Taylor Place Halloween Party

Trick-or-treat time! This past Halloween, Family Services VISTA Marjorie and other Habitat staff members organized Halloween activities for all the Habitat children in Taylor Place. Face painting, costume contests, trick-or-treating and more entertained the kids and a good time was had by all. For more pictures from the event, click http://picasaweb.google.com/seaislandhabitat/TaylorPlaceHalloweenParty#

SIHH's Global Village Trip to Paraguay

After a longstanding relationship of tithing a percentage of donations to Habitat for Humanity Ghana, SIHH made the decision to reevaluate where the greatest need exists. While there is still a need for the tithe in Ghana, SIHH has the ability to tithe to more than one international affiliate.

After much deliberation and evaluation of various international affiliates, SIHH decided to expand the tithe to Paraguay as well. Paraguay is the 3rd poorest country in South America with an estimated housing deficit of 470,000 homes and few government-funded housing subsidy programs are available. It is important to SIHH to not only give financially to support international affiliates but also to build our Global Village trip program to support them through building with them.

For all of these reasons SIHH took a group of staff, homeowners, volunteers, and donors on a 10 day trip to build with Habitat for Humanity Paraguay. Amy Sanchez, a SIHH Homeowner and our Office Assistant, says of the group, "We went on a mission to build a more decent home for a family in need, and we went with open hearts."

The SIHH team, the family, and Habitat Paraguay staff came together to work as a team on the construction of the home. In addition, GV participants were able to enjoy such cultural events as making chipa, traditional Paraguayan bread; visiting a local barrio to witness substandard housing conditions and what is being done in terms of community development; playing soccer with the masons; meeting with leaders of a local indigenous reserve to discuss their situation; spending an afternoon at an eco-reserve rappelling, zip-lining, and hiking; touring Asunción; and a home dedication and barbecue with the family.

Habitat for Humanity Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has a slogan: "Make your world a home, become an albañil." An albañil is a mason. Habitat LAC encourages each of us to make the difference that is needed to provide adequate housing.

SIHH feels passionately about not letting our mission of providing adequate housing stop with the barrier islands. We realize the importance of being part of a greater community brought together by the same mission. Jillian Cain, our Deconstruction Manager, put it simply in saying getting to know Habitat Paraguay staff and homeowners "felt no different than getting to know the people I work with and serve here, so it was comforting to me that it felt like an extension of my work and our efforts here in the Charleston area." It was remarkable to see the Habitat community we have built in Johns Island grow to include Paraguay.

As we stood at the end our week at the house dedication before a family in tearful joy, we witnessed the tremendous impact that a small group with a lot of faith and hope is able to make.

For pictures from our trip, please click http://picasaweb.google.com/seaislandhabitat/GlobalVillageTripToParaguay#

Brownswood Place Tree Planting

On October 24th, people in 128 countries came together to take action to reduce their carbon footprints. In Charleston, E’s Trees partnered with Sea Island and East Cooper Habitat for Humanity to plant more than 50 trees in Habitat neighborhoods.

Sea Island Habitat hosted a tree planting at Brownswood Place which included the installation of 33 mature live oaks, the planting of 30+ oak seedlings, and interactive educational activities for youth and adults. East Cooper Habitat conducted a planting of 6 mature native trees at the same time in their McAdams Court site.

E’s Trees (http://myestrees.org/) is a national organization that plants native hardwood trees to provide shade, habitat, and reduce carbon in the atmosphere in communities. B&L Landscaping professionally planted the 33 live oaks and Carolina Hydrologic donated RootGel to reduce irrigation needs for the Sea Island Habitat site.

The day of international action was part of the 350.org movement created by Bill McKibben to increase awareness about climate change. "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed, and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm," said Dr. James Hansen. There were more than 1,602 events that took place around the world, with three events in Charleston. Visit http://www.350.org/ for more information.

For pictures from Sea Island's tree planting, please clickhttp://picasaweb.google.com/seaislandhabitat/BrownswoodPlaceTreePlanting#

Nikki Seibert Receives Greenbuild 2009 Fellowship Award

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity's Green Build Coordinator, Nikki Seibert, was recently recognized by the US Green Building Council SC Chapter for her commitment to green building in the lowcountry.

