Courtesy of the Town of Milford.

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity to Gather Area Churches and Faith Groups to Build Awareness of Milford Building Project

Volunteers Working at the Milford Site. Photo Courtesy of Marie Lopez Gallery.

Representatives of churches and faith groups in the Souhegan Valley area are gathering onThursday, March 4 to learn more about Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to build its next project – a duplex on Milford’s Tonella Road. The gathering, to be held from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church, Route 101, Amherst, is designed to build awareness on the part of local faith communities, so they can more effectively assist Habitat by their prayers and actions.

Attendees will hear presentations about Habitat’s local effort, which begins this spring, and will take home materials they can distribute in their congregations at services. Habitat board members will be present to answer questions, and congregations that have worked with Habitat in recent years will be recognized for their efforts.

The March 4 gathering will highlight the Greater Nashua affiliate’s need for volunteer support. Volunteer opportunities local congregations can help fill include direct on-site building, but are not limited to that. There are several ways to involve the entire congregation. Faith communities can help fund-raise, provide snacks and lunch for the work crew, help with various committees that work “in the background” to help make the ministry possible, and more. Congregants are welcome to volunteer as a group or as individuals.

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is currently seeking to sign on additional“Covenant Congregations” to help support Habitat’s ministry throughout the year. Host congregation Messiah Lutheran Church is one of the Covenant Congregations to sign on to this effort. Milford United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Milford have added their support as well. Nashua Covenant congregations include First Church of Nashua, Christ the King Lutheran Church and Main Street Methodist Church. Merrimack’s Our Lady of Mercy parish is also a Covenant Congregation, as is the Litchfield Community Church (Presbyterian).  Members of a Covenant Congregation make a commitment to provide prayer, volunteer and financial support for the work of Habitat. Each congregation determines its own commitment based on members’ interests, gifts and talents, and makes an annual written covenant with our local affiliate. 

For further information, log on to Habitat’s local web site: www.nashuahabitat.org or be in touch with its Faith Relations chair, the Rev. David Robinson, at (603) 673-3309.

This Saturday, we should finish up support to the Southern NH Rescue Mission (40 Chestnut Street, Nashua) to put in emergency and handicapped egress for their new basement dormitory. Specifically, we’ll finish drywall on the new 8 ft wall, install handrails in three stairwells, finish off the floor at top of stairs, and drop the ceiling in a utility room. This is all indoor work. 

Directions from Everett Turnpike Exit 7 (Amherst Street exit) to the mission – 

1: Start out going SOUTHEAST on US-3/ NH-101A/ AMHERST ST toward US-3 S/ HENRI A BURQUE DR. Continue to follow NH-101A/ AMHERST ST. 1.6 mi to 
2: Turn RIGHT onto MAIN ST/ DANIEL WEBSTER HWY. 0.2 mi to 
3: Turn RIGHT onto WATER ST. 0.2 mi to 
4: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto FACTORY ST. <0.1 mi to 
5: Turn LEFT onto CHESTNUT ST. 0.2 mi to 
6: End at 40 CHESTNUT ST (2nd building on LEFT). Parking on street, and behind building 

See as many of you as can make it, starting about 9:00. 

Completed since last Saturday: 
40 Chestnut St., Nashua: Added to project scope, raising the upstairs wall to back up new commercial kitchen equipment, and installing handrails on all stairwells – framed the higher upstairs wall including a new doorway, drywalled under the stairway landing and in the front entrance, and started handrails in the new stairway. 

Upcoming events: 
Building permits and temporary power, Milford lot. 
Spring excavation / foundation support for Tonella Road, Milford – seeking donations / deals. 
Other small projects being coordinated.

Building Committee Chairman Eric Moore guides volunteers in a pre-construction brush and wood clearing effort. Photo by Marie Lopez.

CONTACT:  MARIE LOPEZ, OFFICE MANAGER                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEL. 603-883-0295                                                                                   
EMAIL: office@nashuahabitat.org

Milford – Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity will begin the construction of a duplex home on Tonella Road, in Milford, in a few weeks.  It will hold a meeting that is open to all members of the public in order to answer questions related to this project and to increase its volunteer pool in Milford and the surrounding area.  This is an opportunity for local residents and for potential volunteers to meet Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity leaders and to learn about the organization’s efforts. 

