Projects
New Project Announced
We are thrilled to announce that our second project is on its way. Habitat for Humanity of SSBC has acquired a 6,970 square-foot vacant lot at 618 San Pascual Street with short-term loans provided by the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County and the City of Santa Barbara. On this site, we plan to build four homes to serve up to 14 people. Construction will start in 2008, with completion of the homes anticipated by the end of 2009. Design of the homes will be provided by Detty Peikert, whose firm has collaborated on affordable housing projects in the Santa Barbara area. Family selection will take place in early 2008, and for the partner families chosen, it will be a life-changing event and will mean they no longer will live in substandard conditions. We invite you to participate in the many planning activities that take place prior to construction. Join one of our committees or donate to help make this project a success!
Habitat Completes First Major Project in Santa Barbara in 2007
Habitat for Humanity has just built simple, decent homes with three families on Via Lucero in Santa Barbara. After many months of site preparation interspersed with copious amounts of rain, foundations were poured in June followed by the Women at Work Build Day, June 17, 2006, when over 50 women came out to raise the first walls. With the help of many volunteers, corporate and church groups, and Gordon Fiano's framing crew we completed framing through the summer and fall. Over the next months, hundreds of volunteers poured their energy into helping construct these three homes. The three homeowner families put in hundreds of hours of sweat equity working alongside the volunteers. Contractors and building materials suppliers contributed products and labor to the cause, and by Christmas, the three homes were framed, roofed, insulated, and electrical wiring and plumbing were nearing completion. Then trenching down the long driveway in order to hook up these homes to public utilities was completed and the driveway and parking areas paved.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans sponsored one of the homes, and many Lutherans came out to volunteer time and time again, helping with framing, drywall, painting and tiling. Just in time for our April 12 dedication, volunteers put the finishing touches on paint, carpet and flooring. Local nurseries contributed fruit trees and flowering plants, and at last the landscaping was complete and the families could move in.
The project required numerous skilled and unskilled volunteers and many charitable financial gifts to complete these homes. Habitat needs and welcomes your support to help build houses, family, community and hope! Please contact Habitat to find out how you can help on the next project, (805) 692-2226 or sign up on our volunteer page.
Partner families put in their 500 hours of sweat equity to help build their homes. Habitat sells the houses with a zero-interest loan, charging homeowners only the cost of materials and overhead.
With high land acquisition and site preparation costs, and building costs estimated at $250,000 for each home, the Via Lucero project would not be possible without the support and dedication of many people and organizations. Habitat for Humanity is enlisting the support of local churches, corporations and individual donors to raise the money necessary to pay for materials, design and permit fees to build this project and enable us to fund future projects.
The Katrina House 2005The outpouring of generosity in our community for the hurricane Katrina relief effort was astounding. Because of that generosity we were able to contribute in many ways to the massive relief effort. With numerous local fundraisers we collected nearly $100,000 to aide Habitat's work in the reconstruction!
One of our proudest achievements was our partnership with several local organizations to build "The Katrina House". Crane Country Day School students, faculty and parents supported a project undertaken by Allen Associates to build a "home in a box" that was partially assembled here in Santa Barbara, then shipped to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Remarkably, this house was the first house allowed to be built in that city, and stood amid rubble for many months as a hopeful sign of the rebirth of that area.
The Acker family, whose home had been in the family for several generations before it was completely destroyed by the hurricane, greeted the workers with great joy, helped in the reconstruction, brought meals, and were thrilled with the results. We at Habitat for Humanity were grateful to be a part of this outstanding project as we supplied volunteers for this home. More work is to be done in that area still, so if you would like to volunteer in the Gulf Coast, please visit Habitat for Humanity International's web site, www.habitat.org.