new year, new policies

On behalf of the entire office, ReStore and construction staff, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! With the coming new year, San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity (SGVHFH) is implementing some changes when it comes to our volunteer policies. These have been made in an effort to be more efficient with our records, to stay in better communication with our supporters and to keep things running smoothly at our construction sites.

• The biggest change is in our Saturday schedule at Kenwood. We are now scheduling volunteers to work in one of two shifts -- 8am-12pm or 12pm-4pm. This applies to individuals as well as groups.
• Volunteer Orientations are now MANDATORY for potential volunteers to attend -- so you must come to this before you can start your involvement with SGVHFH.
• Individuals must schedule their volunteer days with us. Although groups tend to be scheduled at least a month in advance, we are only asking individuals to give us a day's notice -- please let me know if you plan to come out to our site as an individual by noon the day before.
• We are no longer providing lunch on Saturdays. Instead, we hope to find people to donate refreshments for all volunteers to enjoy throughout the day -- as bonuses on some Saturdays, but not necessarily on a regular basis. If you are volunteering at the construction site, please make sure you eat breakfast and/or lunch before coming to the site and, as always, bring your own water.
• Our Sherman build is almost complete! We will only be scheduling groups on an as-needed basis; otherwise, we are relying on individuals to schedule their time at Sherman for smaller tasks.

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know! You can contact me via email or by phone at 626-387-6899 x17.

Christmas Wish List

As Christmas approaches, we couldn't resist posting a few items from our wish list for Santa (or you!) to bring us in the new year...

+ 15 new 40-gallon gas water heaters (or a big discount on them!)

+ PVC pipes for our Kenwood drainage system

+ Catch basins for our Kenwood drainage system

+ Pumps for our Kenwood drainage system

+ Concrete ready-mix

For more information and to find out how to donate these items, please contact Chris Olson, our Director of Construction and Procurement, at 310-420-7805. Thank you!

Merry Christmas!

staff updates

In case you haven't heard, we have had some recent staff changes at the office. Our beloved Linda has returned to her roots in the corporate world, and although we already miss her dearly, we absolutely wish her the best and are excited to have her stay involved with Habitat as a volunteer.

I just completed my year of service with AmeriCorps*VISTA and have been hired on as a regular staff member in the role of Volunteer Coordinator. I plan on continuing my work with the faith community, especially the Faith Relations Committee, as well as expanding our affiliate's capacity in our volunteer and advocacy programs. Though it is still possible to reach me at my old email address, my new contact information is volunteernow@sgvhabitat.org and 626-387-6899 x17.

Brittany is now the Youth & Marketing Coordinator. She will be building our youth program as well as dealing with our graphic design and marketing needs. She can now be reached at either marketing@sgvhabitat.org or youth@sgvhabitat.org (depending on your needs) or at 626-387-6899 x18.

We are also currently looking for a new AmeriCorps member who would spend their year of service as a Construction Crew Leader at our affiliate. To learn more about this opportunity and to apply, please contact Damien at sponsorships@sgvhabitat.org.

sgv habitat in chiang mai, thailand

Our San Gabriel Valley affiliate of Habitat for Humanity recently sent local staff and volunteers to the village of Nong Gon Kru in Chiang Mai. Led by our Executive Director, Sonja Yates, SGVHFH representatives spent six days working on two homes. Along with Sonja were Sandy Yu (our very own Fund Development VISTA), Randy Schenk, Barbara Hudson, Deane Winant, David Baker, Donna Baker, John MacLean, Anna MacLean, Rose McCabe, Nathalie Flores, Anil Verma, Mickey Verma, Pooja Verma and Esther Tam.

The two homes the group worked on were #6, which will be owned by Noppadon Sathipakaem and his family of three, and #7, which will be owned by Chaowarit Sitthichaicarn and his family of five.

Stay posted for personal updates from Sandy, and be sure to read our December newsletter for the full story by Sonja...

... and, in the meantime, read about the trip from the Carters' prospective or check out Sonja and Randy's pictures from the week by clicking on the icon below:

Carter Work Project 2009 pictures by Randy Schenk