As we near the end of another year, it seems like a good time to look back at all that we accomplished in 2021. This past year was a year of growth for both our organization and access to affordable housing in our community. We were able to finish construction on six energy-efficient, affordable homes for low-income families in Southwest Montana with help from over 100 volunteers totaling almost 250 volunteer hours, we also completed the Fairmont-Hancock Neighborhood in Butte this year, and we converted our ReSale Store into an official Habitat ReStore. All of these accomplishments are proof of our growing impact in Southwest Montana and how much our efforts can be felt when we all work together to improve our community.
The housing construction cycle that we finished earlier this year included four new homes in Butte, one in Whitehall, and our first ever home built in Anaconda. The beginning of our affordable housing construction in Anaconda has widened our service area to now include six counties! Three of the four homes we finished in Butte this year were also our final homes in our Fairmont-Hancock Neighborhood. This neighborhood consists of 18 Habitat homes that have been constructed over the last five years. Not only does the neighborhood provide more energy-efficient affordable housing to the Butte community, it also contributes considerable revenue to the tax base allowing Butte-Silver Bow to continue to grow.
Another of our accomplishments in 2021 was upgrading our ReSale Store into an official Habitat ReStore! This is a big improvement for our Habitat affiliate as it will allow us to get more help with marketing. Included in the name change was a location change. The Habitat ReStore of Southwest Montana is now located at 640 S. Arizona St, Butte, MT. We have also expanded the store’s hours which can be found on the ReStore SWMT Facebook Page. Every purchase at the store helps fund the Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana mission and so it is important that we continue to grow the store’s reach.
Of course none of this work would have been possible without the contributions of our 100+ volunteers over the last year. Individual volunteers and groups who lent a helping hand together put in nearly 250 hours of work in 2021. Volunteers are at the center of what makes Habitat’s mission a reality. Not only does it speed up our home building process, but it helps to keep the cost of construction down for Habitat families. This year we had volunteers help with painting, landscaping, flooring, and helping to set up our new ReStore location! Thank you to everyone that came out to lend a hand, your impact has certainly been felt and the work you did is important!
As we look forward to the new year we are excited at the opportunity to continue building homes in our six county service area. Our first build cycle of 2022, which has already begun, includes four new homes in Anaconda as well as homes in Butte and Whitehall. Our ReStore team is settled into their new spot and looking for volunteers to come out and help them make 640 S Arizona feel like home. If you are interested in volunteering individually, fill out our individual volunteer sign-up form. If you have a group of friends or co-workers that would like to volunteer together, sign-up using our group volunteer sign-up form. Thank you for reading our 2021 reflection and continuing to support Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana. Happy holidays to everyone!
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