Hammer Time

HABBITAT FOR HUMANITY OF UTAH COUNTY

News

February 2014

VANTAGE CONTROLS SPONSORING TOOL DRIVE, a leader in the home automation and lighting control for luxury spaces, is holding an internal tool drive for Habitat for Humanity of Utah County from Janu-ary 20, 2014 to February 7, 2014. Local company employees are being encouraged to donate new and lightly used tools to the area

Habitat affiliate.

The tool drive is part of new national initiative called Better Communities being implemented by Vantage’s parent company, Legrand.

Pride in Ownership – The Gilbert Family was selected this past quar-ter’s Pride in Ownership award win-ner for beautifying and maintaining their home at 1102 North 1000 West in Provo. They will receive a home improvement gift card and certificate for their efforts.

Your junk is someone else’s treas-ure! Donate new and used building material, appliances, furniture, and paint to the Habitat ReStores in Utah County and receive a tax donation. Details and locations at www.habitatuc.org/donate/restore/.

This New Year, give the gift of your car donation and help Habitat for Humanity’s Cars for Homes Program build homes locally with families in need of decent housing: www.habitatuc.org/habitat_car_donations.html.

Turn Cans into Keys! Recycle your aluminum cans with Habitat for Humanity and help us pro-vide a “hand up” to families in need of safe and affordable housing in our community! Details and drop off locations listed at www.habitatuc.org/donate/gogreen.html.

Check out Habitat’s FUNSAVER Site! Habitat for Humanity has partnered with VP Deals to get all the latest bargains on local products/venues. Check out this week’s FUNSAVER specials at www.habitatucdeals.info. A portion of your “fun” purchases will help Habitat further its hous-ing mission in the community.

Have you tested your home for radon yet? – Habitat is working with the Utah Cancer Action Network, Utah County Health Department, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to encourage community members to test their homes for radon. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, causing an estimated 22,000 deaths of a year in the United States. Habi-tat offers test kits at the Orem ReStore or online for just $6.00! Learn more at www.habitatuc.org/radon_awareness.html.

Need tools for your upcoming spring projects? Stop by Habitat for Humanity of Utah County’s tool lending library and “check out” needed tools and lawn care items for free. New tools have been added recently. The lending library, located inside the Habitat ReStore at 340 South Orem Blvd., Orem, is open Monday through Saturday from 10-6. An application and proof of residency are required. Look online at www.habitatuc.org for more information.

What’s Up

2 RUNNING THE HALLS! Nearly 200 participants ran the halls of UVU this past Saturday to raise funds for the UVU sponsored Habitat home currently being built in Springville. This is the seventh year that UVU has held the No Snow Indoor 5K on behalf of Habitat and its local affordable housing mission.

Volunteer Op

portunities

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT TO SERVE ON

COMMITTEES

Volunteers are needed to serve on all of Habitat’s local committees. Monthly meetings, limited time commitment, no experience necessary, varying inter-ests and skills. Look online at www.habitatuc.org/volunteer/committees.html for more information and meeting times.

FEBUARY BUILD DAYS

FEBURARY VOLUNTEER

OPPORTUNITIES

• Work in the Orem or Spanish Fork Re-Stores Monday through Saturday from 10-6

• Assist with Habitat Recycling efforts.

For more information, look online at www.habitatuc.org or contact LeAnn at (801) 368-2250 or leann@habitatuc.org. You can also sign up online at www.habitat.org/volunteer.

Volunteers are currently being sought to help with construction, renovation, critical home repair, and beautification projects. Build days are now held Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fri-days, and Saturdays. Sign up online at www.habitatuc.org/volunteer.

PHOTO GALLERY

CREW LEADERS AND SITE HOSTS NEEDED TO

HELP GUIDE CONSTRUCTION

Volunteers with construction experience or those wanting to improve their construction skills are being sought to participate in the affiliate's Crew Leader and Site Host Programs. Orientations are monthly. The next orientation will be on Saturday, February 8, 2014, at the Habitat office in Orem. For informa-tion, contact LeAnn at the number or email below.

3 Home Mainten

ance Classes

How to Prepare your Home for the Spring Season

Spring is right around the corner, and for most home owners it’s an exciting time to get your home ready. In the winter time, many portions of your home are neglected or aren’t used as often because of home owners staying inside their homes. From the interiors of your home to the exterior, getting your home ready for spring will ensure you’ll be ready to enjoy the warmer weather once it hits. Space out your maintenance tips and by time spring is here, you will be able to enjoy the season!

Start on your exterior: The outside of your home has taken more wear and tear from the harsh winter, than the interior so start here. Walk around your home and examine caulking around windows and doors, as well as open windows and doors and look at weather stripping. Replace old or cracking caulk and re-place weather stripping. Inspect the roof for broken or missing shingles, or tiles, and clean out gutters and downspouts at the same time.

Landscaping tips: While it may not be time for you to start planting flowers and watering your lawn, it isn’t too early to ensure you will have ready your garden hoses, walkways, and adjacent areas to your landscaping. Replace cracked or old garden hoses, and rake away leaves, tree limbs and debris from sidewalks, plant beds and surrounding areas. If you no longer have snow in your area, now is a good time to start planning out your spring landscaping ideas and lawn care maintenance regimen. Pressure wash concrete and paver areas that have become dirty and power wash vinyl siding, brick walls and ver-tical surfaces on your home if need be.

