Friday, April 27, 2012

National Women Build Week



In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, women everywhere are coming together to devote at least one day to Habitat For Humanity’s effort to eliminate poverty housing. This week is significant to many of our volunteers because families with children make up a staggering number of those in desperate need of adequate housing. In Guelph you’ll see evidence of Women Build Week throughout our community. Although we haven’t begun to build yet this year, we’re getting close to being ready to kick off our build.

We have land.

At 10:30 am, May 3rd, you’re invited to visit our next Women Build site at 297 Paisley Road and celebrate with us as we raise our Women Build sign!

We have a family.

“Sarah” is a single Mom with three boys under the age of 16. Although she’s been holding down as many as 3 jobs at once, she’s made space in her busy life to complete most of her 400 Sweat Equity hours to make her eligible for our next home.

We have plans.

Our drawings are almost ready to submit for a building permit. “Sarah’s” home will be a simple decent two-story 3-bedroom home.

We have volunteers (though never enough)!

Women throughout Wellington County are anxiously waiting for us to start building so they can join in the fun.

What’s holding us back?

Despite the generosity of our many supporters, we need money for building materials, foundations, roofing and more. It costs money to build a home. So we’re actively seeking Build sponsors, large and small.

In the meantime, we have created a series of workshops for those gals who just can’t wait to come and play with tools. Most are held on Thursday evenings from 7-10 pm, but our Build a Shed Boot Camp is on a July weekend. Evening workshops are only $35 each. The weekend Boot Camp is just $100 and includes lunch, safety glasses and your own pink hard hat (that you get to keep). If you’re a serious do-it-yourselfer, you can sign up for the entire series for just $200.

When you come out to our workshops, you are under no obligation to sign up as a volunteer.

The first workshop – Power Tools 101 (for Women!)– is being held during Women Build Week, on Thursday, May 10th at 7:00 pm and Sharon Lewis, our 2011 Women Build Site Supervisor, is our instructor.

Learn more by visiting http://habitatwellington.on.ca/wb-2012-skills-workshops.html.

We’d love it if you joined us!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Volunteer Spotlight


This month Habitat for Humanity Wellington County would like to recognize Allan Berberich for his outstanding volunteerism. Al first came to volunteer with Habitat back in 2006 and has been a dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable volunteer ever since. Al is described as, “one of those ‘all-around’ volunteers, pitching in at every corner of our organization”

In 2010 Al volunteered a whopping 71.25 hours in the ReStore and 91 Hours at the build site and then in 2011 he inspired us all by devoting 137.5 hours to the ReStore and 71 hours at the Huron St. build site. Additionally, in 2011 Al not only provided great support to the Family Support Committee by helping to plan a workshop for our partner families to walk them through tax preparations, he also helped to mentor student volunteers at the Restore.

Other volunteers describe Al as a knowledgeable and reliable volunteer who is always there when you need him and always has a smile on his face! Al can consistently be counted on for any salvage or demolitions jobs and is more that willing to help show people the proper way to fix or assemble new products. No job is too big or small for Al to get involved in; he does not hesitate to pitch in whenever he sees a job that needs to get done!

Al has shown remarkable dedication and caring for the Habitat family he is the type of volunteer that we love to have here at Habitat for Humanity Wellington County. We are recognizing Al for being one of the only long-term volunteers who has made a continuous, ongoing commitment to both the build and the ReStore, with a gift card from Everyday Essentials. So here’s a BIG THANK YOU to Al Berberich for all of the magnificent volunteering he has done and with without a doubt continue to do!

THANKS AL!

For information on how you can get involved with Habitat for Humanity Wellington County visit us at Suite 300, 104 Dawson Road, Guelph, Ontario Canada N1H 1A7 or at
http://www.habitatwellington.on.ca/about.html

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Spring Cleaning? Why not ReStore your home with Habitat?

It’s that time of year again, the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming; no need for heavy winter coats. It’s time to open the house windows and do a good spring clean!

