Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana (Habitat SWMT) is celebrating 25 years of advocacy and “love in action” with a proclamation to be read in the Rotunda at the Butte Silver Bow courthouse on Friday, March 9th at 3 p.m., followed by a public reception across the street at the Carpenters Union Hall.
The event will include remarks by Butte-Silver Bow County Chief Executive, Dave Palmer and will serve as the kick-off event for Habitat for Humanity’s “year of action,” or the organization’s upcoming schedule of volunteer and fundraising events
Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana is an award-winning affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit organization founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller in Americus, Georgia. The couple were the first to introduce the concept of “partnership housing” which paved the way for those in need of adequate shelter to work side by side with volunteers to build decent, affordable homes. The houses would be built at no profit. New homeowners’ house payments would be combined with no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned through charitable donations, corporate sponsorships.
Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana was founded March 17, 1993 and has since partnered with more than 40 organizations who sponsored 86 families, who contributed more than 100,000 hours of volunteer labor with this result:
- 72 homes created
- 14 homes repaired
- $7.3 million in investments in neighborhoods through new construction
- Resulting in more than $500,000 in taxes paid to the local governments by partner families to Southwest Montana Communities, including Butte.
- Partnerships helped more than 82 children have decent, reliable housing
- Partnerships with more than 32 disabled heads of households
- Investments in eight neighborhoods – Five Butte neighborhoods and three in other communities in Southwest Montana
At 25, the organization will be gathering together to celebrate these accomplishments and milestones but time for celebration and action.
“There is still much to be done to provide decent and safe housing in partnership with families, who have worked hard to invest sweat equity in our communities,” said Barbara Miller
The organization will continue to announce upcoming opportunities to support this momentum through volunteerism and philanthropy, with a goal of raising $4,000 for every year of the first 25 years of Habitat for Humanity of SWMT or $100,000.
The funds will help Habitat keep partnering with families with disabled adults, and to launch our 2018 building season to partner with 10 more families in Southwest Montana!
In addition to Friday’s proclamation event, Habitat will be hosting a volunteer day at its ReSale Warehouse at 821 S. Arizona. The event begins at 10 a.m. and volunteers may participate in a variety of projects, that range from one-to-two hour projects. The ReSale store is a critical local resource for affordable building materials for local home improvement and preservation projects. For information or to RSVP, text to 565-9382
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