On Monday, June 15, the Architectural Board of Review of Santa Barbara met and approved Habitat's plans for construction of four homes at 618 San Pascual. The plans will now go directly to the Building Department for permit review.  Habitat is requesting that the permits be approved in two phases, one for grading and site preparation, and the second for the "vertical" construction portion. This will enable us to start construction right away and invite volunteers on the build site in the Fall.

Please make sure you have completed the volunteer application on our website if you'd like to be included in invitations to join our build teams. The calendar page on the Habitat website will keep you updated on open workdays. Volunteer orientation for ReStore and San Pascual opportunities will be held monthly.  The first orientation will be Tuesday, June 23 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.  RSVP to volunteer@sbhabitat.org

We hope you will consider making a gift today.
Your contributions are both deeply valued and urgently needed.

On Saturday May 30, a dozen volunteers from Santa Barbara High School's Dons Net Café joined Ken Knight, Executive Director of Goleta Valley Beautiful at our Via Lucero home site to plant beautiful lavender-flowered vines along an old chain-link fence adjacent to the driveway. With the support of a grant from Home Depot, Goleta Valley Beautiful was also able to plant a beautiful Eastern redbud tree in the common area of the Habitat for Humanity Via Lucero homes. The wonderful volunteers learned planting and pruning techniques from Ken's experience and teaching as a trained arborist. We are thrilled with the support and committment to helping our wonderful Habitat families beautify their home.  Thank you!

There is a very simple and worthwhile way for you to support Habitat for Humanity.  All it takes is your most valuable resource - your time (about 90 seconds of it to be exact).
 
www.SaveWaterAmerica.com  is a program to educate consumers about the importance of water conservation and water-saving products.  For every visitor who takes the simple 3-question quiz, Kohler will donate $1 in water-savings products to Habitat for Humanity!  
 
Kohler wants to donate a total of $1 million in water saving products, but we need your help to spread the word. 
   1.  Please visit http://www.SaveWaterAmerica.com  and take the quiz
   2.  Consider forwarding this email to your friends!

A wish granted! Meet "Millie" (named after the late Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity and and the original owner, Milla) - a 2001 Caterpillar GP30K forklift with a 6,000 pound capacity. She is fitting in perfectly at the ReStore and definitely proving to be very strong & helpful.
Thank you Milla for this generous donation. She is everything we could have wished for in a forklift. 

If you would like to grant a wish for Habitat for Humanity, take a peek at our current wish list:

• New Desktop Computer
• Fire-proof safe
• Truck rack
• Pallet jack
• Building materials and tools

Please call our office at 805-692-2226 for more information.

On Saturday, June 6, nine hard-working volunteers from Morgan Stanley joined Habitat staff and volunteers to do weed and brush clearing at the San Pascual building site. Three hours of very hot, dirty labor resulted in the whole property being cleared of weeds and debris. The street front was trimmed back and cleaned up, and several trees were trimmed.
If your company would like to sponsor a corporate workday at our site, please let us know. It's a wonderful way to build team camaraderie while helping a great cause! Learn more about Corporate Work Days.

Building Homes - Building Dreams is a community-wide effort to raise funds necessary to build four new homes on San Pascual Street.  The campaign will provide for a property acquisition fund and will also establish a much-needed endowment fund for Habitat.  In addition, the campaign will support Habitat's environmentally-friendly "ReStore" in our community. The campaign is led by campaign co-chairs and community leaders David Spainhour and Christine Garvey and is seeking gifts from individuals, foundations and businesses over a three-year pledge period. We are pleased to report we have raised 54% of our goal! Please help support our important work.  Watch the Building Homes - Building Dreams video.

Please help us in congratulating Habitat Board Member Angela Bell.  She was recently named the Area Agency on Aging's '"Senior Citizen of the Year". In addition to serving on our board, Angela participates twice a year in a program at Valley State Prison for Women.  Her work was recently documented in the award winning film, Freedom to Choose. She volunteers with the Alzheimer's Association, is a leader and organizer in her church, liaisons with the City Council and Shifco and is an inspiration to to all who know her. Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place Angela and congratulations on your much deserved award!

Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters.
VOAD is a team of local organizations committed to cooperation and coordination in planning for and responding to disasters.  VOAD aims to minimize duplication of services during a disaster and provide more efficient services to those affected. Learn more.

Through our partnership with the
Deconstruction Network, we may be able to help you with deconstruction
solutions. Call our office at 805-692-2226 for details.

Did you know that the automobile is the most heavily recycled product? Ninety-four percent of the metal in a car is recyclable! When you donate a car to Cars for Homes™, Habitat's car donation program, it is recycled to help families build homes. Contact Habitat's Cars for Homes program at 877-277-4344 or visit their website. Please indicate that you want to support the Southern Santa Barbara affiliate!