News
Event Celebrates Successful Close of Thrivent Build Project
Two months of concentrated efforts to build a new ranch-style Habitat for Humanity home with a family of three at 515 Gayle Avenue, Kalamazoo, are coming to a successful close. Members of six local Lutheran congregations and the Kalamazoo County Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chapter have volunteered nearly 2,000 hours to complete the home as part of the 2010 Thrivent Builds Homes program. A “Celebration of Thanksgiving” will recognize volunteer and donor efforts and bless the fruits of their labors from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Sunday. A short program will begin at 2:30 p.m. The public is invited to participate in the celebration and tour the home.
Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity was awarded $65,000 by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for the construction of this home. Six local Lutheran congregations – Lord of Life (Portage), Zion (Kalamazoo), Prince of Peace (Portage), Lutheran Church of the Savior (Kalamazoo), Trinity Lutheran (Kalamazoo), and Immanuel Lutheran (Kalamazoo) – raised and contributed another $10,000, and Habitat raised the remaining funds. The Thrivent Builds Homes alliance, between Habitat for Humanity International and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, began in 2006 and has built more than 2,000 homes.
173rd Habitat Homeowner Family to Host Open House August 15
Not many high school students can take their parents on a room by room tour of their class project. The Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency’s Education for Employment (EFE) Construction Trades Program students will have that opportunity on Sunday, August 15, however.
The 2009-2010 class project, a new Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity (KVHH) home on Woodward Avenue, was built by the students in partnership with a Habitat home buyer family. Habitat’s 173rd homeowner family will dedicate its new home in the 1400 block of Woodward Avenue, Kalamazoo, on Sunday, August 15. The home will be open from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. with a dedication ceremony at 2:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Students from Comstock, Climax-Scotts, Galesburg-Augusta, Gull Lake, Kalamazoo Central, Loy Norrix, and Parchment high schools completed this home under the direction of instructor Kenneth Wright and the supervision of Habitat Construction Manager Tom Tishler. This EFE program is hosted by Comstock High School. KVHH also partners with two other student trades programs – the EFE program based at Schoolcraft High School and one at Van Buren Intermediate School District in Lawrence.
GJ 85 Home Build Underway in Kalamazoo
The Greg Jennings Foundation will contribute $85,000 to sponsor the construction of a new Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity (KVHH) home on Kalamazoo’s east side. Foundation volunteers are framing the two-story house at 631 Fairbanks in partnership with the Habitat home buyer family, July 20-August 7. Foundation co-founders Greg and Nicole Jenning joined Habitat officials to celebrate the partnership and bless the start of the project at 12:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 20 at the build site. To volunteer on the construction site, contact Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity at (269) 344-2443.
“The Greg Jennings Foundation decided to partner with Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity to increase recognition of the importance of homeownership and its many benefits,” said Nicole Jennings, foundation president. “Our aim is to assist in making homeownership possible for motivated families. We are honored to be a full sponsor in order to help Habitat fulfill its mission. We hope we can help make a great impact by working together in the communities in which we live.”
The Greg Jennings Foundation is extending the GJ 85 Home Build partnership to another Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity partner, the Comstock Education for Employment (EFE) construction trades program. The EFE students will continue construction of the home when school begins in September. This home also will be KVHH’s first Green Built Michigan®-certified home.
To learn more about the Greg Jennings Foundation’s programs and volunteer opportunities, visit their website, www.gj85foundation.com, or call (269) 343-6990.
Changes Announced for Fast Built Project 2010
The Home Builders Association of Greater Kalamazoo (HBAGK) and Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity (KVHH) are excited to announce the new 2010 Fast Built Project – completing a portion of the new public safety training facility on Nazareth Road.
“Our partnership with the Home Builders Association of Greater Kalamazoo is healthy and strong and it is also flexible,” said Don Jones, KVHH Executive Director. “As HBAGK members, we will join another important community effort this fall – the building of a public safety training facility. We look forward to working together on the 19th Fast Built home in 2011.”
