Habitat Hammerings - Northwoods Habitat for Humanity

Habitat Hammerings
Volume 1, Issue 29, Winter 2014
Board of Directors
Tim Flathers, President
Dean Helgeson, Vice President
Jodi Schroeder, Secretary
Dave West, Treasurer
Judy Reese
Esther Covert
Mary Auger
Jim Pinsonneault
Thad Bowman
Joan Nelson
Laurie Buehler
Stan Nelson
Doug Lindgren
Chris Hamilton
Jeff Halverson
Staff
Geri Hickerson, Exec. Director
Steve Strasser, ReStore Manager
PJ Casinelli, ReStore Asst. Manager
Sandra Erpelding, Admin. Assistant
Joseph Yaklich, Warehouse Support
Katie LeDuc, AmeriCorps VISTA
Experience Works
Arle Hagberg
Key Volunteers
Barb Kemmer
Kathy Lehto
Betty Halverson
Dan McCollee
R.S.V.P.
Dean Helgeson
De Pickett
Contact us
P.O. Box 1067
Bemidji, MN 56619
Office: 218-751-4649
ReStore: 218-444-6398
Fax: 218-444-3105
Email: habitat@paulbunyan.net
Website: www.habitatbemidji.org
Facebook: Northwoods Habitat for
Humanity
Office and ReStore located at
1357 Industrial Park Drive SE,
Bemidji
A bi-annual publication of NHFH
Our Mission ...
Building simple, decent, affordable homes in
partnership with God’s people in need in
Beltrami and Clearwater Counties.
President’s Message
Season’s Greeting!
Northwoods Habitat for Humanity has been building
homes with partner families since 1990. Next year
our affiliate will be celebrating 25 years of building
homes. You’ll be hearing more about that milestone
in a couple of months as we enter calendar year 2015.
Since the organization’s inception we have built
42 new affordable single family houses within our
service area, and we have rehabbed 5 homes and sold
them to families. That production has helped 47
families achieve home ownership-a dream that would have been highly
unlikely without the commitment of the Habitat for Humanity organization
including board members, staff, volunteers and dedicated partner families.
Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that we have assisted an additional
33 households make critical home repairs through a new initiative called
“A Brush With Kindness.” This program provides resources to eligible
households to make their existing homes safe and livable. In a mere two
years we have assisted nearly as many households through A Brush With
Kindness as those we sold homes to over our nearly 25 year history.
Thanks to a strong base of volunteers we intend to
continue building new homes and rehabilitating
existing homes in our service area for years to
come.
Wishing you the joys of the holiday season.
Tim Flathers, Board President
What’s Inside...
VISTA Report
2
Upcoming Events
3
Director’s Report
4
ReStore Review
5
Women Build!
6
Habitat Hammerings
Page 2
VISTA Corner
My name is Katie LeDuc and I am the current Northwoods Habitat for Humanity VISTA!
For the next year I will be working to raise awareness about the impact Habitat for Humanity
is having in the local community. I have gone about this in a few different ways this Fall.
First, I have used social media sites to keep people updated about Habitat projects. Second, I engaged BSU
Students and established a Club to help reestablish our Campus Chapter and help spread the word about
Habitat’s mission. So has it worked?
I think so! We are seeing increased numbers of volunteers helping in the ReStore, on the build sites, and on
A Brush with Kindness projects. The BSU Club has become incredibly active in the A Brush With Kindness
program and they are looking forward to working on our Women Build in the Spring. We have also
organized a new community project, Cardboard Box City, to raise awareness about hunger and homelessness
and illustrate the need for non-profits like Habitat for Humanity. I am also planning a spring break mission
trip to Guatemala for the BSU Club students so we can share our impact at home and abroad! Northwoods
Habitat for Humanity does so much for the community of Bemidji and I am so excited about how involved
people are becoming in order to make lasting change.
Be the change you wish to see! Volunteer!
Feel free to contact me about Volunteering or Donating to the Guatemala Mission Trip!
