October 2015 Highlights
October was an extremely busy time for HIF. It brought the completion of Abode Services' Thornton Way Home renovation, the addition of two new staff members, and a San Mateo County award! Read on for insight into HIF's most recent accomplishments.
Welcome HIF's New Team Members!
Aziza Megrissi
Office Administrator

Aziza comes to HIF with an impressive non-profit background, strong financial and administrative experience and an advocacy mindset.  As HIF's Office Administrator, Aziza is responsible for ensuring that operations are well run and that resources are maximized.  

Always interested in service to the community, Aziza has a Domestic Violence Certificate and is a Certified Healthcare Care Interpreter.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Finance from San Francisco State University.
Joel Valencia
Program & Development Associate
 
Joel is a Bay Area native who graduated with a degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 2008. He has since worked at multiple non-profit organizations, locally and in Utah, and with former San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs-Gibson.
 
Joel brings extensive community outreach and program administration experience. He is responsible for coordinating renovation projects and collaborating with partner agencies to fund emergency housing grants, in addition to implementing HIF's marketing efforts and donor engagement. 
Abode's Thornton Way Home Renovation
On Thursday, October 15th, AvalonBay volunteers and supporting partners gathered to renovate Abode's Thornton Way, an affordable single-family house for six residents in Santa Clara County. Twenty-two volunteers spent the next 7 hours transforming the landscape, painting the interior and exterior, and upgrading light fixtures and window treatments. The full set of pictures (linked to the before & after pictures below) captures the world of difference this renovation will make for the six thankful residents. As Bill, a long time resident, stated while enjoying the view of his newly-renovated home, "It brightens my mood!" 

HIF extends a heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation to Mike McGrew of AvalonBay for leading this project. Mike provided an exceptional amount of time and resources to ensure its success. We would also like to thank the following companies for donations of materials and labor, without which this renovation would not have been possible: All Seasons Roofing and Waterproofing, Brook Furniture, CriterionBrock, CWP Contracting, Eastern Landscape Company, Kitchens Now!, and Sherwin-Williams.
 
The total market value of this renovation project amounted to $40K. Because of the contributions by AvalonBay and all of the companies above, HIF spent only $8,100 cashJon White, Abode's Director of Properties and Assets, said, "We have worked for several years to secure grant funding to renovate this building.  When we heard the news that HIF chose this site for one of their renovation projects, we were thrilled that the residents at this site would have a rejuvenated home they could take pride in."

 

HIF: A Housing Hero!
On Thursday, October 22nd, San Mateo County recognized HIF as one of this year's "Housing Heroes." HIF was nominated by CAA Tri-County for completing a $96K renovation earlier this year at Samaritan House's Safe Harbor Shelter, and spending only $31K in cash to do so. Supporters who donated the skilled labor or materials for the renovation, include: Aquatek Plumbing, Bedrosians Tile & Stone, BellaVista Landscape Services, Daniel Gaines Photography, DEVCON Construction, Dunn-Edwards Paints, IBI Inc., PierceSigns & Displays Inc., A Touch of Tile & Stone, Varsity Painting, and Wells FargoSafe Harbor Shelter is a 90-bed and 10-cot, temporary housing shelter that provides safety, warmth, sustenance, and healthcare to help the homeless become self-sufficient. 

The "Housing Heroes" award is given to individuals and organizations that help people with mental health and substance use conditions acquire or maintain stable, affordable housing. We're excited to have the County recognize our efforts to help mitigate current housing issues for this particularly vulnerable demographic, and we, in turn, recognize that neither our Emergency Housing Fund nor our Renovation Program would be possible without the support of our many excellent industry partners and volunteers.

Housing Industry Foundation
650-437-2980 | [email protected]| hifinfo.org