HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GILA REGION New Mexico PO Box 5025 Silver City, New Mexico 88062 505-538-9540 Email

Habitat for Humanity-Gila Region celebrated the relocation of our Silver City office with an Open House on March 17, 2004. Visitors numbered around 120 including volunteers, Habitat homeowners, community leaders and curious passers by.

It was a festive affair with music by local artists Stasia, Martha Egnoll, and Quinn Martin and family; and a display of photographs by Diana Selsor Edwards. Food and decorations were provided by generous individuals and through a donation from the local Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The HfH-Gila Region office moved to 915 Santa Rita Street a few months ago. Since then volunteers have been busy sprucing the facilities up for the St. Patrick's Day Open House. The space is donated by First United Methodist Church, which previously donated space for the organization in the church's office on College Ave. The new location gives Habitat more visibility and a place to grow. Our sincere thanks go to First United Methodist staff and congregation for their continuing support of our mission.

Spiffy new signs for the front of the building were donated by J&J Signs of Silver City and designed by board member John Hostetler. Having our name prominently displayed will definitely increase community awareness of our work in Grant County. We've already noticed increased traffic at the office.

Habitat is sharing office space with a new organization in town, The Volunteer Center of Grant County. The Open House/Grand Opening was a joint effort to promote both organizations and open our doors to the community. Stop by and visit! Office hours for Habitat are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Phone and e-mail remain the same: 538-9540; hfhgilaregion@zianet.com

Habitat for Humanity - Gila Region, is entering the Cans for Habitat Contest. Through this program the affiliate will partner with schools and other non-profits and civic organizations to collect 5000 pounds of aluminum by Dec., 2004 and will seek to increase that number in 2005.

The purpose of this contest is 1) to help keep our parks and neighborhoods cleaner, 2) to help others in the community better understand the mission of Habitat for Humanity, and 3) to earn extra money to help build homes for families who could not otherwise afford it.

Last year, the Aluminum Association, through Habitat for Humanity International, awarded $165,000 in cash grants to 17 hard working affiliates. It is our hope to be one of those receiving such an award in the future. The contest requires an on-going publicity campaign to make recycling part of our everyday lives. One aspect of the contest is to keep accurate records of number of pounds of aluminum collected and dollars earned.

Students of Jose Barrios Elementary School will be joining us as a new partner in this venture this quarter. Under the guidance of their School Counselor, Katie Nolasco, students will make posters to publicize the project and will also bring cans they have collected to school each Monday morning. Jim Huse, HFH Gila Region board member, or another member of the board, will collect the cans each week.

Besides cans, we can recycle any clean aluminum such as foil pie tins or other containers, aluminum cat food cans or cast aluminum.

Any individual or organization willing to partner with HFH in this endeavor is asked to call the office at 538-9540. Cans can be delivered to the office at 915 Santa Rita Street or, for large quantities, a board member will come to the site.

Our Re-Store project is "just alookin' for a home." (Remember the old boll wevil song?) Habitat for Humanity - Gila Region would very much like to start a program in which salvaged and re-cycled materials are sold at reasonable prices to the public. Contractors and builders frequently have tag ends and left-overs that they are willing to donate to Habitat and put to use rather than filling up our land-fills. Merchants can donate shopworn and slow moving items and receive tax credit. In fact, we are often offered good materials that we are not in a position to store. The need is there for both the donor and the recipient. But we need a building and enclosed yard to begin a Re-Store operation.

Many Habitat affiliates operate Re-Stores to earn income for the affiliate and to provide a service to the community. Re-Stores contribute significantly to Habitat's mission of providing affordable housing to families that are not able to qualify for conventional home loans. Since cash donations to Habitat can only be used for building homes, there is an ongoing need for monies to cover operational expenses. The Re-Store earnings can be used for operational expenses as well as building homes.

The Re-Store is not a "second - hand shop". Only building materials and quality furniture and appliances are accepted for re-sale. Donated items should be in working condition as repairs may be beyond the ability of volunteer staff and making repairs will detract from the goal of building homes. Re-Stores are staffed by volunteers and overhead is kept low so that prices are reasonable. Friends in Deming tell me that they drive to the Re-Store operated by the Valencia Habitat affiliate in Los Lunas to purchase building materials.

If you have or know of an appropriate facility, we would very much like to have you let our Habitat Office know. We pledge to put it to a better use than the boll wevil did to the cotton patch.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers have difficulty slowing down. It isn't enough that they volunteer copious hours to constructing homes for families that are not able to qualify for conventional home loans, now they have adopted a mile of highway to keep free of litter and trash. It just so happens that the mile assigned to the Gila Region volunteers is a high traffic area. As it is a high visibility area, it requires much more frequent policing than the four times per year required by the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Board member, Jim Huse, is willing to share a stroll along Highway 180 East if you plead with him just a little. Items found littering the highway margins are limited only by the imagination. Jim says, "The number of gas caps I have picked up is unbelievable."

Prior to joining a pick-up, volunteers are given safety instructions and provided a safety vest. Then armed with gloves and a plastic bag hardy volunteers form a skirmish line and move out. Jim tries to choose a time when traffic is lighter and not so frantic. Safety is a prime consideration.

So if you like to get out in the fresh air, this is your chance. Call the Habitat Office (538-9540) and put your name on the list for the next anti-litter campaign. It will really pick you up.

Gila Region Board of Directors held an all day Retreat/Planning Session at the home of member Betty Conner on March 6. Eleven Board members and four guests attempted to formalize our Mission Statement, review past accomplishments, develop a 5-year strategic plan and develop a budget.

Work is continuing on this ambitious undertaking. A follow up will occur on Saturday, April 3, as members seek to prioritize items proposed in the March meeting, develop a time schedule and finalize a budget. Other topics for discussion at this retreat will be disposition of the Moffett House, developing a Re-Store, expanding our aluminum can collection project and progress on our Highway Clean Up project.

Committee members and volunteers are being sought to work on these projects. Anyone interested may call the HFH-Gila Region office at 538-9540.

Our affiliate is in the unique position of having one of our Habitat owners give her house back to us. The owner, who has been engaged in mission work for her church, has rented the home for several years. At the time she entered the mission, she expected to be away for only two years. As time passed, she realized she would not return to the area. The homeowner was finding it difficult to properly maintain the home from a distance. After prayerful consideration, she elected to donate the home back to the affiliate and thereby share the blessing of her home with another family.

A condition in Habitat for Humanity mortgages now requires that the home owner or a member of the immediate family occupy the home. The house has now been legally transferred back to HfH - Gila Region and the Board of Directors is deciding how to proceed with getting a new family in the home. Only minor repairs will be needed to make the house ready for occupancy. A call for volunteers will be made soon.

HfH - Gila Region was well represented at the Western Region Training in Los Lunas February 27 and 28. Board Members Bill Grotefend, Don Jay, Nancy Oliver, Marti and Don Trammell and Family Selection Chairman Robert Brasier were able to attend a variety of workshops pertinent to the proper functioning of the affiliate. The Friday evening program and the classes on Saturday were hosted by the Valencia HfH in the beautiful Valencia UNM Campus facility in Los Lunas.

One hundred twenty-nine Habitat leaders and representatives of organizations that work with Habitat, from New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, received information from the Western Region support personnel. Topics presented ranged from Fund Raising through Family Selection. The Friday evening program featured a talk by one of the Valencia Home Owners who is a paraplegic. His story is most inspirational and eloquently described the Habitat for Humanity mission.

Board members and committee chairman and members should plan now to take advantage of these training sessions that are offered yearly.