Press Release

San Juan Capistrano Habitat homes are first in California to receive state-of-the-art solar panels under Governor's California Solar Initiative

Public/private partnership kicks off solar program with dramatic energy savings for low-income homeowners

Santa Ana, CA, April 15, 2009--

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and an innovative public/private partnership that includes the State of California Department of Community Services and Development; Morgan Stanley Commodities; solar vendors Akeena, Enphase and Suntech; and Lennar Ventures.

Press conference to announce Habitat for Humanity of Orange County's "Habitat for Heroes and Foundations for Families" development in San Juan Capistrano will be the first in California to receive state-of-the-art solar panels under the Governor's California Solar Initiative. The Initiative implements the Governor's "Million Solar Roofs Plan" to provide clean energy, reduce the output of greenhouse gases and reduce energy costs for one million low-income families in California.

26411 Calle Rolando, San Juan Capistrano, CA (near corner of Alipaz)

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 10 a.m.

• Installation of solar panels onto the roofs of four Habitat homes by low-income workers from the Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAPOC).
• Construction shots of four Habitat homes nearing completion and four Habitat homes just beginning construction.
• Interview/photo opportunity with Katia Morales, who is building a Habitat home for her family while her husband serves his fourth tour with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. Morales and all the other Habitat families who purchase homes in this development will enjoy dramatic energy savings thanks to these state-of-the-art solar panels.
• Interview/photo opportunity with Habitat volunteer David Ludwig, who works and lives in San Juan Capistrano, and who took a leadership role in bringing the community together to fund and build these Habitat homes.
• Interview opportunities with public/private partnership representatives from Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, the State Department of Community Services and Development, Morgan Stanley Commodities in New York, Akeena Solar in Los Gatos, Enphase in Petaluma, Suntech in San Francisco, Lennar Ventures in Aliso Viejo and the Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAPOC) in Garden Grove.

To RSVP or for more information, please contact Gladys Hernandez at (714) 434-6200 extension 229, or e-mail gladys@habitatoc.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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