“The HBAGK really appreciates the ongoing support of Habitat for Humanity and looks forward to working and partnering with them on future Fast Built projects,” said Dale Shugars, HBAGK Executive Vice President. “We are excited about the public safety training facility project and look forward to the wonderful impact it will have on the greater Kalamazoo community.”
The HBAGK and KVHH have partnered together annually since 1992 to build a Fast Built Habitat home in less than 36 hours. The Fast Built home built in 2009 was completed in less than 22 hours and received the highest Energy Star rating available.
Volunteer Service to KVHH Tops $1,000,000 Value in 2009
Volunteers contributed service valued at $1,104,180.50 to Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity in 2009.
The Independent Sector, a nonpartisan leadership forum for charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs, recently announced that the estimated value of a volunteer hour reached $20.85 in 2009, up 60 cents from 2008. The estimate is based on the average hourly wage (plus 12 percent, to allow for fringe benefits) of all non-management, non-agricultural workers, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than 1500 volunteers serve with KVHH each year and contributed more than 50,000 hours in 2009.
KVHH Wins Community Environmental Leadership Award
Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity will receive the 2010 Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce Environmental Award on April 8. The award recognizes Habitat's efforts to operate our affiliate, build our homes, and advocate for sustainable affordable housing.
"This is a great honor for our organization and recognizes the years of work we have invested to learn about sustainable practices and design, adjust our business systems, and implement some very remarkable processes in all the work we do in the office, in the design and construction of our homes, and at the Habitat ReStore," said Don Jones, executive director.
Criteria used to evaluate the nominees included:
- Commitment to the environment displayed through efforts to improve quality of life for our region.
- Creative use of resources to provide innovative solutions to environmental challenges facing the nominee, nominee’s organization or industry or the region.
- Design, use or production of innovative product(s) or service(s) that supports a sustainable future socially, economically, and environmentally.
- Leadership displayed with respect to addressing environmental issues that affect the nominee, the nominee’s organization or this region.
- Involvement with public policy issues that help improve quality of life through social, economic and environmental factors.
- Efforts to improve environmental awareness throughout the community and region, including by teaching others and leading by example.
"We were nominated by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kalamazoo, a member of the Chamber," explained Jones. "Longtime friends of Habitat, we appreciate the Association's efforts to tell our story. It's great to represent the local home building industry and nonprofit sector in accepting this award."
WMU Students Bike Across U.S. for Affordable Housing
Two Western Michigan University seniors are biking across the United States this summer in a mission to end substandard housing. Zachary Siddall and Jennifer McGinnis, avid Habitat for Humanity volunteers and co-presidents of Western Michigan University Habitat for Humanity campus chapter, have joined Bike and Build, an organization which partners with affordable housing organizations to empower young adults to take action in their communities.
On May 27th, Siddall and McGinnis started their 3,669 mile bike ride in Jacksonville, Florida along with 28 other students from around the US. If all goes according to plan, they will ride across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco on August 9. During the 11 week trip, riders are stopping to talk to communities about the need for affordable housing and build with local programs such as Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together. One of the highlights of the trip was a week in New Orleans, where participants will help with rebuilding in Hurricane Katrina affected areas.
For more information, visit www. bikeandbuild.org or contact Siddall and McGinnis at wmuhabitat@gmail.com. To make a donation, go to the Bike and Build website, click “Donate,” and select either of their names.
Donations of Building Lots and Homes Help Habitat
In the last 28 months, generous donors have given Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity vacant building lots and rehab-able homes valued at more than $300,000. Three new homes sold to Habitat home buyers in 2009 were built on three of these lots and three more are currently under construction. A newly rehabilitated home was sold in 2009 as well.
"We are blessed with these gifts," said Don Jones, Habitat's executive director, "and we need more of them to continue our work."
For more information on donating a lot or rehabable home to Habitat, please contact the Habitat office, (269)344-2443.