Habitat ReStore Manager: Play a key role in raising the funds that build affordable housing in Bennington County.
Our annual meeting is taking place this month on Tuesday January 17th. ALL are welcome to attend, and get a more in depth look at our organization and plans for 2023. We will even open the floor to the public for any suggestions or comments you may have.
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Tuesday, Jan. 17th 4pm First Congregational Church of Manchester 3624 Main St. Manchester, VT |
Do you want to make a positive impact in your local community? Do you want to help people? Do you want to feel good about yourself and your actions? Do you want to fill your heart and soul with a sense of purpose? Do you want to enjoy yourself with like minded individuals? Do you like to keep busy? Do you have free time you’d like to see make a difference?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, we would love to have you on board as a volunteer! You can volunteer as frequent or sporadically as you’d like, remember no amount of volunteering is too small! If you have skills relevant to our needs, let us know, we’d love to have you involved. If you don’t have relevant skills, we still want you!
Volunteering has been proven to have positive effects on not only those directly benefiting from the activities they do, but on those doing the volunteering as well. Whether a college application or for a job, your resume will always stand apart from anyone without volunteer experience. So please, if you have any sort of interest in volunteering, send Tye, our volunteer coordinator, an email at [email protected] and we’ll get you set up ASAP!
Welcoming Our New Construction Manager |
BCHfH is very pleased to welcome our new construction manager, Don Jackson to the team! Don hails from Virginia Beach, Virginia. We really got lucky, getting him on board, and luck is just the right word. His wife of 37 years Michele and he decided to leave the Virginia heat for these great Vermont mountains. Being a long time “fan” of Habitat for Humanity and our mission, he serendipitously found our listing for a construction manager while looking at our website. From there he sent over his resume, and as they say the rest is history! Don’s resume is quite impressive, with over 40 years of construction experience, more than 20 of which was spent as a project manager.
However, the perfect candidate for construction manager for us is more than just someone who does construction. We need people with heart and passion, and again Don hits these marks with flying colors. He also holds a masters degree from Atlantic Coast Seminary in theology. Don says that if he had to list a “specialty” in construction, it would be his skills on managing entire projects and seeing them through, more than any individual type of labor. Which is exactly what we wanted for this position. Our executive director Cindy Luce has given us a strong yet obtainable goal of 3 new constructions this year, and Don is excited to help streamline and elevate our process to make that a reality, and foresees himself meeting this goal this year.
Don marks the 3rd new hire in as many months here at BCHfH. Between Cindy, Tye, and Don, 2023 is off to a great start with a strong (and most importantly excited) staff. Keep your eyes and ears open, as I’m sure we will be sharing more good news as the year continues! |
Shires Resale Store |
Did you know? Shires Resale Store is more than just furniture! With a whole room of tools and hardware, and hundreds of pieces of unique art, this store is certainly more than meets the eye. They have lighting fixtures, sinks, bed frames, couches, hutches, dressers, desks, chairs for every occasion, and so much more! Not only that but stock is CONSTANTLY being moved around and turned over, so the cliché of “if you haven’t been recently, you haven’t been” is the perfect descriptor. The manager of the store, Barbara, says that fun odd or one-off items come through all the time and rarely stay long. The coolest (and debatably largest) one-off item that has come in recently, is a LARGE antique chest, that Barbara lovingly refers to as her favorite item currently in the store. (See the largest photo in the collage above, though if you want to truly be impressed by this piece the best way is to stop in and see it yourself!)
Thursdays 11-4 Friday 11-4 Saturday 10-4
51 Memorial Avenue, Manchester Phone: 802-362-0964 Email: [email protected]
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Budget Tips for Homeowners |
Setting a monthly budget is the quickest and easiest way to determine your financial needs. Many institutions and influencers will recommend a percentage based budget, which unless you already have next to no financial struggles/ worries, is at best unhelpful and at worst misleading. I recommend starting with your expenses first, especially your non-negotiable or fixed expenses. This would be things like your mortgage, taxes, car, groceries, gas, utilities, insurance, and anything else you cannot feasibly live without. Once you have that you can compare those expenses with your income, and find the difference. From there you can create the rest of your budget between savings, investments, “fun money” and any other bills such as phone or wifi, or subscriptions. This website has a good and free calculator to get you started. Every person and every family has specific needs and expenses to meet, meaning any “blanket statement” for budgets should be avoided at all costs. You are unique, your budget should be unique to you as well. |
BCHfH Celebrates 25 YEARS in Service!
2023 Marks the 25th year since our affiliate was founded. We are very excited about this coming year, having set a few big (but obtainable) goals to keep our momentum going. Perhaps even more exciting, is that we have taken over the mortgages and “adopted” the five families from the West River HfH. This means BCHfH now has homeowners in Wardsboro, Whitingham, Arlington, Manchester Center, Cambridge, Bennington, Shaftsbury, Pownal, Bondville, West Pawlet, West Rupert, Summerville, North Bennington, and Wilmington. Our future goals of growing and expanding and helping more and more people, is starting strong in 2023!
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