Habitat welcomes Director of Construction 

Habitat announces the appointment of Miguel Ortiz as Director of Construction. Ortiz earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Cal., and has more than 15 years of experience in construction project management and design.

Before coming to Habitat, Ortiz served as a Project Leader, Designer and Construction Administrator at James Childs Architects in South Bend; and as a Graduate Architect and Construction Manager at Panzica Building Corporation in South Bend.

Ortiz will be responsible for overseeing the Habitat for Humanity Construction Department and will work closely with St. Joseph County business partners and volunteers in order to increase the number of Habitat houses built annually. Habitat's goal is to build 24 houses in the next two years.

Homeward Bound Walk/Run 2011

Teams of walkers from hundreds of Indiana companies, churches and other organizations will raise dollars by collecting pledges to support local homeless and affordable housing programs at several locations across the state in 2011.

One of the locations is right here in South Bend and will feature a walk/run to benefit agencies that assist in the fight against homelessness in St. Joseph County. The following is the list of benefitting agencies:
 

·        AIDS Ministries

·        Center for the Homeless

·        Fuller Center for Housing

·        Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County

·        Hannah's House

·        Hope Ministries

·        Robinson Community Learning Center

·        Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County

The event, which includes a 5K run for the first time this year, will take place the morning of Saturday, April 2, starting at the College Football Hall of Fame. Registration is at 8:00 a.m., with the walk and run proceeding at 9:00 and 9:30 a.m., respectively.

If you are an avid runner, this is the perfect time to begin your training!
 

You can walk, run, or donate on behalf of your favorite agency (any of those listed above) or as a general donation divided up toward all agencies.

If interested in participating, go to the Homeward Bound Indiana website at homewardboundindiana.organd select "St. Joseph County." Call Elena at the Habitat office at 288-6967 if you have any questions.

In lead-up to the one-year mark of the earthquake, I invite you to visit our website www.habitat.org/haiti. Here you will find Habitat's one-year report, a brand new video and other Web tools to help you learn more about our progress in Haiti and ways you can continue to support our mission. I thank you for all that you have done to help Habitat bring hope to the people of Haiti.  Without you, our goal to reach 50,000 earthquake-affected families would not be possible.

With your support, we have been able to achieve the following:

·        More than 21,000 emergency shelter kits are in the hands of people who needed them most. The kits included tools-hammers, pliers, chisels, work gloves, rope and tarps-that have allowed Haitians to clean up debris, do basic repairs and create emergency shelter. In addition, more than 3,300 emergency shelter kits have been stockpiled, ready to distribute quickly whenever disaster strikes again.

·        More than 1,000 families have received recyclable transitional or upgradable shelters, with a total of 2,000 scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2011. Transitional shelters are constructed so they can be dismantled easily and relocated. Upgradable shelters can be turned into permanent homes.

·        More than 2,000 housing damage assessments have been conducted. Assessments help determine which structures can be made safe and which need to be torn down, making way for new, permanent shelters.

·        More than 500 Haitians have been trained in seismic resistant construction techniques.

·        More than 200 Haitians have been hired by the Habitat Resource Centers to help in Habitat construction activities.  In a nation with an unemployment rate of 60 percent, job opportunities are a crucial part of rebuilding.

I thank you again for your support.  Know that you have made a difference in the lives of thousands of Haitians who seek to rebuild their lives.

With gratitude,

Claude Jeudy

National Director

Habitat for Humanity Haiti

Last week, House Bill #1180 was introduced to the Indiana House of Representatives to exempt Habitat affiliates from the First Lien Mortgage Lending Act. It is critical for us to get this bill passed so that our affiliates will not have to meet the stringent licensing requirements that this law outlines. If affiliates had to comply with this law, then each affiliate would have to have a $100,000 bond to write mortgages. They would also have to register with the national system that tracks mortgage lenders and each affiliate would have to show that they had $50,000 in liquid assets.

Further, each affiliate Board officer would have to submit to credit checks and background checks. Obviously, these requirements would be impossible for many of our affiliates to comply with. We believe the best way to solve the problem is to ask our state legislators to allow us an exemption from these laws that were designed to stop predatory lending. Since we write 0% interest loans and make no profit on the transaction, it is easy to see that this legislation should not pertain to us. However, we must get the proper exemption from the law as currently, there is no provision for exemptions. Our strategy on passing this legislation has been crafted by local Indiana legislators and the HFHI government relations team. On Jan. 19, our Executive Director, Jim Williams, joined Habitat leaders from around the state to convince state legislators to support this exemption legislation. Additional lobbying efforts are scheduled for March 1.

Julius Kiiru & Loise Kamau

Lehtika Smith

Keeya Millsapp

Tracey Jones

Kimberly Nelson

Starla & Toby Cole

Michelle Broussard