| Support those who support Habitat |
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Women Build Homes with the Corona Family Alto Vineyards Altrusa Amasong Beaumont Alignment Plus BridalU.net Cooper's Hawk Winery Corkscrew English Hedgerow Friar Tuck Furrow Vineyard Chef Benjamin Graves Herriott's Rentals Kickapoo Creek Winery Lynfred Winery, Inc. Mackinaw Valley Vineyard Macy's McGladrey & Pullen Michelle's Bridal National Council of Negro Women, Champaign County Section Printec Rotary Club of Champaign Sleepy Creek Vineyards El Toro II Traveling Vineyard United Rentals UpClose Marketing & Printing Women of Grace Community Church Wells Fargo Housing Foundation Z Entertainment Thrivent Builds Homes 2008 Beta Sigma Psi Frances Nelson Health Center Good Shepherd Lutheran HDC Engineering Peace Lutheran Rawles, O'Byrne, Stanko, Kepley & Jefferson St. Paul's Lutheran Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ReStore sponsors Baytowne Apartments Cameron-Juday Real Estate Capstone Carpentry Carter's on Prospect Champaign Carpet and Tile Champaign Estate Sales Champaign Telephone Company Clark-Lindsey Village Custom Flooring and Tiles Flooring Surfaces General Growth Properties Kennedy Tool Chest Leadershape, Inc. Lowe's Marketplace Mall McClure Financial Group Meyer Drapery Gary Perkins Construction Remco Electric Mr. Rooter Peckham & Associates Slumberland Springfield Electric Strata Decision Technologies Tepper Electric Town & Country Apartments Windsor of Savoy |
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| Shop - Donate - Volunteer |
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Champaign County's ReStore is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Donations of goods for the ReStore are accepted during business hours. Please pull up to the southeast garage door and ring bell for assistance. Too large for your vehicle? Schedule a donation pick up! Donation pick ups are $5 in C-U, and $10 outside C-U within a 15 mile radius. Contact us at (217) 355-6460 x120 or restore@cuhabitat.org to schedule. The ReStore is now hiring a delivery driver. Details here. See new items here! Play the ReStore Restock game here. |
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| "You Helped Build It" Volunteer Event |
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You Helped Build It Sunday, April 20, 2008 4 – 7pm at the ReStore  We would like to invite everyone who has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County & ReStore to celebrate your gift to people in need. Whether a build site, the ReStore, a committee or
event, you helped build: relationships, community, homes.Entrees and drinks will be supplied by Habitat. Please bring a side dish or dessert of your own to share. The first fifty volunteers will receive a gift. We will hear a few words of thanks, as well as recognition of specific volunteers, by staff and the Board of Directors at 530pm. If you're available to help with set up or take down, please contact Ellen Willcox @ 359-0507 x 110 or house@cuhabitat.org. |
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| Your online donation could help buy… |
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$10 = Box of Nails $35 = Roof Shingles $50 = Low Flow Toilet $65 = One Square Foot of a Home $75 = Window $100 = Kitchen Sink $150 = Front Door $500 = Siding $1,000 = Wallboard $2,000 = Flooring  |
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| Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County & ReStore |
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119 E. University Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 355-6460 ReStore (217) 359-0507 Administration www.cuhabitat.org Flickr photo stream Video of local home Habitat Bingo Wreckin' Ball Billie  |
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| Brought to you by... |
 The ReStore will be featured on WILL-TV's " Prairie Fire" at 730pm tonight, April 3, 2008. Thank you WILL! |
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| Meet the Robinsons |
Please welcome our newest home owners, Rasheen Robinson (age 30) and her son Dizon (age 3). The Robinsons will purchase one of the two homes scheduled to be built this
summer in partnership with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and area Lutheran congregations at 1304 and 1306 N Carver, site of the original Frances Nelson Health Clinic. "I cannot stop smiling, my cheeks have had it!" Rasheen
exclaimed, grinning. Rasheen grew up in Danville, the oldest of four kids. She and her brothers all graduated from Danville High School and Rasheen has been working since age 15, originally at Wendy's. When she moved to Champaign after graduation to be with her then-boyfriend (they have since married and divorced), she started at Lowe's. Rasheen worked up to manager of the front end customer service, where she stayed for three years, then receiving manager for another three years. Herff-Jones is where you'll find Rasheen today. "I couldn't believe the e-mails I got from my coworkers when they heard the news. They all want to help on the work site." Despite such steady work and success in her employment, Rasheen has had to come back from bad choices. When she first moved to Champaign, she took advantage of easy credit, not understanding the consequences of interest and late fees. Eventually she declared bankruptcy. "I didn't have any financial education. I will talk to my son, he won't make the same mistake."  That early financial crisis is part of why Rasheen delayed applying for Habitat's program. "I didn't think I was
good enough," and nearly cancelled her appointment with the Chair of Habitat's Family Selection Committee, Celia Elliott."On the contrary," said Celia, "Rasheen is just the kind of prospective homeowner that we're looking for. Yes, she had some problems in the past, but she has also worked very hard to overcome those earlier mistakes and repair her credit. She's made sacrifices and hard choices to put herself in a position to benefit from the Habitat housing program. Rasheen's absolutely committed to providing a stable, secure home for her son, she has tremendous energy and discipline, and I'm confident she'll make her dream a reality. Habitat is not about the past; it's about what people are willing to do together to make a future." Joan Wingo, Thrivent Builds Homes Chapter Specialist, met the Robinsons at their trailer at the end of March. "I've wanted to be involved with Habitat since 1976," Joan said. "In the late 80s I worked with single moms in Milwaukee, helping them with housing and services. I support Habitat because I think each child needs to have a safe place of their own so they can relax and think."  "I am blessed. I am not going to let anybody down. I am going to be an excellent home owner. I am going to stay in this community and raise my son. This is an opportunity for us both and I