The organization also seeks the opportunity to reach local business owners willing to donate goods spanning from meals for volunteers to labor and construction equipment use.  The organization will answer questions about this specific project as well as questions from those interested in partnering with Habitat for Humanity to become home-owners in future projects.  At the moment the organization is also in the planning stages to build homes in Wilton and Nashua and is seeking applications from families for these properties. 

This “Habitat Information Night” meeting will be held at the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley, located at 56 Mont Vernon Street, in Milford, (New Hampshire, 03055), from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM on Monday, February 8^th, 2010. (more…)

Have you begun to think about cleaning out your garage, closets, or attic and don’t know what to do with items you don’t want?  If so, we could use your yard sale donations!  The Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is having a giant yard sale this spring on Saturday May 1st from 8A.M. to 3 PM.  Rain date will be May 8th. It will be held at 15 Meredith Drive in Nashua.

In order to make this yard sale a success, we are hoping that you will begin to set aside possible yard sale donations for this fundraising event.  We will be having pick up and drop off dates in April and will notify you then.

We also need volunteers for the yard sale on that date.

For further information, please contact Ellen Svenson at ellen.svenson@nashuahabitat.org or call her at 603.882.5953 and leave a message. 

All yard sale donations will be greatly appreciated and we hope to see you at the sale!

Each year a number of Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the north-east region (Massachusetts and New Hampshire – with a large amount of individual participants from surrounding states, and an increasing number of participants from other regions) participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Take A Hike For Humanity.  Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has always had a strong presence at this event, which is without doubt, the single largest fundraising event for Habitat for Humanity in the area.

Our affiliate is looking for a volunteer willing to act as a liaison between our organization and this year’s Take A Hike For Humanity director, Peter Dobratz.  The Affiliate Coordinator:

- Helps teams organize themselves (much of this is taking place online: teams create their own webpages and can ask for pledges online).

- Help track which teams have raised enough for T-Shirts.

- Help find sponsors.

- Help distribute flyers.

The affiliate has a great deal of experience with this event and many of our participants are regulars who will help make this job easier.  The event is most likely taking place on June 5th of next year.  For more information please contact our office: office@nashuahabitat.org.

* All photos by Jen Romano

CONTACT: ELLEN SVENSON                                                              
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 04, 2009
TEL. 603-883-0295                                                                                
EMAIL: office@nashabitat.org

An Annual Tradition Returns to the Stroll for a Good Cause

Nashua – Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity will return this year to the Nashua Stroll with its famous annual Bake Sale. The event will take place on Saturday, November 28^th, from 5PM- 9 PM.  It will be held at the United Methodist Church on 154 Main Street, Nashua, New Hampshire (03060).  Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity’s bake sale has always been a well-known stop during the Nashua Stroll.  Despite affordable sale prices on a large variety of home-made pastries and hot chocolate, last year’s proceeds exceeded $1,000.  This year the organization is hoping to double that amount and will include the sale of crafts in order to help increase proceeds.  Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is preparing to build homes for two families in the spring of 2010.

The organization seeks volunteers for baked good donations and to help run the event.  The proceeds are all directed toward the Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity and the organization’s efforts to build and renovate houses, “so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which people can live and grow”.  (more…)

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity’s Public Relations Committee is in search for an Affiliate Historian. 

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has been an officially recognized affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International since 1994.  The 15-year-old organization recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its first partnership with a home-owner family.  We are looking for someone to help us record and organize the history that has begun to accumulate.

We are looking for a volunteer with a knack for organization, research, writing, and a keen interest in local history.  A good sense of navigation through online searches and other computer and internet-based tools will be helpful.

This volunteer position entails:

- Leading the organization’s scrapbooking efforts to collect newspaper, magazine, photographs, and other articles.

- Searching and retrieving online and microfiched articles (particularly from the Nashua Telegraph) if necessary.

- Helping organize our online photography files into Picasa.

- Helping construct a Wikipedia entry that will help serve as a quick historical reference guide as well as a point of information for those seeking a clearer understanding of our mission as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International in the Nashua area.

Other projects will be discussed and hours are to be determined based on the volunteer’s availability and the goals set between the volunteer and the organization’s Public Relations Committee.

For more information please contact the Public Relations Committee at pr@nashabitat.org.