| Thank you to our supporters! |
| AFL-CIO Atwood United Church of Christ Balloon Creations Bendsen Signs & Graphics, Inc. Brick Layers & Allied Craft Workers Local 8 Champaign Heating & Air, Inc. Champaign Telephone Company City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Dodds Company Flat Top Grill Habitat for Humanity of Greater Peoria Habitat for Humanity of Piatt County Home Depot IBEW Local 601 Kan-Doo Concrete Menards Meyer Drapery Service Operative Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 143 Pekara Bakery Prime Time Pizza Remco Electric Stevens Excavating The Vineyard Thrivent Financial for Lutherans TSI Specialty Cleaning & Restoration |
| Collection Location for Food Bank |
| Habitat for Humanity's ReStore is now a permanent Eastern Illinois Food Bank drop off location. Eastern Illinois Foodbank welcomes gifts of nonperishable canned, packaged and bottled food as well as cleaning supplies, and personal toiletry items. You may drop of donations for the Foodbank during regular ReStore hours. The collection box is located near the Cashier Station. |
| Socliaze with other Habiteers |
| Join the Volunteer Committee as we resume our monthly Happy Hours on February 13th! We'll be at the back of Boltini Lounge in downtown Champaign from 5 - 7p. Free appetizers and name tags! Bring a warm smile, a firm handshake, and get ready to mix it up with those you know... and those you'd like to know! Never been to Boltini? Here's a helpful map: http://snipurl.com/wod7." Can't make it because you'll be shopping for Valentine's Day? Future Happy Hours are scheduled for March 13th, April 10th, May 8th and June 12th. |
| Regular ReStore Orientations |
| Weekly ReStore orientations are held on Saturday
mornings at 9a and Wednesdays at 5:30p. All ReStore orientations begin on the main floor of the store. Habitat for Humanity's ReStore is located at 119 E. University Ave. This schedule is subject to change. Experienced store volunteers are encouraged to attend a new store orientation for the updated store policies and to learn more about this massive three story building. For more information, a current ReStore orientation schedule, or to RSVP for an orientation, please contact Courtney at 355-6460 x116 or email volunteer@cuhabitat.org. |
| Groundbreakings and Home Dedications |
| With the build season opening in March and April, we
have ground breakings and home dedications to plan! These
heart-warming events need dedicated volunteers to help make it
special for the build volunteers, sponsors and new homeowners. If
you are interested in helping with these events, please contact
Megan at fundraising@cuhabitat.org or (217) 359-0507 x
118. |
| HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY |
| AND HOME IMPROVEMENT RESTORE 119 E UNIVERSITY CHAMPAIGN IL 61820 WWW.CUHABITAT.ORG |
| Share-a-Meal on March 13th |
| On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, you can support Habitat
for Humanity and dozens of other non-profit organizations by
enjoying a wonderful meal with family or friends. On that day
restaurants across Illinois will donate 30% of their proceeds to
support our work and other non-profits in Illinois. This unique event is an opportunity to spend an evening with people you enjoy, have a great meal and give back to the community all in one sitting. It combines the delight of eating out with the joy of giving into one fun-filled event. Share A Meal with Community Shares allows diners to designate a portion of their bill to Habitat or any of the members of Community Shares of Illinois. So make your reservations today! It's an easy way to make a difference and to support restaurants that support local charities addressing community needs. For more information visit http://www.share-a-meal.org |
| Free Credit Seminar in February |
| The Community Reinvestment Group is hosting a free
Credit Seminar on Thursday, February 22, 2007 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
at the Parkland Business Development Center. Citizens are invited to
visit any time between 7 and 9 pm and visit individually with a
member of the Community Reinvestment Group to review your credit and
ask questions such as how to repair, maintain, or obtain
credit. For most families, the greatest single barrier to homeownership is poor credit. In 2004, credit problems accounted for 41% of conventional home loan denials and 43% of FHA/VA loan denials in Champaign-Urbana. Many people don't know how to begin to improve their credit. Fortunately, there are services available to help. The Community Reinvestment Group is a group of local municipalities (Champaign, Urbana, and County), non-profit housing developers, credit counseling agencies, credit unions, and banks working to promote affordable housing and community reinvestment in Champaign County. |
| Thrivent Builds Homes: 507 & 509 E Bradley |
| Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County, area
Lutherans and members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will break
ground on two homes this spring. This partnership is a powerful
opportunity to reconnect with Habitat's roots. We're grateful for
their commitment to increasing to building relationships and
strengthening our community. According to U.S. Census reports, one in nine residents of Champaign County have to choose between decent housing and medical care, utilities and food. In offering a hand up not a hand out through purchasing a home at no interest, Thrivent Financial and area Lutherans are becoming partners in wellness and hope. "I've seen how Thrivent Builds with Habitat is helping families get out of substandard housing and achieve their dream of home ownership," said Norm Fisher, Records Director of Champaign County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. "The home we built with Habitat in 2004 was very successful; we look forward to helping two more families work into home ownership in this area." Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity brings together two national nonprofit networks of 1,699 Habitat affiliates and 1,362 Thrivent volunteer chapters. Locally, the Champaign Chapter of Thrivent volunteers will be helping with the homes. The need for an effort of this magnitude is great: More than 13 million U.S. households use at least half of their income to pay for housing. Millions more live in overcrowded conditions or housing with severe physical deficiencies, such as having no hot water, electricity or toilet. To learn more, visit www.tbChampaign.com or www.thriventbuilds.com. |
| Futurecast |
| by Mark Middleton, Finance Manager It is January, the month for predictions about the rest of 2007. I am not a prophet and certainly can't predict the future. Others are more bold. Business Week just went out on a limb to discuss the real estate market in 2007. Here is the magazine's summary of economists predictions: .Interest rates will remain a historically low levels in 2007 .Homebuyers, especially in formerly hot markets, will begin to see more opportunities, .Wait until 2009 for the market to pick up steam again in sales volume as prices conclude their correction. Real Estate economists are generally gloomy, however, on behalf of sellers, builders, and realtors. Home prices will continue to fall in some markets. (That's good for buyers, bad for sellers!). They also opine that the rate of price appreciation will be slow. The worst news of all: foreclosures will continue to increase from already high levels. For those struggling to hold onto their homes, their net worth will shrink as their homes lose value. Economists predict there will be a rise in long term interest rates. 2007 will see double-digit depreciation in the number of housing starts, the sharpest decline since 1991, the worst year for housing starts on record. Not only will new home sales be down fo the year, existing home sales will also be flat. The doom and gloom from the home producer sector is good news for potential home buyers: the current "market correction" will make the dream of buying a home a reality. Economists blame the rapid run-up in prices in the past few years on speculation. Taking advantage of low interest rates and good economic conditions, investors drove prices to new heights in the first half of the decade, so they could flip purchases for profit. But as interest rates rose and the gap between income and housing costs widened, homebuyers never materialized as expected. The forces of market correction have forced investors to dump their property on the market, flooding many places with homes for sale and forcing prices to a more realistic level. Since home price trends generally tend to lag 9 to 12 months behind sales trends, prices will be weakest in 2008. Looking to buy in Southern California or Florida or Las Vegas? Plan ahead now for the day the price drops materialize. These formerly red-hot markets will see the sharpest declines. New home construction is headed for a major slump in 2007, according to the expert prognosticators. Nationally, total housing starts will slide 13.2% to 1.576 million, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Washington, D.C. This is close to record collapse of 1991. |
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