Now there are tons of tricks, lists and simple suggestions out there to make spring cleaning easier and less time consuming; Habitat for Humanity Wellington County has a list of their own to help remind you what items to donate and all about our free pick-ups.  <Take a look below of accepted and unaccepted items

All you need to do to donate an item is bring it into the ReStore located at Suite 300, 104 Dawson Road in Guelph. If your item is too large for you to bring in on your own or you have a number of things to donate, you can call the ReStore at 519-780-2323 to arrange for a free pick-up of all your items!

There are several great reasons to donate your unwanted goods to the Habitat Guelph ReStore. Your donations reduce the amount of material going into local landfill sites. In fact, the Guelph ReStore has diverted over 3,000,000 pounds of goods away from these sites. That's the equivalent to 230 elephants! Additionally, ReStore profits helps us offset administration costs so you can rest assured every penny you donate to Habitat for Humanity Wellington County goes directly to buying building materials to build more homes in your community.   

Spring Cleaning with the ReStore this year will make you feel great about your social and environmental actions, especially with Earth Day around the corner. Habitat for Humanity ReStores help Canadian consumers practice the 3Rs every day:
  • ReDuce - the need to manufacture new products
  • ReUse - gently-used products in your home renovation projects
  • ReCycle - your neighbour's gently-used products by finding a use for them in your house
Are you planning to finally get rid of that TV in the crawl space that merely collects dust? Maybe you'll finally decide to do something about the dozens of cell phones you have stashed away in the closet. Are you unsure of how to properly recycle these electronics? Recycle them with the ReStore and we'll make it easy for you! Bring your unwanted working or non-working electronics into our donation centre and will recycle them RESPONSIBLY!


So while you’re giving your house that thorough clean keep HFHWC and our Guelph Restore on your mind for all your recycled items!

Accepted Items for Donation
Items that Habitat ReStore accepts:
  • Appliances and small appliances 
  • Architectural columns, mantles, antique moldings 
  • Cabinets (kitchen and bathroom)
  • Carpeting and under-pad new or “as new” only 
  • Doors (in good condition NO hollow bi-folds) 
  • Drywall, blue board & cement board, in sheets uncut, (or half sheets) 
  • Drywall mud & tape 
  • Electrical devices and fixtures in “as new” working condition 
  • Exercise equipment 
  • Flooring (tiles, wood, vinyl engineered laminate, parquet) 
  • Furniture (no box springs and mattresses, no upholstered furniture) 
  • Garden tools, implements, structures, shovels wheelbarrows, sheds, etc. 
  • Hand tools, including power tools 
  • Hardware (hinges, handles, knobs, covers, nails, nuts and bolts, screws) 
  • Insulation (only in wrapped bundles) 
  • Interlocking paving stones 
  • Lighting fixtures (interior & exterior) 
  • Office furniture (desks, bookcases, computer work stations, chairs) 
  • Plumbing fixtures without chips or stains 
  • Plumbing tubing & pipes (copper, ABS, PVC, galvanized) 
  • Roofing (shingles, barrier paper and membranes)
  • Sealants and caulks in unopened packages
  • Shutters
  • Siding (wood, aluminum, vinyl)
  • Steel and Aluminum/ Steel tubs, steel desks
  • Televisions, radios, computers, monitors (all electronics)
  • Wall coverings (paper, vinyl, tiles)
  • Windows
  • Wood (lumber, trim, molding, plywood, MDR OFB, plastic) in usable sizes, not scrap
Items NOT accepted: 
Unaccepted Items for Donation
  • Any kind of waste
  • Automotive supplies
  • Toys
  • Books, magazines
  • Clothing
  • Dishes/pots and pans/dishwashers
  • Drywall smaller than 2x3
  • Fertilizers, insecticides/pesticides, plants
  • Glass that is not in a frame
  • Hazardous material (flammables, acids, solvents)
  • Plumbing fixtures that are chipped or stained (no 13 liter toilets)