- What's New?
Downey Family Foregoes Family Celebrations for One Year to Give
the Smith Family Something Special to Celebrate
The Smith Family
worked hard and long to qualify for the program and to help build
the four-bedroom home at 657 S. Dakota Street. The Downey Family
reached out with support and partnership to them. Together with
Habitat For Humanity of Southwest Montana, the Downeys celebrate
the power of building a home for the Smith Family on a new foundation
of Faith, Hope, and Love. To see more about this amazing story,
see Downey helped the Smith Family realize their dreams of safe,
decent housing in Butte by clicking here.
"How can we build like this on a regular basis?"
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- In response to this frequent
question, Habitat for Humanity and the Mutual Self Help housing
project are welcoming volunteers daily after school at a home
one block from Butte High. From there, youth volunteers will
be assigned to short-term projects throughout the High Schools
area. The volunteer action hours will be 3:00 to 6 p.m. daily.
Even an hour's time can really help a project.
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- Volunteers will read a safety
orientation and be assigned to a skill and age-appropriate, ongoing
project near Butte High and Butte Central High with adult orientation
and supervision by Habitat board members, staff and partner family
members. In addition, church youth groups will be holding special
work sessions by prior arrangement at several of the sites.
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- Weekend hours are set for 10-4p.m.
on Saturdays (earlier by prior arrangement) and 1 to 5 p.m. on
Sundays.
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- YOUTH POWER is a new Habitat
club that welcomes high school students who want to make a difference
in the neighborhoods around Butte High and Butte Central High
Schools. YOUTH POWER always meets and gets assignments from DAVE's
house at 638 S. WYOMING, when the volunteer banners or signs
are visible. (Dave Merritt is an owner-builder whose story is
being featured by national self-help organizations because he
is bringing a new independence to disabled owner-builders and
showing leadership by investing near the high schools area.
Dave is part of a wave of owner-builders who are making a difference
in Butte and Southwest Montana towns, including new programs
in Dillon and next year, Deer Lodge.)
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- YOUTH POWER will work with local
youth groups to plan trips within the Habitat youth challenge
program and other Montana opportunities for service. For more
information, call 782-8579.
 Donate your
vehicle to help Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana
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- You can now support Habitat
for Humanity’s local and global mission by donating your
car, truck, boat, RV or other vehicle to Habitat's Cars for HomesTM
program.
It’s quick and easy and with your help, more low income
families will have a decent place to call home, and the hope
of a better life. Call toll free 1-877-277-HFHI (4344) or visit
www.carsforhomes.org.
- FIRST YOUTH HOUSE - CCCS HOUSE IS DEDICATED,
GRATEFUL HOMEBUYER IS THRILLED TO MOVE IN AT LAST!
What she left behind was cold floors, cracked walls, and the
smell of leaking gas. What she has is a new home that she’s
buying for the cost of materials and supplies, a three-bedroom
home that is amazing every day to this family of three. A mother,
daughter, and grandson live in their new home on Dakota Street.
For years, the home seemed only a distant dream. They were the
final family selected in the first phase of the Central Butte
Revitalization Project, an effort of Habitat for Himanity of
Southwest Montana and the National Affordable Housing Network,
which was another home co-sponsor.
Thanks to the hard work of Carrie Piercy, and the craftsmanship
of Brian, the home is a reality at last. The Plumbers and Fitters
educational program, led by Con Sullivan, volunteered the entire
plumbing service, and Mike Beard completed the electrical work
on the project. Many volunteers from CCCS and youth program participants
also worked on the project.
Habitat thanks the board and staff of CCCS for its many years
of partnership with Habitat for Humanity. This home marked the
10th home in Butte with CCCS volunteer participation. Carrie
Piercy was awarded a special Young Leader award,
for her efforts for Habitat in the last four years. She has worked
on a number of Habitat homes, and directly supported the construction
of three in Butte, including this home. She also helped by bringing
the efforts of young people to the clean-up of Central Butte.
Carrie served on the Habitat board of directors for two years.
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- IRISH LADS JOIN COUNTY, CHURCHES, AND
LOCAL VOLUNTEERS
Irish volunteers in this country to participate in Project Children
helped start the second Youth House project in
Butte, the Marvin Hanson home. Marvin is the courageous man who
adopted the children of his late fiancé. The  home was started with a strong effort
by Jay Fortune Construction on the foundation. Thanks also to
Frank Lombardi for the construction trailer for the project!
Thanks to Nicole Perusich for starting the effort on behalf of
county volunteers. Thanks so very much to the fine Butte families
who hosted Irish volunteers and the leaders Eddie and Kevin,
who made so many friends during their visit to Butte. Special
thanks to those families who have hosted more than once already!
