November 2015 Highlights
November marks the beginning of the holiday season for many of us. Our clients, however, often face their toughest housing challenges during this time. Fortunately, by supporting HIF you can get them through this so they too can join in on the festivities of the holiday season!

Read about the work we're doing this month, and how you can help, below.  
HIF Staff Spotlight

Inas Atawneh, Program Manager

Inas has worked in non-profits for 13 years. At the Arab Cultural & Community Center in San Francisco she lead youth, social service and community programs. Her extensive work in the non-profit sector helped the organization become one of the largest non-profits to serve the Arab community in Northern California. 

She now works tirelessly to ensure that HIF fulfills its mission to help people acquire and maintain suitable housing. At HIF,  Inas oversees both the Emergency Housing Fund and the Renovations Program. She maintains HIF's relationships with over 40 partner agencies, and is always open to increasing our presence in the community, so feel free to reach out with ideas! 
New Creation Home Renovation













On Thur sday, October 29th, Essex Property Trust Inc. volunteers and supporting partners gathered to renovate New Creation Home , an affordable house for young mothers in San Mateo County. Twenty-two volunteers spent the next 6 hours transforming the landscape and playground, painting the exterior, and upgrading light and window fixtures. The full set of pictures (linked to the before & after pictures below) captures the world of difference this renovation will make for more than twenty mothers and their children. 

"A place to live requires invested time, structure, and love. Thank you for your time, investment, and the improvement to our place. Thank you for making our place not just a place but a home."  - Jasmine, New Creation Home resident 

HIF extends a heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation to Scott Nicoll of Essex for leading this project. Scott provided an exceptional amount  of time and resources to ensure its success. We would also like to thank the following companies for donations of materials and labor, without which this renovation would not have been possible: BayPro Landscape Services, BellaVista Landscape Services Inc., Benchmark Environmental Engineering, Daniel Gaines Photography, Fashion Furniture Rental, G.A. Higgins Inc., Kelly-Moore Paints, National Apartment Flooring.
 
The total market value of this renovation project amounted to $ 40K. Because of the contributions by Essex and all of the companies above, HIF spent only $26K cash .  Melissa Liotti, New Creation Home's Resident Housing Director, said, 

"The Housing Industry Foundation has served our organization with passion, generosity, honor, and excellence. I am deeply thankful and moved by the Housing Industry Foundation's provision, thoughtfulness, and attention to our needs."

HIF will be a part of the global #GivingTuesday campaign this year. Falling on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, the goal of #GivingTuesday is to create a day of giving back to all of our respective communities. Expect our next email blast to contain more details about how you can support HIF during this year's #GivingTuesday campaign! Happy Holidays!

Housing Industry Foundation
650-437-2980 | info@hifinfo.org| hifinfo.org