Live Webinar - Tuesday September 27th @ 6:00pm Join us for our next live informational webinar on Tuesday September 27th at 6:00pm. This FREE session is geared for the person wishing to purchase a home in 2 or more years. This webinar is the latest installment of the Habitat Helping Hands Homeowner Education Series.
This month's webinar focuses on basic budgeting. We will cover:
This webinar is hosted by Tobi Farley, Director of the Philmont Public Library and presented by Stephanie Martin, Financial Wellness Coach and Shanatia Bygrave, Greenport/Hudson Branch Manager at Greylock Federal Credit Union; and Al Bellenchia, CEO of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. Homeownership Webinars are brought to you by a partnership between the Columbia County Library Association, Greylock Federal Credit Union and Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. Please register below and you will receive a Zoom link and further instructions. Meet Florence - Florence is one of the latest recipients of assistance from Habitat Helping Hands, a program of Habitat for Humanity in Columbia County. Florence’s daughter heard about the program and applied on her behalf as she was worried about her mother using a set of deteriorating steps into her house. Around the same time, Florence’s granddaughter moved-in and brought along her 2 year old child who is wheelchair-bound. With the compounded challenges of safe accessibility to their house, Florence qualified for help from Habitat Helping Hands.
Habitat Helping Hands is a home improvement and education program that focuses on seniors and low-income homeowners who have few resources available to them. Like their affordable home ownership programs, Columbia County Habitat seeks to give a hand-up to local folks who need it: helping them achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves, their families, and our community. Six Habitat volunteers came together on two separate Saturdays under the direction of Mike Tizekker, Habitat's Construction Project Manager, and built a 36 foot ramp for Florence and her family. The cost of the materials was covered by support from local individual donors along with program sponsors: Herrington's, Greylock Federal Credit Union, The Dyson Foundation, Columbia-Greene Community College, the Columbia County Libraries Association and the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation. Florence and her family were so grateful to everyone involved in the project and now have the peace-of-mind that all members of her household are able to safely move in and out of their house without further assistance. Volunteers are needed to help with other Helping Hands projects in Columbia County. Interested individuals and groups can sign up on the Habitat website here: www.columbiacountyhabitat.org/volunteer-for-habitat-helping-hands Qualified low-income and senior homeowners are encouraged to apply for assistance at habitathelpinghands.org. “The non-profit institution neither supplies goods or services…nor controls. Its ‘product’ is neither a pair of shoes nor an effective regulation. Its product is a changed human being…The non-profit institutions are human change agents.” - Peter Drucker
Dear Friends of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity, We have passed the halfway mark for calendar 2022, which for Habitat affiliates means that a new fiscal year started as of July 1. It is an opportunity to review some recent accomplishments and preview what’s ahead during the next 12 months and beyond. Housing/Families We have welcomed two new families into our community-built homes, one in Valatie and one in Ancramdale. We are expecting a second family to occupy their new home in Ancramdale in late Summer/early Fall. When that happy occasion occurs, we will have sold all our available homes, and will begin construction on our next project, which we expect will be in Philmont. We are doing site engineering and prep work there, in preparation for inviting homeownership applications for the two homes to be constructed there. We will have more to announce on this next project in the weeks ahead. Habitat Helping Hands This Spring, in collaboration with several leading County organizations, we launched a new homeowner services initiative, Habitat Helping Hands and began our first joint projects: safety and accessibility repairs and a financial education webinar series. The Habitat Helping Hands program is focused on seniors and new and low-income homeowners who have few resources available to them. Like our affordable home ownership programs, we seek to give a hand-up to folks: helping them achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves, their families, and our community. Applications and criteria for assistance can be found on our newly redesigned website, and projects are evaluated on a need basis. Our partners include the Columbia County Libraries Association, Columbia Greene Community College, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Ed Herrington, Inc. We will also be formally celebrating the launch of this collaborative project at Columbia Greene Community College on October 15, so please SAVE THE DATE! We are also seeking volunteers interested in assisting on our build/repair projects. Please call our offices at 518.828.0892 if you are interested in lending your own helping hands! ReStore Every donation made to our ReStore is recycled into our home building programs. We literally turn your contributions into houses. Our ReStore had a record year in Fiscal 2022 for donations, customers and revenues, which allowed it to contribute $100,000 to homebuilding. You helped make this happen, and we are immensely grateful. The Future: Vision 2025 If you have been keeping up with the news, you are no doubt aware of the escalating affordable housing crisis in our community. Simply put, in Columbia County there is a lack of housing available that is considered affordable (under 30% of gross income under federal guidelines.) This is a problem locally, regionally, and nationally. Affordable housing has transcended from “merely” a social/class issue into a full-blown community/economic crisis. If working class families (the people who serve our coffee, draw our blood, maintain our streets, staff our offices, etc.) cannot find or afford housing in our communities, they will seek out other places where they can work and raise their children. We are seeing this unfold in real time across our county, as more and more employers cannot find local workers and workers cannot find local housing that they can afford. This challenge is the impetus behind our Board’s decision to explore ways we can grow, have a greater impact on addressing the need for more homes, and create a greater diversity of housing options. We are currently working on a new strategic plan to guide our future development, as we look forward to celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2023. How you can help As the quote at the top of this letter suggests, our work can be the agent of change needed in our community. And many hands make the work lighter and more enjoyable. There are many ways to get involved with Habitat, which can be found on our newly refreshed website. Please take a look and take action to support our work.
