Press Release

Habitat ReStores Celebrate Earth Day and Offer Green Products

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County's Green Efforts Continue to Expand

Santa Ana, CA, April 3, 2009--The Habitat ReStores in Orange County will celebrate Earth Day by:

• Continuing to recycle and re-use quality home improvement products,
• Expanding their DeConstruct services to serve more homeowners who are remodeling their kitchens so that they can recycle the cabinets and appliances that they no longer need, and
• Holding a special Earth Day sale on Saturday, April 18, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Every day is Earth Day at the Habitat ReStores in Orange County as they recycle and sell energy-efficient products, and use those proceeds to build more ENERGY STAR qualified affordable homes.

This cycle of environmentally friendly measures is propelled by Habitat's DeConstruct services, through which good quality and reusable building materials, appliances, cabinets and more are salvaged from homes and businesses that are being remodeled or demolished in Orange County.

Recycled items are then sold to the public through two Habitat ReStore Discount Home Improvement Centers in Orange County. Proceeds from ReStore sales are used to build more affordable ownership homes for low-income families in Orange County.

"Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is working hard to Go Green as we fulfill our mission of changing lives and changing communities in Orange County," said Sharon Ellis, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. "We continue to incorporate more and more green construction methods on our homebuilding sites. And our Habitat ReStores and DeConstruct Services offer local residents unique opportunities to preserve our environment by recycling while they help the families we serve."

The one-day Earth Day sale is open to the public. All gently used items such as kitchen cabinets, vanities, doors, windows will be 50% off. Surplus and other new home improvement products will be featured at 25% off the already low Habitat OC ReStore price. Both Orange County ReStore Discount Home Improvement Centers are open to the public. They are located at:

12827 Harbor Boulevard, Garden Grove CA 92840, (714) 590-8729
Open Mon to Fri 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sat 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sun 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

2200 S. Ritchey Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705, (714) 434-6266
Open Mon - Sat 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

For directions or additional information on the Habitat OC ReStores, please visit ReStoreOC.org

About Habitat for Humanity of Orange County

Celebrating 20 years of changing lives and changing communities in Orange County. 130 houses built in Orange County
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, headquartered in Santa Ana, CA, is dedicated to ending substandard housing and building strong communities in Orange County. Habitat uses non-government donations of funding, materials, professional services and volunteer labor to build simple, decent homes which are sold to qualified low-income families for a 1% down payment, closing costs, and a zero-interest mortgage. Mortgage payments are recycled to build more Habitat homes. Habitat families contribute 500 hours of "sweat equity" to the program by building their own home, helping another Habitat family build a home, or working in some other area of the Habitat organization. Habitat for Humanity families and volunteers have built 130 homes in Orange County since 1988, and are currently building eight homes in San Juan Capistrano.

27 homes to be built in San Juan Capistrano
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Habitat for Heroes and Foundations for Families™ development of 27 homes at the end of Calle Rolando will be built in phases.  Framing for the first four homes began on July 2, 2008.  The second four homes were framed on October 3, 2008.  Funding for the land on which these homes are being built was donated by the City of San Juan Capistrano Redevelopment Agency.  Funds for building these homes have been generously donated by The HTN Foundation; Bank of America; the Orange County Realtors Partnership, which consists of the Orange County Association of REALTORS®, Laguna Board of REALTORS®, and Newport Beach Association of REALTORS®; an anonymous donor;  the Steve Tisch Foundation; Toshiba America Business Solutions; the Presbyterian Partnership; St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point; Hyundai Motor America; the Van Cleve Foundation; and more than a thousand other local donors.

300,000 houses built worldwide
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat International has built more than 300,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.5 million people. Habitat for Humanity International is currently the 16th largest homebuilder in the United States, according to Builder OnLine magazine.

For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, please call (714) 434-6200 extension 229 or visit our Web site at habitatoc.org.

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