Thanks to Granite Mountain Bank and the Project Children program
for bringing these wonderful folks to our community.
The home itself was started in May and we hope to finish in November,
making it the second fastest build in the Butte chapter’s
history. More than 500 volunteer hours were logged during Building
on Faith week, with daily prayers at the site offered
by ministers from six congregations in Butte.
HABITAT LAUNCHES INTERNET PRAYER NETWORK
Habitat is starting a Prayer Network for the local affiliate
chapter, and each month, prayers and events are posted to the
intenet addresses for the Butte Ministerial Association. To join
the e-mail list for monthly prayers, send an e-mail message to
Barbara Miller at bmiller@montana.com.
The Rev. Dennis Masters of Assembly of God Church and the Rev.
Bob Thaden of United Congregational Church will be co-chairing
the steering team for the prayer network, and we thank those
who have joined this effort to date. Special thanks are due to
church staff and volunteers around town who put the information
into church bulletins. Thanks also for all those who participated
in the Building on Faith blitz. Top Volunteer:
Chuck Arbaugh.
A HOME FOR COURAGEOUS CHILDREN
A community is banding
together to build a welcoming home for children whose mother
was the victim of domestic violence last year, led by friends
and family, along with SafeSpace, Butte-Silver Bow employees
and Kennedy School Parent-Teacher Organization. The home is a
Habitat for Humanity project, where the family pays for the materials
with a no-interest mortgage, and the volunteers and family members
build the home on land contributed by Butte-Silver Bow as part
of the north Butte neighborhood housing effort underway for the
last several years. The building site is near Kennedy School,
where the children have been attending.
The project has been a special concern of former Council of Commissioner
Edie McClafferty, who has championed the family and has been
advocating in their behalf. The family includes four children
and one adult, who is disabled. (Privacy concerns prevent discussion
of the identity.) The family was selected by the Habitat family
selection process late last year, where selection based on need,
willingness to partner and ability to make home payments.
The home is the 12th Habitat for Humanity home in Butte, and
is part of Habitat's Youth focus on domestic violence. Habitat
is still seeking support and sponsorship for families who have
also been the victim of family violence. To contribute or volunteer,
call Habitat at 782-8579 or send e-mail to Project Director Barbara
Miller at bmiller@montana.com.
The Safespace-BSB project will be announcing a spring start date
and organizers are finalizing construction planning. For more
information, call 782-8145.
THE YOUTH HOUSE PROJECT
The imagination of
young people can bring hope to the world, along with positive
change to our communities. Young people can also bring much-needed
solace to those struggling to survive the results of violence.
The Youth House Project is a special youth-focus effort to reach
families with children in need of housing, including those who
may have been affected by violence.
Recent acts of terrorism have made orphans of thousands of children.
Closer to home, less spectacular but equally tragic acts of violence
have left Butte children orphaned or traumatized. Often, families
must struggle to survive on disability income, with not enough
to eat. Partnership with Habitat helps hardworking families take
their own futures in hand.
Youth want to respond to this situation with an active, caring
effort, and several homes for families affected by violence are
on the drawing boards at the area chapters of Habitat for Humanity.
The Habitat board and committees will use the Youth House project
to reach out to the area's young people and seek their leadership
and involvement as the affiliate grows and more chapters are
developed. As part of the Youth House project, the students of
Powell County High Key Club are beginning a chapter in their
community.
Another aspect of the Youth House effort is outreach to families
about homeownership programs in Butte and Southwest Montana.
Hand-outs are being sent home with students of all local schools
over the coming months. In general, the effort will collaborate
with other available housing, to try to get helpful information
about affordable, available housing from all sources to those
who need it.
BUILDING TOGETHER IN FAITH PRODUCES
BLESSED RESULTS WITH HOME DEDICATION ON DECEMBER 21, 2001
Many prayers were
answered when the Butte Ministerial sponsored and helped build
a new home at 940 S. Nevada Street. The new home was dedicated
for the Suraco family on December 21, 2001. For story and photos,
click here.
THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT
The Sisters of Charity
of Leavenworth and Associates, a small band of devoted leaders
have accomplished a great blessing for Habitat and the partner
family. Their story follows.
The dream of a young disabled man who had once lived in a Group
Home came to pass recently in Butte, Montana thanks to the Sisters
of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) and Associates (SCLA) and their
sponsorship of a Habitat for Humanity home for this man and his
wife. Several years ago, Ron Kichline told a state Advocate Program
employee that his dream was to live independently, find a nice
woman to love, get married and own a home.
The SCL/SCLA along with Butte Central Elementary School sponsored
the two-bedroom home, and the family put in well over 1,000 sweat
equity hours in their home building dream. While both work regular
jobs, the couple worked hard under the leadership of Amy's father,
Bill Opie, a retired carpenter, who did the bulk of the construction,
with help and support of the SCL/SCLA's friends and relatives.