Nikki and Ike Boatwright both received the award of Greenbuild Fellowships for 2009 and will attend Greenbuild, the organization’s national convention and expo in Phoenix, AZ from November 11-13, 2009. Ike and Nikki are both working in the Charleston area and were recognized for their organizational leadership in green building, sustainable operations and education, and community outreach.

The South Carolina Chapter, with representatives from numerous educational, governmental and private industries, strives to uphold and disseminate the goals of the U.S. Green Building Council, while working on a local level to educate the citizens of South Carolina about the benefits of green building and sustainable communities.

Congratulations Nikki!

Deconstruction Program Awarded for Service!

Deconstruction Manager, Jillian Cain, was recently recognized by her peers at the Recycling Business Forum in Columbia, SC and awarded for making a positive impact on South Carolina's environment and the economy. The ReStore's Deconstruction Program was awarded the 2009 Best Re-Use Program!

The Recycling Business Forum is an annual event that brings recycling businesses and other industries together to help promote, strengthen and drive the momentum of South Carolina’s recycling industry. The S.C. Department of Commerce seeks to recognize the achievements of recycling businesses that support and promote the recovery of recyclable materials, sustainable markets and the growth of South Carolina’s recycling industry.

Congratulations to Jill, the Deconstruction Program and the ReStore!

THANKS for GIVING
Auction & Dinner

The exclusive River Course Clubhouse and lawn will be transformed to showcase the autumn harvest season as we enjoy dinner, music and a live and silent auction to celebrate “Thanks for Giving.”

Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009

Time: 5:00pm

Place: The River Course, Kiawah Island, SC

Tickets: $75

Dress: Casual (blue jeans welcomed)

Contact: Christa Lewis

(843-768-0998 x111)

Memphis, TN band Country Grammar will perform live to get you moving on the dance floor and a seasonal menu featuring prime rib, corn chowder, pork BBQ, ham on sweet potato biscuits and more will be served, complimented by an open bar.

Bid on great items such as a ½ day sail on the Charleston harbor, rounds of golf at top courses, an Orvis-Guided fly fishing excursion, a once-in-a-lifetime golf experience in Doonbeg, Ireland and many more fabulous services, excursions and items! A live wine auction, featuring fine wine collections from around the world will cap off the evening!

For more information or to purchase your tickets, please call Christa Lewis at 843-768-0998 x 111.

It's Move In Day!

Today was an exciting day for everyone here at Sea Island Habitat as we welcomed two of our newest homeowners into our Habitat family! After months of hard work, blistered hands and aching muscles, our Women Build and Faith in Action families have finally closed on their homes.

Cuco and Yenny Ramirez and their sons Matthew (7), Joshua (6) and Sebastian (3) were the proud recipients of this year's Women Build home. Throughout the Women Build week, Yenny and Cuco were out on the site EVERY day working with the volunteers. Everyone grew to love them and it was so rewarding to work with such a wonderful family. "I want to thank everyone for their time and all that you have done for us, but most importantly for your friendship" said Yenny in a thank-you note to Habitat. "God bless everybody!"

We were also so blessed to be able to work with Earl and Carrie Brown on their home. Earl and Carrie's home was the Faith in Action home, which was a spring project that brought together churches from all over Charleston to help fundraise and build the home from beginning to end! Blessed Sacrament, James Island Presbyterian, Johns Island Presbyterian, St. Johns Episcopal and Seacoast James Island were all great church partners and we thank them for their dedication to our cause. The Browns put in more than their fair share of work-- Earl, who works the overnight shift at Harris Teeter, was out on the site every Saturday along with Carrie to work with the church groups, which many times meant going without sleep! Even after they had completed their 500 "sweat equity" hours, the Browns could be found out on the site, helping to build the homes of their neighbors and Earl's constant smile and laugh proved contagious!

We are so thankful to have been able to work with such AMAZING families, volunteers and donors on these homes so thank you for your continued support. Please keep the Ramirezs and Browns in your prayers as they enter this exciting new chapter in their lives!