| Wish
List Includes a Variety of Resources |
As a nonprofit organization, Habitat
for Humanity - Golden Empire
frequently needs basic supplies, services and equipment. Among the
current needs:
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Office
Laptops or
notebooks
Answering
machine
Multiline
phones
Ink
cartridges
Staples, notepads and
general office materials
Printing
services
Gift cards for office
supplies
Volunteer
Needs
Building
tools
Sunscreen
First aid
kits
Work gloves
Paper
products
Plates, napkins, towels,
cups, forks, spoons
Printer/copy
paper
Other
Hand
sanitizer
Gift certificates to be
auctioned off off at fundraisers. (Restaurants, sporting events,
concerts, etc)
Coffee
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HABITAT READY TO PAINT THE TOWN
GREEN
A
volunteer finishes cabinets at the latest Habitat house in
Bakersfield.
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The Habitat for Humanity -
Golden Empire ReStore is ready to paint the town
green.
Operated by the local Habitat
for Humanity, the ReStore, which is at 622 Jackson Street in Old
Town Kern, Bakersfield accepts donations of new and gently used
building materials, home furnishings and appliances. The donations
support Habitat and help keep otherwise discarded items out of the
landfill and available for purchase. ReStore prices are 50 percent
to 75 percent, and all proceeds and some donations are used to help
build Habitat homes for local, needy families. The newly
refurbished ReStore truck is also set to collect donations and
appear at environmental community events.
To promote this effort, the
ReStore and Habitat has partnered with Kern Schools Federal Credit
Union, the Bakersfield Association for Retarded Citizens (BARC),
the city of Bakersfield Solid Waste Division, and Keep Bakersfield
Beautiful for a Community Recycles Day held at the credit
union corporate
offices parking lot on Ming Ave. in July.
"We love teaming with other like
minded folks who are socially conscious and respect our planet," said Sydney
McFarland, ReStore Committee chair. "
Among the stand-out donations
were front doors, a slab of granite, new roofing and plumbing
materials, hand tools, dual-paned windows that were line new, and
even a kitchen sink.
Anyone that wants to donate
building materials in good condition, volunteer at the shop, obtain discounted
supplies for an improvement project, or invite Habitat to a green
event may call the ReStore at (661) 327-7067 or visit the store in
Old Town Kern.
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Dream Playhouses Constructed for
Children.
Playhouse built by Lennar at 8700 Stockdale Hwy in Bakersfield
.
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Volunteers from Habitat for
Humanity
- Golden Empire hit the Kern
County Fair recently to construct
children's playhouses with
unique designs, including a castle theme.
Building playhouses is a new
project for the local Habitat. This year, the organization asked
architects, builders, service clubs, and volunteers to construct
playhouses instead of helping build a home at the fair as Habitat
has done for the past 10 years. That's because in the current
housing market, dollars can be better spent fixing foreclosed homes
instead of building from scratch.
The houses will be sold at a
live action at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 10 on the back lot of Modern
Office Environments, 860 21st Street, Bakersfield.
"We're really excited about this
new venture," said Dennis Wallace, Executive Director, Habitat for
Humanity
- Golden Empire. "It's sad that
we won't be able to a build a house at the fair this year, however
the playhouse project will give us a presence at the fair to give
out the Habitat message and also give our volunteers an opportunity
to help us raise funds to house another family."
Families can view all the
playhouse designs at the fair, which runs Sept. 22 to Oct. 3.
Proceeds from the auction will benefit Habitat for Humanity -
Golden Empire's mission of helping local low-income families
purchase a home.
The playhouse project teams also
will have a chance to reuse construction materials, tools, and
hardware available at Habitat's ReStore, 622 Jackson Street in east
Bakersfield.
Since 1991, Habitat for Humanity
- Golden Empire has provided housing for 44 families with a total
of 146 children. children. Information can be obtained by calling
the local office at (661) 861-8449.
Check out more pics of the
playhouses here:
Playhouses at the
Fair
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FISCAL
YEAR BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES
As we begin a new fiscal year,
we're gearing up for new projects, new programs and, of course, new
challenges.
This week we began work on a
home at 226 East 6th Street in southeast Bakersfield. We now have
work for all of you who have been anxiously calling the office for
the past couple of months looking for your Saturday construction
fix.