Especially hard-working was the Rev. Tubie Johnson's Thursday
Morning Group (including Dave Picket, Pat Pemberthy, and many
wonderful others) led by Saint Ann's under the leadership of
Sister Mary Jo McDonald which faithfully supported the strenuous
effort of the families.
Associates Alice and Lou Vicevich worked faithfully to install
the hardest elements of the wood flooring, and they also have
been the leaders of business outreach in support of the neighborhood
partnership programs as members of Habitat's Board of Directors.
The Gert Downey Family provided numerous volunteers for the process,
ranging from teaching homebuyer training courses (insurance)
to helping to finish the wood flooring project, and everything
in between.
Also giving of herself to the effort was Sister Mary Jane Schmitz,
principal of Butte Central Elementary School, which is a part
of the Central Butte area. Sister offered assistance as a board
member, on the family selection and support committee, and on
the home construction effort, working to install flooring and
do other tasks. She also took the experience into the classroom,
working to educate others about the importance of affordable,
decent housing for those in need. She also educated the affiliate
about the plight of those living in the poorest nation in the
Western Hemisphere Haiti, which became the affiliate's partner
tithing affiliate (10 percent of unrestricted grants will go
to Haiti).
Other strong supporters for the family were their local and county
advocates, as well as Nancy Zigrang, who has supported them through
the years. Mom Natalie Opie also provided constant and steady
support throughout the building and moving process.
Associate Gert Downey successfully presented this case to the
mother order with Partnering with the Poor grant for $2,500.
Members of the order have raised another $7,500 to match that
amount to date, toward the sponsorship of the $47,500 project.
The partner family will have no-interest mortgage payments of
under $230 a month (including taxes and insurance), and are thereby
secure in their housing future. The home also is part of the
HP2 program, which means that heating costs will be under $200
a year, thanks to a special energy system that provides comfort
and savings. If funding can be identified to make solar access
possible, the house is a candidate for a $9,000 solar electric
system that will provide energy from the sun. Overall, the HP2
measures save from $350 to $800, based on occupant use. The home
was dedicated Aug. 12, with a room-by-room blessing by Rev. Tubie
Johnson and Sister Mary Jo McDonald.
Habitat Project Director Barbara Miller has reported that the
SCL/SCLA involvement with Habitat has brought assistance to the
families, the affiliate and the neighborhood. "The best
part for the family, Amy told us, is that they built it themselves,"
with help from friends, family and Habitat, which provides the
no-interest mortgage, plans, and support to help families in
partnership. "As Jimmy Carter says, Habitat is not a charity,
it is a partnership." We are made whole in the love that
comes from working on partnership for mutual transformation.
As a special blessing, just as the project was being completed,
Habitat International honored the affiliate's work by nominating
the home for a national excellence award for its energy and design
features.
PHOTOVOLTAICS UNDER THE BIG SKY
Habitat for Humanity of Southwest
Montana, serving Butte and Southwest Montana, is one of the first
Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the nation to use photovoltaic
(PV) energy on Habitat for Humanity homes. The High Performance
Housing Partnership - the HP2 program - has resulted in homes
that use 40 to 50 percent less energy than homes built to current
codes, with heating costs in Montana of under $250 a year. These
homes are the best candidates for use of solar-generated electric
energy, to cover 50 to 100 percent of the electrical load experienced
by very low income families. For more details and photos, click
here.
HABITAT BUTTE CHAPTER HONORED AT NATIONAL HABITAT CONFERENCE
25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Habitat for Humanity
of Southwest Montana, based in Butte, recently received a special
honor, being given the "Energy Hero Award," for building
all energy efficient homes in its Butte Chapter. The Award was
given at a plenary session of the national organization's 25th
Anniversary conference held in September in Indianapolis, with
the award given by founder Millard Fuller.
Representatives of the national Habitat office have toured the
Butte homes, and pronounced the High Performance Housing Partnership
(HP2) homes the most efficient Habitat homes being built in the
United States, representing the best practice, including indoor
air quality features. "We're taking advantage of the opportunity
to build the most efficient home possible, while it's affordable
to do it," said Bob Corbett, the Butte-based energy designer
of the award-winning homes. "The goal is to provide energy
cost protection for our Habitat partner families from the beginning,
which will save everyone, from the ratepayers, taxpayers, Habitat
and the partner families."
