity to purchase their own home with a 1% down payment on a 0%- interest mortgage, paying no more than 30% of their income to own their home.

A warm welcome is planned for the new families at Habitat’s Key Ceremony and Home Dedication on April 6 and SE 171st and Division Street, where they will have the opportunity to tour a Habitat home and meet their future neighbors who have already completed the homeownership program. Please join us!

With the remaining 16 homes of Phase I at SE 171st and Division Street less than a month away from being complete, Habitat is starting excavation and foundations on more homes that will kickoff Phase II of this 45-home neighborhood. Help us celebrate this accomplishment and give thanks to our dedicated volunteers, donors and sponsors. Join us at the build site on April 6, when 16 families achieve their dream of homeownership and receive the keys to their own home!

On January 11, a team of 12 representatives from the Portland/Metro East affiliate, including staff, board members and longtime volunteers, took-off halfway around the world to participate in a Habitat Global Village trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While many Global Village trips work towards Habitat’s mission of eliminating poverty housing by building homes for families in need, this trip addressed a different need relating to poverty housing: access to proper sanitation.

In Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa, more than 80% of the 2.74 million residents live in slums, where dozens of neighbors are forced to walk hundreds of yards to use one substandard latrine, contributing to the spread of disease and other health problems. During the week of service, the Portland team worked side-by-side with local families in two separate neighborhoods, building a six-toilet facility and a four-toilet facility and kitchen, respectively. These new, sustainable facilities are built in close proximity to families’ homes and are maintained with affordable monthly dues paid for by each family.

“This sanitation facility is going to change the quality of life so much for my family,” said Jakob Gech (right), a 22-year-old, college graduate and Habitat beneficiary. “We are proud and honored to be working jointly with the volunteers from Habitat Portland.”

Habitat Portland/Metro East’s commitment to eliminating poverty housing in Ethiopia goes deeper than a week long service trip. To help support Habitat for Humanity International’s work, each year our affiliate gives 10% of our undesignated contributions to fund Habitat efforts in our partner countries – El Salvador and Ethiopia. Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia even surprised our team with a sign thanking Portland/Metro East for our financial support. While the team expected hard work during their service, they were amazed by the dedication from the local community.

“The experience of traveling to Ethiopia to build toilets and a kitchen was simply amazing,” said Dawn Holden, Habitat Portland/Metro East board member and Global Village team member. “I can’t express my gratitude for those in the community who welcomed us with open arms and into their homes. The friendship and love that Ethiopians bestowed upon all of us was something I will never forget.”

Check out more photos from the trip on Habitat’s Facebook page!