Northwoods Habitat for Humanity: (218) 751-4649
Katie LeDuc, AmeriCorps Vista
Celebrating 25 years! 1990-2015
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable
faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
~Mahatma Gandhi
In 1989, a group of individuals, led by Pastor Keith Zeh and
several community leaders met to discuss the critical need
for affordable housing in Bemidji and the possibility of
establishing Habitat for Humanity. The determination of
that small group of citizens has resulted in the construction
of 42 homes and the rehab of 5 for families in need and has
grown to provide home repairs that allow seniors and those
with disabilities to remain in their homes, an additional 33
homes - 80 families! It is evident that the “determined
spirit” of that group altered the course of history for those 80
families.
As we enter 2015, we will be planning a community-wide
event to celebrate and recognize the many contributions we have been blessed to receive. Watch for further
information on our website and in the local media. “Like” us on Facebook to see what we are up to and to
stay connected. We look forward to seeing you at our events. Cheers!
Page 3
Volume 1, Issue 29, Winter 2014
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Don’t miss our biggest event of the year! Thank you to our current event sponsors: Northwoods Lumber;
GoldPine Homes; Chrysler of Bemidji; TruStar Federal Credit Union; Bob Lowth Ford. New this year magic by Imaginick!! Join us for our 6th annual Gala, Serious Fun with Magic!!!
Page 4
Habitat Hammerings
Greetings,
Snippets from the Director…
Since our last newsletter in the Spring, so many things have
happened! A home has been rehabbed, a new one built, several
Brush with Kindness project completed and, even more exciting,
2 homeowners paid their mortgages in full. At our annual
meeting, Bert Sauve burned her mortgage surrounded by Habitat
volunteers, some of whom had worked on her house, staff, board
Bert Sauve,
members, and Habitat families. Then just this month, Patty Morris
1997-2014
paid off her mortgage. What an accomplishment for these two
Habitat homeowners. Because they have been diligent in making their payments we have
been able to build more homes (mortgage payments are used to purchase material to build
more homes, in case you didn’t know…).
Patty Morris,
1998-2014
We learned this summer that coordinating volunteers is one of our biggest challenges. We don’t, we admit, do a
very good job of it, but we now have our AmeriCorps VISTA, Katie, helping us figure out how to make that a more
seamless program. Without volunteers on many levels, we would not be able to accomplish even a fraction of the
work we do each year. A sincere thank you to the many, many volunteers who selflessly give time to build homes,
work on A Brush with Kindness projects, work in our ReStore, organize fundraisers and, ultimately, move our
mission forward.
We have been blessed to work with and enrich the lives of 80 families since our establishment in 1990. As we look
forward to our 25th year of building, we are reminded of the frailty of those precariously housed in our community.
As you gather around family and friends this holiday season, please remember those less fortunate and consider a
gift that comes without ribbons or bows - the gift of a home through your donation to Habitat for Humanity. If you
are unable to provide financial support, consider the gift of time. Wishing you and your family peace and joy.
In Faith, Geri
Partnerships. That’s how Habitat homes get built.
Jennifer Norwick, new Homeowner, Kristin
Skaar, Special Events and Communications
Manager, Habitat for Humanity of MN,
Jan Plimpton, Exec Director, Habitat for
Humanity of MN, Patty Morris, Habitat
homeowner and family mentor to Jennifer,
and Blake at home dedication.