Our best years are the ones ahead. With gratitude, Carolynn Anklam Al Bellenchia Board President Executive Director/CEO Live Webinar - Tuesday August 30th @ 6:00pmJoin us for our next live informational webinar on Tuesday August 30th at 6:00pm. This FREE session is geared for the person wishing to purchase a home in 2 or more years. This webinar is the latest installment of the Habitat Helping Hands Homeowner Education Series. We will discuss:
This webinar is hosted by Tobi Farley, Director of the Philmont Public Library and presented by Stephanie Martin, Financial Wellness Coach and Shanatia Bygrave, Greenport/Hudson Branch Manager at Greylock Federal Credit Union; and Al Bellenchia, CEO of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. Homeownership Webinars are brought to you by a partnership between the Columbia County Library Association, Greylock Federal Credit Union and Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. Please register below and you will receive a Zoom link and further instructions. Reduce single-use plastic in the environment and give back to those in need in the local community, all while running routine weekly errands at the Livingston Hannaford. Columbia County Habitat for Humanity has been selected by local Hannaford store leadership as the benefiting non-profit in the Community Bag Program for the month of August.
The Hannaford Community Bag Program is an easy way for shoppers to give back to the local community and the environment as part of the regular shopping routine. Every $2.50 reusable Community Bag sends a $1 donation to a non-profit local to the Hannaford in which it was purchased. As part of this ongoing program, every month at every Hannaford location a different local non-profit is selected to benefit from the sale of the reusable Community Bag. Columbia County Habitat for Humanity was selected as the August beneficiary by the leadership team at the Livingston Hannaford store. Columbia County Habitat will receive a $1 donation for every $2.50 reusable Community Bag purchased at this location in August. “It’s more important than ever to help reduce single-use plastic in the environment,” said Al Bellenchia, Executive Director of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. “Non-profits at the local level, like us, are in need of community support. This program offers a great solution to multiple issues we face today. We hope you’ll support us in August by purchasing one – or two! - Community Bags at our local Hannaford!” Columbia County Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit based in Hudson, NY. Founded in 1993, Columbia County Habitat specializes in building safe, decent, and affordable housing for working families throughout the county. Learn more about Columbia County Habitat for Humanity by visiting columbiacountyhabitat.org. For more information about the Hannaford Community Bag Program, please visit hannaford.bags4mycause.com. An introductory webinar was held on June 28th, 2022 to inaugurate a new initiative and partnership between Habitat for Humanity, Greylock Federal Credit Union and the Columbia County Libraries Association. This webinar provides an overview of how our organizations are working together to provide Columbia County residents with the tools for homeownership through our new program, Habitat Helping Hands. Habitat Helping Hands focuses on seniors and new and low-income homeowners who have few resources available to them. Like our affordable home ownership programs, we seek to give a hand-up to folks: helping them achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves, their families, and our community. This webinar is an introduction to a series of future programs on homeowner support and services including a financial literacy series with Greylock Federal Credit Union and a series on home repair and maintenance. Our next installment will be on August 30th. Presenters: Tobi Farley, Director Philmont Public Library Al Bellenchia, Executive Director of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity Stephanie Martin and Shanatia Bygrave from Greylock Federal Credit Union Columbia County Habitat for Humanity (CCHFH) is planning to accelerate its building program and is introducing a new homeowner assistance service in 2022 to help address the escalating housing affordability crisis in Columbia County.