HABITAT STRIKES PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER
SUPPLY DEAL WITH MPC
In more good news
on the energy front, the Butte chapter of Habitat recently completed
a $90,000 contract with Montana Power Co. to add 1.44 kw solar
photovoltaic systems to the roofs of four of the south-facing
Butte homes, and six other Habitat homes around the state next
year. Given that the Butte homes are already as efficient as
possible, the solar systems allow for another annual savings
of as much as $300 a year per home by turning the homes into
solar power generation systems. The power systems will be installed
by volunteer electricians with the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 44, lead by former Butte resident
Jim Sullivan, a long-time Habitat volunteer. The project has
long been a dream of Sullivan, who teaches union electricians
to configure and install the photovoltaic systems on a statewide
basis. Barbara Miller, project director for Habitat, is working
with Dave Ryan of Montana Power, on the solar project.
In order to share in the good fortune, Habitat will present six
more solar systems to Montana Habitat affiliates in other communities,
if they meet the HP2 construction standard. The offer is limited
to affiliates in the Montana Power service territory, and is
being done in partnership with Habitat's statewide organization
and the National Affordable Housing Network, developer of the
HP2 program.
Butte representatives of the affiliate were not able to attend
the award ceremony due to airline travel shut-down during the
Sept. 11 crisis. Making a special effort, former President Jimmy
Carter went from a midday memorial service for terror victims
in Washington DC to the Habitat conference, where he was the
keynote speaker. Lifting the spirits of the conference, Carter's
remarks can be viewed at the Habitat website at www.habitat.org/25th.
Habitat has completed nine homes in Butte, and two in Dillon.
Current construction projects, including homes sponsored by the
Butte Ministerial Association and Community Corrections and Counseling
Services Inc., the Youth Community Services program and students
from Montana Tech College of Technology program are being completed
in the next several weeks in Butte.
Overall, the Butte and Dillon chapters of Habitat SWMT have brought
more than 55 persons from very low income households out of poverty
housing. Local residents and visiting volunteers have invested
more than 30,000 volunteer hours, while future homeowners have
invested more than 8,000 hours in sweat equity labor. All told,
these projects have brought more than $875,000 in value to Butte
and Dillon. In Butte, the homes are being built in the economically
challenged Central Butte neighborhood, where investment is critically
needed. In the next year, Habitat plans to build two or three
homes in Butte, and is launching outreach to potential partner
families. To find out more, call Barbara Miller at 782-8145.
Thanks To Our Habitat Donors
Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network
US BANK
Meg Sharp, Sharp Expressions
Montana Power Foundation
Norwest Bank
Ruth Dockins
Bob Corbett
Dick Snell
Barbara Miller
Albertsons Community
Partner Program
Barbara Giovanini
Butte Assembly of God
HRC Dist. XII Employees
Jean Cannada
Elizabeth Parker
Don and Ruth Harrington
Carol Hacker
William and Mary Lou Maxson
H. Soll
Blodwin Clark
Mary King
Sun Rental
Daisy Hoffbauer
V.M. McGreevey
Kim Steele
Oliver and Helen Steele
Triple S Building Center
Beverly Coonrod
John Allen
Loralee Beatty
Ann Boston
L.C. Bradley
Dale Burgman |
Robin Cockhill
John Dennehy
Kimberly Dixon
John Douglas
Linda Douglas
Maureen Driscoll
Alan Eliason
Shirley Gordon
Edward Heard
Janet Helfrich
Maureen Howe
James Konen
Andrew Kujawa
Diana Kujawa
Michael Kujawa
Williard Lovell
Lloyd Magnusen
William Mattioli
Kathleen McClafferty
Mick McClafferty
Patrick Mohan
Linda Moore
Hilma Parks
David Peters
Dennis Smith
Mike Telling
Carol Wold
Joanne Wright
Donald Ulrich
Lawrence Giovanini
Edna Bowman
Keith Kovach
Big Sky Rental
St. James Healthcare |
Our Partners in the Richest Hill Home Center
"Dressed for Success"
is a program of Safe Space that offers new professional clothes
to women needing a sharp image for job seeking. Call Lisa at
782-8579. The National Affordable Housing Network is a 501 (c)(3)
non-profit housing development organization that works on neighborhood
redevelopment in partnership with Habitat and local investors
and the Montana HOME program. The Network coordinates Homebuyer
education efforts with housing groups locally. Houses built under
the Network's effort provide jobs for neighborhood residents
and neighborhood businesses. For more information about the Network
visit their website at www.nahn.com
or call 782-8145.
Do You Have Your Community Partners Card Yet? Albertson's Grocery
Store in Butte Teams With Habitat
When shoppers at Albertson's
grocery store use their Community Partners Program card, a portion
of what they spend on food will be donated to Habitat for Humanity
of Southwest Montana. Albertson's in Butte is located directly
across from the Butte Civic Center on Harrison Avenue. It is
a simple and painless way to raise funds for Habitat in your
community just by buying groceries for your own family. Community
Partners Program cards can be obtained by contacting the Habitat
office at 782-8579.
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