Thank You for Pledging 25!
HFH-MC would like to thank all of the volunteers that were involved with Pledge 25! We appreciate everyone’s dedication, and hope that everyone enjoyed the pleasure of giving back to their community.
If you would like to continue to volunteer for Habitat, check out our website .
Only 1 month left to Pledge 25!
Help us celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Community Service Day by signing-up for Pledge 25 today. Be sure to begin soon; October 22nd is quickly approaching! You can sign up for volunteer opportunities with Habitat here (http://habitat-mc.volunteerhub.com/Events/Browse.aspx).
Pledge 25 hours at HFH-MC by volunteering with our family services committee! Go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/volunteer to start recording your hours today and learn more! Click here to see a copy of our flyer!
New Vacant Property Purchased for Rehab
HFH-MC is happy to announce that we’ve purchased another vacant, distressed home to rehabilitate! This means we will be able to provide a homeownership opportunity for another wonderful family in our community while continuing to reduce the number of vacant properties in Montgomery County.
When the housing crisis hit in 2008, HFH-MC quickly realized that this was an opportunity for us to work with Montgomery County to reduce the amount of vacant properties while continuing to do what we do best – build homes for low-income families. The county provided funding that allowed HFH-MC to purchase 13 foreclosed properties in Silver Spring, one of the areas hardest hit by the crisis. After finishing the first 13 rehabilitations, we realized that this was a program we wanted to continue. Since August of 2010, we’ve purchased 6 additional homes, 3 of which we’ve completed, 1 of which we are dedicating this Saturday, September 10th, and 2 of which are still in process.
Our rehabilitation program has not only allowed us to provide 19 families with the opportunity to purchase simple, decent, affordable homes, but it’s allowed us to engage the community in the fight against poverty housing. Since the launch of this program in 2009, more than 750 volunteers have spent more than 6,000 hours working on our sites. We’ve had a Women Build Committee sponsor two homes, a Pride Build Committee sponsor one home, and Thrivent Builds sponsor four homes. The overwhelming volunteer and financial support for the program has been tremendous and as we often say – our work would not be possible without the support of community members like you.
Here’s a look back the first 17 NRP homes and the 2 still to come!
Thank you for all of your help and for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you onsite, in ReStore, in the office, or advocating for decent housing in the community.
Best,
Sarah Reddinger
Idlewood Home Dedication
We have completed our 63rd house here at HFH-MC! This home was our fourth Thrivent Builds home and our 17th NRP Home. The family has been working hard to complete their sweat-equity hours for this house and are excited to see the results!
Their new home is another renovated house that was purchased after it had been foreclosed on and sat vacant for over a year. Thanks to all the hard work of our many awesome volunteers and tireless construction team leaders, it is now coming to completion.
We want to thank the following congregations for all of their contributions to this house: Christ Lutheran of Bethesda, Good Shepherd Gaithersburg, Messiah Lutheran, Good Shepherd Olney, Lutheran Church of St. Andrew, St. John’s in Rockville, St. Luke’s in Derwood, Prince of Peace, and Epiphany Lutheran. We also want to thank the Montgomery County, Maryland Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for their continued and tremendous support.
On Saturday September 10th at 3:00pm, we will be gathering at the house to honor the hard work, generous financial contributions, and community support that made the rehabilitation of this home possible, and to welcome the family home.
We invite you to attend and celebrate with us. Please RSVP.
HFH-MC is Greener Every Day!
HFH-MC is becoming greener and greener every day! For the last few years we have been purchasing our wind power electric through Clean Currents and you should already aware be aware of our ReStore that diverts tons of reusable materials from local landfills. Now HFH-MC is taking our green initiative to the next level we are applying to become a Montgomery County Certified Green Business. In an effort to ensure that we meet all certification requirements we have expanded our program to include mercury thermostat recycling, homemade eco friendly cleaning supplies and denim insulation in our Habitat homes. HFH-MC has also initiated a new weatherization program for Montgomery County homeowners with the goal of providing free basic weatherization services to increase energy efficiency in the home.
Most recently, HFH-MC has been awarded as the runner-up in the 2011 Bethesda Magazine Green Awards and has been recognized as a sustainable and green business. Look out for us in the November/December issue of Bethesda Magazine! Interested in how we make our homemade cleaning solution? Check us out at Celebrate Gaithersburg on Sunday, September 18, 2011 in Olde Town Gaithersburg!
Please check out our Green Initiative page on our website for updates on our efforts to become a green organization and for links and tips to become green.