Although it has been more than
two months between the completion of the home on Owens Street and
the start of the 6th Street project,we haven't been just sitting
around watching the flowers grow. Art and the "Elf Crew" have been
busy with other projects. They demolished a home in Taft that we
had hoped to rehab, but found that it was too old and too poorly
built to save. We'll use that lot for another project in the
future.
The Elf Crew also worked with a
group from Bethany Ministries to rebuild the Bethany Men's home
that had been lost to a fire several years ago. The guys completed
the carpentry and installed all the sheet rock in the home that
will serve as a sober-living environment for 20 men.
Over the past several months,
Curt Douglas, our former board president, and I have been working
with the staff at the city of Delano to establish another project
there. We have secured almost one-half million dollars to acquire
and rehab five foreclosed homes. The first one is in escrow, and we
will begin family selection in the next few weeks. We plan to begin
construction in mid-September.
Last month Habitat for Humanity Golden Empire was selected to
participate in Habitat for Humanity International's new
Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI).
Participation in the initiative will help us expand our scope of
services to allow us to reach more families in need. The new
approach will continue our efforts in new construction and rehab.
It will also allow us to undertake neighborhood clean-up projects,
home repair projects for elderly and disabled homeowners and serve
to jump start our "Brush With Kindness" project that will provide
free paint and labor for low-income homeowners whose homes need
some TLC.
In closing, I want to welcome
the new members to our board of directors and thank Curt Douglas,
Mike Trihey, Kathy Erwin and Mary Jo Buckle for the many years of
service that they provided to our organization.
Dennis Wallace,
Executive Director
Habitat for Humanity- Golden
Empire
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B.A.R.C
AND HABITAT PARTNER IN TILE
A Kern County group serving the
mentally handicapped was among those who benefited from an enormous
donation of ceramic tile received by Habitat for Humanity - Golden
Empire. The tile was donated by Westminster Ceramics in Bakersfield
and much of it was quickly distributed to local organizations,
including the Bakersfield Association for Retarded Citizens
(BARC).
BARC plans to use some of the
material in a new art program called "Art with a Purpose." The
organization received "about a truckload" of the tile in all colors
and sizes, said Linda Hartman, executive director of the BARC
Foundation. The donation was a bonus for the center's new art
program, which aims to put BARC clients to work creating art
projects that will be sold.
"The tile is so bright and
cheerful and has so many applications," she said. It is in storage
at the BARC facility on South Union Avenue. Hartman said the tiles
also will be
used in BARC's woodshop area,
where clients can make tables with mosaic tile tops. The art
program will use the tile for other art projects such as coasters
that can be painted. The projects will be sold at BARC's annual
winter holiday fundraiser, Magical Forest, which features holiday
displays and other holiday activities.
"The tile is so
bright and
cheerful and
has so
many
applications."
Other art projects will be made
from bisque ceramics and clients will paint bowls and piggy banks
that also will be sold. Art with a Purpose is not running but
Hartman hopes to launch
it soon and is also looking for a teacher to provide art
instruction.
BARC officials plan to construct
an art area to house the Art with a Purpose program and are seeking
assistance in building shelves and closets and obtaining tables and
chairs for the area. Some of the donated tile may also be used in
constructing the work area as well as in other remodeling projects
at the center.
Hartman said BARC and Habitat
have had a longstanding partnership and have shared information and
resources before.
"There's been a lot of sharing
back and forth. I think when nonprofits can partner and help, it's
huge. It's become the wave of the future. We are always looking for
partnerships,"
she said.
BARC was formed in 1949, by 13
local families who wanted to provide a nurturing and caring
environment for special children with Down Syndrome or a degree of
mental retardation. The group eventually evolved into a
private,
nonprofit organization that
employs 235 people and serves about 600 adults in more than 19
specifically designed programs.
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DOORWAY TO HOME
OWNERSHIP...
Volunteers pose as they paint the doors to the Habitat for Humanity
- Golden Empire project on East 6th Street.
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Sincerely,
PO Box 3267
Bakersfield, CA 93385-3267
Office:661-861-8449
Fax:661-861-8145
info@habitatbakersfield.org
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