June/July 2016

In this issue:
Mitzvah Day
Belhu Family Dedication 2016 LA Builders Ball
2016 Hollywood BuildBecome an AdvocateUpcoming Events





Four walls alone don't build a home, it takes help from supporters like you! Because of your generous donations we were able to end our fiscal year strong. Thank you for your partnership in Building a Greater Los Angeles!
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Thank you to some of our major supporters who recently awarded general operating or program support to us. 

Together, general operating support and program funding are important in helping us to achieve our mission. With increasing rents and home prices, the demand for our services is greater than ever. General operating grants give us flexibility to pursue unexpected opportunities, adapt to changing organizational needs and make adjustments so that we can meet program goals. Some of our donors also choose to direct their support toward one of our specific programs, like Home Repair or Family Investment. 

Your gifts are being put to work building strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter!

Wells Fargo Housing Foundation - $65,000

US Bank - $30,000 

Altisource - $25,000 

United Pacific - $20,000 

Zurich North America - $20,000 

The Capital Group Companies - $15,000 

Union Pacific Railroad - $15,000 
Welcome Home Belhu Family

After months of hard work, we celebrated the dedication of a beautiful new home for the Belhu Family on Friday, June 24th. Belete, a U.S. Army veteran, and his wife, Betelham, are looking forward to moving their family from a 450 square foot apartment into their new 1,150 square foot, three-bedroom, two-story home.

The Belhu's beautiful and unique home was designed by students from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). The land for this home was transferred to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) by the LA County Community Development Commission and Bernards assisted with the construction management process. Other financial contributions came from the General Motors Foundation and the Office of LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, which helped make this project possible.

California State Senator Holly Mitchell; representatives from the Office of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; the LA County Community Development Commission; the Office of Assemblywoman Autumn Burke; SCI-Arc, GM and Bernards; as well as Habitat LA Board , staff and volunteers helped welcome the Belhu family into their new home on the 24th. Belete and Betelham completed Habitat LA's Family Investment Program and sweat equity requirement and are very grateful to Habitat LA for providing their family with the opportunity to build a better future. 

If you are interested in future homeownership opportunities, click HERE to sign up for our interest list.
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2016 Hollywood Build

More than 400 volunteers came out to the City of Inglewood for our 2016 Hollywood Build on June 3rd - June 4th. As part of our neighborhood revitalization work, volunteers helped with the construction of three new homes and beautification projects on the surrounding neighborhood block.

Lowe's supported the event as the title sponsor, where Lowe's Heroes employee volunteers joined talent, entertainment industry executives, government officials and individuals from corporations, faith-based organizations and community groups to work alongside Habitat LA homebuyers and homeowners.

The 2016 Hollywood Build left a lasting impression and sparkle on the neighborhood, its residents and all of the volunteers. "The best thing is to watch the families who benefit from all of this," said Geoff Delahanty, Thrivent Financial Wealth Advisor. "I love to see the joy in their eyes."

The 2016 Hollywood Build was also an opportunity to engage volunteers and sponsors in Habitat LA's commitment to investing $100 million into affordable homeownership opportunities and neighborhood revitalization in Los Angeles as part of its Building a Greater Los Angeles campaign. "I love working on something that helps the community and I especially love working with the future homeowners," said LeAnne Romesburg, Lowe's Director of Human Resources - Field Operations.

Thank you to everyone who joined and supported the event. To view more photos from the 2016 Hollywood Build, click HERE. If you are interested in learning more about our Building a Greater Los Angeles campaign, click HERE. 
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Washington Neighborhood Walk-n-Talk

On Thursday, June 2nd Habitat LA hosted Board members, donors and representatives from local organizations and faith congregations for a Walk-n-Talk conversation in the Washington Neighborhood of the City of Long Beach. Located in the first district of Long Beach and only a few blocks north of the city's downtown improvement area, more than 36% of residents in this area live below the poverty line. Habitat LA has already built, repaired and rehabilitated homes here, but feels there is greater potential to make an even larger impact through our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. 

Attendees had the opportunity to see some of the homes that Habitat LA has already completed as well as hear Habitat LA President/CEO, Erin Rank, share our vision for the future. This includes a $20 million investment into building at least 54 more homes in the area with the cornerstone of this initiative being Habitat LA's largest project to date, a 38 affordable home community on Locust Avenue. 

If you are interested in supporting this initiative, please contact Jennifer Wise, Habitat LA's VP of Resource Development, at jwise@habitatla.org.
New Life for an Old Piano

By day Ken Hite is a Crew Leader on our Habitat LA construction staff and by night he is a creative DIYer!

It all started when Ken was inspired by pictures he had seen on Pinterest where pianos had been transformed into bookcases and even wine bars. Ken decided to take this idea and create a unique TV case.

As a Habitat LA employee, Ken knows that the ReStore is a great resource for finding interesting and unique pieces at bargain prices. He kept his eye out and was eventually able to snap up a piano with wobbly legs that hadn't been tuned in years. Better days were ahead for the old piano and Ken got to work giving it new life.

The first step was removing the top, back and legs as well as ripping off everything else that wasn't necessary. Next, Ken used a forklift to remove the cast-iron string assembly and built the shelves with 1" by 12" boards. Then he spackled the holes, sanded it all down, primed and painted it. Finally he hung it on the wall by attaching a 2 x 4 to the studs and then securing the piano to the 2 x 4. 