am going to take it and I am going to grow from it. Show me what I need to do. Nothing will embarrass me. I am going to bring my baby up right." Rasheen and Dizon have lived in their trailer since his birth. "I am blessed to have
this much, but it's not perfect." The insulation is almost non-existent, leaving them both with colds and ear aches all winter. Finding care for a sick child, when the day care can't take him on, is a significant pressure for a single
mother. Some days, Dizon huddles in bed under the covers just to stay warm. In addition, the walls are paper thin, making good sleep difficult. "If someone has their car stereo on, I can hear it well enough to sing along." Her high-energy
boy has limited room to play indoors and the communal yard is muddy, often trashed.Habitat can't serve families with emergency housing needs. Instead, it offers a hand up (not a hand out) to those families with limited resources but enough to make the mortgage payments and put in their sweat equity on the home build. As a result, many of our families fall into a category of our neighbors who make too much money to qualify for public aid but not enough to actually cover their expenses, including housing. To make her dollars stretch, "I food pantry," Rasheen says, grateful for the generosity of St. Patrick's Catholic, Empty Tomb and Salt & Light. Most of Rasheen's immediate neighbors are elderly retirees on extremely low fixed incomes. She shares any extra food she receives and makes sure they have access to the resources she's found.  If you're in the home improvement
ReStore on a Saturday or the
Women Build Homes work site, where Rasheen will begin putting in her 250 hours of sweat equity, please introduce yourself. Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County and ReStore is proud to support the Robinson family's partnership with
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and local Lutheran congregations. |
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| 2008's HAB500 |
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Habitat for Humanity has been a big part of King Elementary School teacher Bryan Lake's life since he was very young. Bryan even remembers nailing on shingles when he was
still in elementary school, alongside his grandfather. A self-described "Habi-rat," Bryan continued on the work sites, adding the Habitat 500 to his efforts in high school. "I can't imagine not being involved with HFH in some way." The Habitat 500 is a 500 mile bike ride fundraiser organized and supported by volunteers from the Twin Cities HfH in Minnesota. Brian comments, "I really don't think it is possible to ride once and not return. This is such a great community to be a part of, if only for a week, and there are riders of all abilities ranging in age from 15 to 85+."  As a fundraiser, riders must raise a minimum of $750. There are usually 100+ riders, and the total funds raised are generally over $200,000. Riders come from across the country. Last
year, students at King Elementary helped support Bryan's ride with a collection of nearly $1,000 in pennies."I would say that the work of Habitat for Humanity in any form is about spreading peace in the world, building community in neighborhoods and towns, and respecting basic human rights to life, love, safety, and shelter." Readers who would like to support Bryan's ride may send checks made out to "Habitat 500" to Bryan Lake at 1004 S. Wabash Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (or contact him at blake@usd116.org). Other local riders are Nancy Melin and Anne Robin. Your donation will support Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County. |
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| Race the Roof celebrates State Farm |
Habitat for Humanity at UIUC presents RACE THE ROOF. What: Annual 5K Run/Walk with presentation of $10,000 donation from State Farm insurance. When: Sunday, April 13th at 11:00am (Check in will begin at 9:00am). Where: Crystal Lake Park in Urbana Who: Anyone and everyone! Registration is available online here or on the day of the race. **If you would like a t-shirt, you must register and pay online by April 6th!** Free food for all participants, and prizes for the top three runners in every age category. If you have any questions, please Marli at marlibar@gmail.com. |
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| Women Build Homes Schedule |
WOMEN BUILD HOMES WITH THE CORONA FAMILY at 114 N Cottage Grove, Urbana. This will be our 50th home!  Groundbreaking Sunday, May 11th 2 p.m.Friday, May 30: Floor system Saturday, May 31: Filled by AMASONG Friday, June 6: Filled by LOWE'S Saturday, June 7: Roofing, windows, doors Friday, June 13: Siding Saturday, June 14: Siding Saturday June 21: Crawl space Saturday, June 28: Catch up Friday, July 11: Painting Saturday, July 12: Filled by THE CU DIVAS Friday, July 18: Trim Saturday, July 19: Appliances Friday, July 25: Touch up Saturday, July 26: Clean up Dedication: Saturday, August 2nd at 10 a.m. For details and to register to help, click here or contact Ellen Willcox at 359-0507 x110, house@cuhabitat.org. Funds raised to date: $39,900. Funds needs: $24,600. To make a donation (we only need 820 donations of $30 each), click here or call our donation hot line (sponsored by Champaign Telephone) at 217/531-3535. See a video of a local Habitat home here! |
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| Lowe's Clinics |
 We are pleased to announce the return of the Lowe's Women Build Clinics. Each
clinic is designed to help every volunteer feel more comfortable on the build site, including safety and a hands-on lesson.1. Safely Using Basic hand and Power Tools on Tuesday, April 8 from 6-8pm 2. Basic Framing for Walls and Roofs on Tuesday, April 15 from 6-8pm 3. How to Install Exterior Siding on Tuesday, April 22 from 6-8pm 4. How to Install Roofing Shingles on Saturday, May 3 from 10am-12pm 5. How to Install Insulation and Drywall on Saturday, May 17th from 10am-12pm 6. Interior Finish: Painting and Trim on Saturday, May 24 from 10am-12pm. You are welcome to sign up for one or all of the clinics. Meet at the classroom in the back of the store: 1904 North Prospect Ave, Champaign. Sign up with Ellen Willcox, house@cuhabitat.org or 359-0507 x110. If interest is very high, we will schedule more. As with all home builds, no skill is required to volunteer. These clinics are a gift to the community from Lowe's, the national partner of the Women Build Homes programs. Thank you, Lowe's! |
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