Thank you and enjoy the pictures!

Ground Blessing, a Habitat for Humanity tradition.

Not only have I helped develop Syracuse Habitat as an organization, but I have also created another piece to put toward my portfolio and resume. This feels wonderful and I am really grateful of my VISTA experience. National Service is not for everyone, but if you are young and excited or just eager to help people then it is definitely worth checking out.

I am going to keep this post rather short today, because I have other odds and ends to tie up. Before I go, I would like to thank my readers and encourage them to continue to follow Syracuse Habitat in the future. It’s a really great program that has made a big difference in the Syracuse Community.

I have successfully increased our volunteer capacity and would like to thank my supervisors for making this experience as rewarding as possible.  They handled my VISTA experience perfectly and have really embraced the capacity building model. My VISTA project was ideally suited for a two-month Summer VISTA experience. I have heard horror stories about VISTAs spending their year-long programs with nothing to do but that didn’t happen to me. Instead I spent my summer, feeling like I was making an impact. I will recommend national service to my friends in the future and am planning to enroll again later.

It is events like the Syracuse Habitat annual picnic that make me exited about future work in non-profits. The Picnic was last Friday and it sure was a lot of fun. I would like to thank everyone who came out in support of us. We had a good turnout and people seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was great to see all my social media advertising really pay-off. Our event committee definitely deserves credit for making it such a wonderful event. I know that out event-planning VISTA will make events even more successful in the future.

Be sure to come back next week and read a full wrap-up of my VISTA experience.

Thank you and enjoy the pictures!

Numerous ways to volunteer at Syracuse Habitat!

The dedication was held last Sunday at 2pm at 227 Elliot Street. It was a small gathering of Syracuse Habitat donors, volunteers, and employees. Personally, I had never been to a dedication, so I had no idea what to expect.

It was a short religious service with our Executive Director leading the opening prayer and the benediction. Another of our longtime volunteers read a few passages from the Bible and presented Celesse Reese with a new family bible for her and her children. Interestingly, Ms. Reese requested that a blessing be said for each room in her new home from her doorway, to her living room, to each of her two children’s bedrooms.

Syracuse Habitat for Humanity put Ms. Reese in charge of the whole homebuilding process. She got to pick her light fixtures, the color of her carpeting, her appliances, and even the format of her dedication. All of these choices made the process smoother and more enjoyable for our newest homeowner.At the end of the dedication she thanked all of Syracuse Habitat’s support. She is now busy moving into her new house and finishing up her sweat-hours.

Be sure to come to our annual Picnic on July 16^th to talk to her and other homeowners about their Habitat experience.

Being stranded on the interstate did get me to start thinking about poverty in Syracuse. One day without a car seemed daunting at first until I thought about the thousands of Syracuse residents that ride the bus to work everyday. Half of Syracuse residents are low-income and can afford very few luxuries. Instead they spend most of their income budgeting between housing, healthcare, and food. This is why Habitat for Humanity builds houses.

The lives of Syracuse Habitat homeowners improve dramatically as soon as they finish their sweat-hours and move in. Housing immediately becomes more affordable and they are able to work towards a better life. Instead of spending half of their income renting substandard housing, they spend 30% of their monthly income owning a brand-new home. This is how Syracuse Habitat helps to eradicate poverty in Syracuse.

I am so glad that I am working on this mission and am excited to continue my work as a Summer VISTA. Check back next week for my post on week six and later this week for my report on my first Habitat for Humanity home dedication.

This week one of our future homeowners volunteered in the office with her children. While it was sometimes distracting, I was impressed by her eagerness to complete her sweat-equity hours. She has to do 300 hours of work for Syracuse Habitat before she moves into her new house, and she is only 50 hours away. She has spent her sweat hours building her new house, sorting mail, and filing papers. She never complains, but instead seems genuinely excited about Habitat homeownership. Two of her kids are spending their summer vacation helping out in the office in any way that they can. They cannot wait to move into their new red house in the Near Westside. It’s a new place to play, a new place to relax, and most importantly a new home.

I continue to work with the More Than Data database program and definitely feel satisfied with my progress. It will increase our volunteer capacity, and make us more able to effectively manage volunteers. I am starting to explore the Reports feature, which can pinpoint hour totals for volunteers and volunteer projects. This is essential for service awards.

That’s about it for this week. Be sure to check back on Tuesday for my next report.

This house was completed in only 6 months due to the dedication and hard work of all of our female volunteers. Syracuse Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program started just 5 years ago and has already built several houses. Women Build empowers women by putting them in charge from fundraising to dedication. Women Build volunteers are already planning their next house and getting ready for their big Mr. Habitat fundraiser in October.

This is your chance to celebrate with us and meet our newest Syracuse Habitat homeowner. Celesse is really excited about her new house at 227 Elliot St. in the Near Westside. She has worked diligently to complete her sweat-equity hours and cannot wait to finally move in.

It is open to the public and we encourage anyone who is interested in Syracuse Habitat or has volunteered with Syracuse Habitat to check it out.

Thank you and enjoy the pictures!

Work on our Otisco St home. Volunteers of all skill level are welcome!

Syracuse Habitat for Humanity along with many other organizations is working to rebuild Syracuse. We are currently working to rebuild the Near Westside. This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Syracuse. One hundred years ago mansions and brand new factories dotted the streets. Gone are the mansions and the factory smokestacks. All that is left is a neighborhood filled with abandoned houses and abandoned factories. Its one of the poorest neighborhoods in the entire country and contains inadequate housing, schools, and security. Recently, large populations of refugees and immigrants have moved into the neighborhood only to fall quickly into the cycle of poverty.

While this diverse community still struggles with these problems on an everyday basis, they feel some hope as money, energy, and time are all invested to revitalize this area. There is a blossoming art community, a community garden, and dozens of neighborhood non-profits. For too long people have felt afraid and isolated on the near Westside, but with new community programs the atmosphere is slowly improving. Just last week 70 immigrants passed the US citizenship test and became our newest Americans. Syracuse Habitat for Humanity is a large part of the revitalization efforts.

Less than a decade ago we made a pledge to build 25 houses here in order to improve the quality of life in the Near Westside. Already we have built 20 of those houses, providing safe and affordable housing for those homeowners and their neighbors. The streets are getting safer and the neighborhoods are getting more livable. We hope to build the last five houses in the next couple of years, but Syracuse Habitat for Humanity cannot do it on our own. We depend on volunteers and donations to make our mission a success. There is no better time to get involved.

For more information on the Near Westside check out http://saltdistrict.com/about/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_Westside,_Syracuse.