If you are working on a summer DIY project, be sure to stop by the ReStore for deals and inspiration. Our next DIY workshop is Saturday, July 30th from 10am - 12pm at the Torrance ReStore where Timothy Dahl will be leading a project on how to build gold sawhorses. Check out his website at: www.charlesandhudson.com.
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Become an Advocate

Sign up to be an Advocate for Habitat LA!

If you are interested in using your voice to support Habitat LA and help us build strength, stability and self-reliance through homeownership, we invite you to sign up for our advocacy updates. We will periodically send you action alerts with ways that you can support important housing issues! Click HERE to sign up today.


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Mitzvah Day

On June 5th Temple Beth Am, a conservative synagogue, and B'nai David Judea, an orthodox synagogue, participated in a Mitzvah service day with Habitat LA. One of the goals of Habitat LA's Jewish Coalition is to bring denominations together to learn and volunteer. 

The creative juices were flowing as congregants, families, and youth from Temple Beth Am and B'nai David Judea completed a variety of art projects for Habitat LA homeowners. In addition to completing artwork, hundreds of toiletry items were donated, organized, and placed in decorated bags for families. Participants also had fun planting ten garden beds with potting soil and various seeds to be placed in yards and gardens. As a special touch, they also made "Welcome Home" signs for new Habitat LA homeowners. To top it all off, they were able to raise more than $500 for Habitat LA's Jewish Coalition. It was a great day and we give special thanks to Dianne Shershow, Leah Jacobson, Tyson Roberts, and Rishona Teres for making this wonderful Mitzvah Day possible!

If you are interested in getting involved with Habitat LA's Jewish Coalition, please contact, Jordan Markovic, Habitat LA's Faith Relations Coordinator, at jmarkovic@habitatla.org.

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Save the Date - 2016 Los Angeles Builders Ball


The Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles Builders Ball is an annual event honoring our counterparts in the building and real estate industries for their commitment to building a greater Los Angeles. Sponsorships, tickets and program book ads are available for purchase HERE. 
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  Upcoming Events

  • July 4th: Happy Fourth of July!
  • July 6th: Tune in! The 2016 Hollywood Build will be featured on Access Hollywood on NBC4 at 7:30pm. 
  • July 30th: DIY Workshop at Torrance ReStore from 10am - 12pm.
Board of Directors

Chairman:  
Bill Blake 
Zurich North America

Past Chairman:
Daniel Burgner
Burgner Experiential

Vice-Chair:
John Manganiello
Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Secretary:
Greg Ferree
Southern California Edison

Treasurer:
Alan Wright
California Bank & Trust

Tom Clarke
PricewaterhouseCoopers
 
Ranjan Goswami
Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Terri Haack
Terranea Resort

Carl Jordan 
U.S. Bank

Eva Kalawski  
Platinum Equity, LLC 

Kim McManus
Mosaic LA

Michelle Meghrouni
Southern California Gas Company

Matt Petersen  
City of Los Angeles
  
Lori Raya
Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions
 
Eric Remensperger
Proskauer 
 
Craig Russell   
Walt Disney Imagineering

Raul Salinas
AlvaradoSmith

Heidi Snyder
Union Bank

Troy Thrower  
The Woodward Group

Ken Walker
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Thank you to our donors!
March/April 2016 Gifts

Legacy ($100,000+)
Catholic Coalition

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Revco Industries, Inc.*


Platinum Hammer ($75,000+)
Downey Congregation Coalition


Silver Hammer ($25,000+)
Panasonic Corporation of North America*

US Bank


Bronze Hammer ($15,000+)
GiveBack Homes


Architects Circle ($10,000+)
Duane Morris LLP*

Transamerica Insurance & Investment Group


Silver Nail ($5,000+)
Delta Faucet Company*

Thrivent Financial

Calvary Chapel Montebello

Los Angeles Galaxy

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
    

Bronze Nail ($1,000+)
Ms. Barbara A. McNeill

Munish Ahuja

Chevron

Christ Presbyterian Church of Lakewood

Lionsgate Entertainment

St. Francis Episcopal Church

Mr. Reynaldo David

Mr. Howard Dumas

Ms. Jayne Takano

Lutheran Church of the Master - West LA

Millwork Brothers

Joan & Roger Lee Fund

Port of Long Beach

Jill and Donald Roth Spuehler


* Denotes GIK donor
Thank you to our major donors!

Bank of America

Beach Cities Friends

California Community Foundation

California Department of Housing and Community Development

City of Downey

City of Los Angeles

City of Long Beach

City of Lynwood

City of Montebello

Cotton, Inc.*

County of Los Angeles

Delta Air Lines

Faithful Central Bible Church

General Motors Foundation

The Gary Magness Foundation

Kendrick Lamar

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Grifols

The Home Depot Foundation

Malarkey Roofing Company*

Mosaic

Office of Mark Ridley-Thomas

Presbytery of the Pacific

Sit 'n' Sleep*

Thrivent Financial

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Valspar*

Venice Santa Monica Free Methodist Church

The Albertsons Companies Foundation and The Vons Foundation

Wells Fargo

Whirlpool*

*Denotes In-Kind Gifts

OUR VISION

A world where everyone has a decent place to live.
OUR MISSION

Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.
STAY CONNECTED
8739 Artesia Blvd, Bellflower, CA 90706 · (310) 323-4663 · www.habitatla.org