And that’s how important partnerships are to the
mission of Habitat. This summer we were blessed
to have the Habitat 500 bike riders and our local
Faith Community partners working with us to build
a home for Jennifer and Blake. Jennifer was
selected and began working on her 250 hours of
sweat equity in January of 2014. Because she was
focused on getting her first 100 hours completed, Jennifer moved up the ranks
and was assigned a lot one year sooner than anticipated. Not a stranger to
construction, Jennifer is a graduate of the local Youth Build program at
Bi-County CAP in Bemidji. Her enthusiasm for building and working with
volunteers was evident and her home was built and dedicated in just 2. 5
months. Habitat 500 riders raise funds each year to bring awareness Statewide
about the lack of affordable housing. We are so excited to report that this
summer Habitat 500 riders worked on 2 homes in Bemidji and donated
$36,634.62 to Northwoods Habitat for our building projects! This is the second
time we have hosted the riders and we are happy to do so for such a dedicated
group of philanthropists! Many thanks to the riders, Habitat MN staff and our
Faith Community partners for making summer 2014 another successful year of
building homes and hope in our community!
Page 5
Volume 1, Issue 29, Winter 2014
ReStore Review
Thank you donors! The leaves have faded and fallen with the passing of another
Business
Benusa Appliance
St Michel Furniture
Ace on the Lake
Northland Fishing Tackle
Hills Plumbing & Heating
Sterling Carpet One
Individual
John Seibold
Jim Humeniuk
John Halcrow
Jesse Story
Lew Crenshaw
Phyullis Baukol
Dean Helgeson
Don Williams
Dave and Joe Lueken
Promotion
Paul Bunyan Broadcasting
Lakeland Public TV
Bemidji Pioneer
RP Broadcasting
season. We’ve been blessed with warm weather for October,
and in some ways, more September-like than October.
Nonetheless, Northwoods Habitat for Humanity ReStore has
had a very eventful and hectic autumn.
Not only have we had to say goodbye to the summer, we have
had to say some goodbye to people and things we have grown
accustomed to. In late September, we said goodbye to our
longtime volunteer cashier and friend Martha Nelson, who
moved from the area to be closer to her family. Martha had
been the friendly “Hello” nearly each and every Wednesday for
the past six years. We will miss her. We also bid farewell to one
of our most prolific donors at the ReStore, Lloyd’s Furniture.
Nearly twice a week, a truck from Lloyd’s would appear at our
receiving area and donate countless items of furniture. In the
latter part of summer and early fall, the remaining items, thousands of dollars’ worth of tables, chairs, and bedroom furniture,
were very generously donated by Lloyd and Pat Lind to
Habitat ReStore. We, the staff of the ReStore as well as our
customers, say a heartfelt Thank you to Lloyd and Pat for the
very generous donations throughout the last 7 years.
As the Beatles would agree; with every farewell, there are always
hellos too. The ReStore welcomes new Warehouse Support
staff, Joseph Yaklich. Joseph comes to us from Cass Lake and
has been busy acclimating to the volumes of material that comes
through our receiving area on a daily basis. We also welcome
new Experience Works volunteer Arle Hagberg. Arle, is also currently getting settled in
with materials processing. Thanks to our veteran volunteers Dan McColley, Dale and
Linda Peterson, Gregg Wilimek, Barb Kemmer, Cathy Lehto, Alex Lundin, Betty
Halverson and Oak Hills Christian College Volunteer Landen Peterson who make time
in their schedules to make a difference in our community. Thank you also to the staff and
students of Trek North High School and BSU Nursing students who volunteer regularly.
Volunteers are the backbone of our organization and we can always use more people to
help keep the store clean and organized and process material as it comes in. A few hours
of your time is an invaluable asset to our organization and helps provide life-changing
transformations for families and individuals in our community.
Hours of Operation:
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm
Donations Accepted:
During store hours &
Tuesday from 10-3
WISH LIST
Lumber
Appliances
Kitchen Cabinets
Hardware
Furniture
Volunteers
Cashier
(Wednesday,
Thursday)
Driver
(pick up
donations)
We hope that you have a very happy and safe holiday season.
Steve Strasser, ReStore Manager
Donations like these timbers from
Northland Fishing Tackle provide
revenue to build homes!
Proud Supporter of Habitat!
P.O. Box 1067
Bemidji, MN 56619
National Women Build Week
May 2 - 10, 2015
It’s Women Build time!
Sign up to build at
www.habitatbemidji.org