Al Bellenchia, executive director/CEO of CCHFH, said, “We are committed to doing more to create more housing for the county’s lower income and working families who simply cannot find safe, affordable places to live. We are also looking to do more to help struggling homeowners to make minor repairs, make their homes safer and more accessible, and to help keep seniors in place.” Dear Friends,
2021 has been a year of transition, reflection, and progress for Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. In March, Brenda Adams retired after 13 years as Executive Director. Her legacy will include how our Habitat operation grew to provide over 20 safe, secure, and affordable houses for families to call their own. Our new Executive Director, Al Bellenchia, has brought a fresh perspective, new skills and experiences, and a desire to expand our impact in our community. During his first months, he has added to staff, streamlined and updated operations and helped move us past the lingering effects of Covid-19 and into a more active future. We are moving forward in many ways:
Affordable housing is essential to building vibrant communities. It is proven that:
If safe, affordable housing is scarce or unattainable, the businesses and institutions that serve our community cannot attract or retain employees. In an increasingly service-based economy, a lack of housing creates a cycle of economic distress. We are seeing that happen here, impacting local organizations large and small, in education, manufacturing, service, healthcare, non-profit sectors and other critical industries. For many families, house prices, building costs and taxes have consistently increased, while incomes and access to credit have languished or declined. This has created an increasing gap between the cost of owning and maintaining a home and what is considered affordable. Columbia County Habitat is committed to doing more to help solve this growing crisis, and is seeking partners to create the change we need. “If you want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, you go together.” Thank you for your generous past support. Your gift to Habitat is so critical at this time. Together, we can create more affordable homeownership opportunities. There are many ways to give to our Winter Appeal, including here on our website. Our community’s future is increasingly at stake. Wishing you and yours happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year, A look back on what we were up to at Habitat this summer, and a look ahead at what’s to come
Dear Friends, As the summer of 2021 unfolds and fall approaches, many aspects of our operations are getting back up to speed. We do not know what “normal” will be yet, so we are avoiding using that term. We have welcomed volunteers back to the ReStore and in our administrative offices. Construction work continues to be mostly in hibernation, as we work on closing the sales of our existing homes before we break new ground. What a joyous occasion it will be when we have a full crew of volunteers working alongside our construction crew to build a new home. The lack of housing suitable for working families – the backbone of our communities – is another epidemic among us. It threatens to undermine the economic progress needed for our communities to thrive. The need for affordable housing has never been as critical as it is now. Housing affordability is an economic, as well as social issue. If safe, affordable housing is scarce or unattainable, the businesses and institutions that serve our community cannot attract employees, creating a vicious cycle of economic distress. This impacts local businesses, large and small, across education, manufacturing, service, healthcare, non-profit sectors and other critical industries.
We are moving forward. If you’d like to help, please connect with me at abellenchia@columbiacountyhabitat.org. Sincerely, Al Bellenchia, Executive Director A Night to Remember As the first in-person event we have hosted since the start of COVID, our Art Gallery & Silent Auction, held on July 23, was as much a celebration as it was a fundraiser. Featuring the artwork of local artist Dorothea Masterson, which had been generously donated by her family following her death in 2020, the auction offered guests an opportunity to mingle with their neighbors, enjoy some tasty refreshments, and bid on dozens of exquisite paintings and photographs. The ReStore was also open for late-night shopping, giving guests an opportunity to see all that we have to offer. Thanks to you, we were able to raise a total of $2,000! All proceeds go towards Habitat and our mission to bring affordable housing to more working families in Columbia County. Your contributions have helped us in this endeavor as we look forward to building more homes for neighbors in need. And don’t worry if you were unable to attend the auction—we still have plenty of artwork left for sale, both by Dorothea and other talented artists. Every Little Bit Counts “Here at the ReStore, we like to say that we’re in the donation business because everything we do, from providing great deals to building new homes, starts with donations.” ~ Will Stegemann, ReStore Manager Habitat is kept afloat by the generous donations we receive from the members of our community. Donations help us build more homes, pay our employees, and carry out the many projects we do to assist people in need. Whether it’s $5 or $100, every dollar donated goes towards supporting an organization that is aimed exclusively at improving our communities in Columbia County. Click here to donate. Visit Us Online! One of the best ways to stay up-to-date about what’s going on at Columbia County Habitat is by following our social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. There you’ll find information about upcoming events, ReStore sales, opportunities at Habitat, and so much more! If you would like to join our mailing list to receive future digital newsletters, head over to our newsletters page to sign up. It’s quick, simple, and completely free of charge! |