[Updated June 3, 2020 - Most recent updates in bold]

Flower City Habitat for Humanity family and friends,

Below is a brief "status of operations" by department. A more detailed letter from our CEO is also available here (sent on May 11).

Office & Family Services:

• Our office is currently closed to the public
• All staff who can are working from home, all volunteers are home
• Please see our staff directory and prioritize email or cell phone over calling the office
• Habitat Partner Families: Please review our updated payment policies
• We continue to work with families that are in our homebuyer program, supporting their ongoing journey towards homeownership
• We are also staying in touch with every family in a Habitat home to make sure they’re safe, making sure that they know we are here to support them through adjusted payment policies, and making referrals for additional support that is available in the community

Construction:

• All in-person volunteering is suspended until further notice, a survey was sent on June 2 to our weekly Hammer & Saw volunteers to prepare for their return (if you didn't get it, email kbraley@rochesterhabitat.org)
• We are now finalizing our Covid-19 safety measures for the next round of construction. NYS construction guidelines can be reviewed here. We will be following these guidelines and will be sharing additional specific procedures with our regular volunteers shortly.
• Bulk personal protective equipment has been ordered and most has been received
• Move-ins have been completed on all four Holworthy Street new builds as well as the Orange Street, and Breck Street remodels, with some exterior work to be completed in the coming weeks
• Construction on Cuba Place and Smith Street are slowly moving forward with minimal personnel and maximum safety precautions

Events, Fundraising, & Volunteering:

• All in-person volunteering and in-person events are suspended until further notice
• Our annual Gala will now be a 4-day virtual experience (new details announced June 3)
• Our Hearts & Hammers volunteer celebration and holiday gathering has been rescheduled to December 3, 2020
• We recommend volunteer committees and groups to meet only via remote technology, until further notice
• We have a business Zoom account that can be used for Habitat volunteer groups, email kbraley@rochesterhabitat.org if you would like to schedule a meeting
• Fundraising efforts will continue, with an acknowledgement of the current situation, as the need for our services remains great
• One way you can help us be most prepared to relaunch is to update your email preferences (here) and your volunteer information and interests (here)

ReStore:

• Our ReStores will be reopening soon. Click here for details on what to expect.
• If you made a purchase before we closed and have not picked it up, it will be held for you until after we reopen
• Donation pick-ups and drop-offs are also suspended temporarily, but please take note of items that you would like to donate to ReStore so that we are fully stocked upon reopening
• Online shopping with no-contact or delayed pick-ups are now available
• If you have an emergency need for an oven, microwave, or refrigerator please text or leave a voicemail at 585-490-1363, or email restore@rochesterhabitat.org ​

Where there was once five empty lots, there are now five nearly completed homes!

Five home dedication ceremonies have been scheduled:

• March 24: Dedication of 874 Smith Street (3pm, RSVP here)
• March 28: Dedication of 96 Holworthy Street (10am, RSVP here)
• April 4: Dedication of 120 Holworthy Street (10am, RSVP here)
• April 18: Dedication of 105 Holworthy Street (10am, RSVP here)
• April 18: Dedication of 126 Holworthy Street (1pm, RSVP here)

If you helped fund or build any of these houses, or are a regular Habitat supporter, we welcome you to join us in the transition of these construction sites into Habitat homes!

On the volunteering side, there is still some work left to do and we have opened several house sponsor and public volunteer shifts leading up to the dedications. Take a look at the whiteboard to see what to expect and email us if you have any questions!

Public construction shifts are now open through March 6th on our public volunteer calendar (new dates open each week). For group reservations, head to the group volunteering page.

House sponsor shifts are now open through March 12th. Go to our home page, then look for your house for additional reserved volunteer shifts. We are approaching the finish of the five new builds, so there will be limited volunteer opportunities on these specific houses beyond March 12th, but we are reaching out to sponsors and homebuyers now to start confirming dedication dates!

Check out the whiteboard for the expected work this week on each house:

As painting finishes up on the Holworthy Street and Smith Street new builds; flooring is next — and if you do it in that order, you don't have to worry about paint drips!

Big thanks to students from RIT and Edison Tech for great volunteer groups this week!

Here's what to expect this week!

Sign-up for public construction shifts at https://give.rochesterhabitat.org/ge/construction (house sponsor volunteers should go to our home page, then look for their house for additional reserved volunteer shifts)

We recently started renovating another vacant "zombie" home, this one on Breck Street. This is our 6th vacant rehab in the past couple years and we are excited to see another dramatic turn-around as this house goes from a neighborhood eye-sore to a quality affordable home.

Here are a few before pictures, and some of the progress so far, including: demolition, blue board exterior insulation, new windows, new concrete basement floor, new glass block basement windows, additional basement support added, all new electrical and plumbing (in progress), re-framing rooms to add closets (in progress), new porch (in progress), and much more to come!

The renovation of this home is being made possible through our partnership with the City of Rochester, Rochester Land Bank, Enterprise Community Partners, and an anonymous individual donor. Stay tuned as work continues!

On Martin Luther King Jr Day, our AmeriCorps members had "a day on, not a day off" by teaching ideals of service to a group of young volunteers.

Our volunteer opportunities are usually limited to 16 years old and up, but with the construction sites closed for the day we were able to set up some cleaning and organizing activities that were safe for this group to learn more about Habitat and community service! (There was a little time to play in the snow too!)

Thank you Greg and Maggie, our two #AmeriCorps members, for making this great experience possible and for your service each day that you are with us!

Learn more about the AmeriCorps national service program at www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/