Check your interior systems: The fall and spring are the two most important times to review your home’s major HVAC – heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems. Right before the harsh climatic changes are going to occur. Ensure air filters have been replaced or cleaned and stock up on new air filters if you use disposable one. Check your air conditioner before the summer to ensure it is in good working order. If you need to have a service person look at it now, it will be a lot less expensive than 3 months from now.

Interior spring cleaning: By now your windows – inside and out could use a cleaning. You will be sur-prised how much you can see out your windows, once they are cleaned. Clean off ceiling fans, and clean out fireplaces from use over the winter. Test your emergency systems in your home: home alarm, smoke fire alarm, fire extinguisher, and carbon monoxide alarms to ensure they are working properly. Most home owners forget to test these regularly; fall and spring maintenance time is a perfect opportunity to ensure they’re in good working order.

Preparing your home for the spring is rewarding now, and 3 months from now! Your home goes through changes as it ages, and climatic conditions change. Spring maintenance is a good idea for everyone, and even more important if you’re considering putting your home on the market soon. Home buyers want to ensure that all systems have been well attended and taken care of before buying a home. If you’re concerned you will miss something, hire a professional home inspector – they will cover the entire home from top to bottom. What are you waiting for? Get started, the warm weather is on its way.

Check out Habitat & Community Action’s Free Home Maintenance Course. The next class will be Wednesday, February 26, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. . The topics are: Weatherization and Home Decorating. Classes begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held at the Habitat office at 340 South Orem Blvd., Orem.

At HOME DEPOT – Registration is necessary. Call store or register online. Look online for the Febru-ary clinic schedule at www.homedepot.com.

At LOWE'S - you must sign up for How-To Clinics by calling 229-1485 or stopping by their store at 140 West University Parkway in Orem. Look online for February clinic schedule at www.lowes.com.

At CENTRAL UTAH GARDENS – Registration is necessary. Look online for upcoming classes at www.centralutahgardens.org/classes_events_concerts.aspx.

Home Maintenance Tips (freshome.com)

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Savings Strategies (The Simple Dollar)

Vacation with Others My final tip on inexpensive travel is not just useful from a financial perspective. It also makes for a much more enjoyable travel experience, too.

Simply put, travel with others. Make your trip into a group excursion and you’ll save money (and in-crease your enjoyment) in many different ways.

For starters, traveling together allows you to share things. You can sometimes split a car rental if you travel together, for example, reducing the cost for each of you.

My favorite money saver when traveling as a group, though, is to rent a cabin or a house instead of a hotel room. You can easily fit two or three families into a house or a cabin for the length of a vacation, reducing the cost per night for each of the families to a very low rate.

For example, when I traveled to Seattle last summer with my family, we rented a house in the outskirts with another family, sharing the cost of the home for the eight days we were out there. The cost per family sunk below a reasonable hotel room.

Even more important, it was very easy to prepare food instead of eating out. We prepared meals there, ate together there, and even prepared picnics for days out and about. Having this kitchen area saved us a tremendous amount of money.

If you’re traveling with others, you can often maximize group discounts. If you bump into “buy three, get one free” deal by yourself, it doesn’t mean much, but if you do it with a large enough group, it can mean savings for everyone involved.

Another big advantage of traveling in groups is that there are many eyes to help search for bar-

gains. Everyone can do their own travel research in advance of the trip and share their ideas.

Often, another person will find a discount that you may have never discovered, or they may find a free activity that you never considered. The trip planning itself can turn into a social opportunity as you pass information and ideas back and forth and come together on the basics of the trip.

In the end, though, a trip with others is an amazing social opportunity above all else. It gives you a great chance to cement your friendship, both during the planning stages and during the travel itself.

Group travel is just a winner all around/

SAVING TIP (www.bankrate.com)

Get an online savings account.

There are three requirements when looking for a place to put your rainy day fund. It must be liquid, meaning you can get to the money whenever you need it. It must be free of investment risk. And, you must earn a return that preserves your buying power against the erosive effect of inflation.

Even at, or just shy of, 1 percent, the top-yielding savings accounts and money market deposit ac-counts banked by insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. meet the first two of those re-quirements. And while returns still trail the rate of inflation, they are first to eclipse inflation, should the pace of price increases fall or when interest rates eventually pick up.

Best of all, these accounts can be opened with little or nothing in the way of a minimum deposit and are available to consumers anywhere in the 50 states.

HOUSEHOLD HINT (Helpful Tips for your Home by Sheralyn Bennett)

Do you have crayon marks on your walls? Try taking them off with a damp rag dipped in baking soda. Dry cleaning solvent on a cloth towel also works.

5 (www.heart.org)

Benefits of Homeownership –

Homeownership Offers Holistic Benefits

Studies indicate that those who live in a family-owned home are more likely to be psychologically and emotionally well-adjusted than those who do not. They are more successful in social interactions and more likely to succeed academically and overall.

Be Careful

Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense — the "movie heart attack," where no one doubts what's happening. But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable

pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or

both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.

• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly short-ness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain. Learn about the warning signs of heart attack

in women.

Learn the signs, but remember this: Even if you're not sure it's a heart attack, have it checked out (tell a doctor about your symptoms). Minutes matter! Fast action can save lives — maybe your own. Don't wait more than five minutes to call 9-1-1 or your emergency response number.

Calling 9-1-1 is almost always the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment. Emergency medical services (EMS) staff can begin treatment when they arrive — up to an hour sooner than if someone gets to the hospital by car. EMS staff are also trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped. Patients with chest pain who arrive by ambulance usually receive faster treatment at the hospital, too. It is best to call EMS for rapid transport to the emergency room.

RESOURCES

Community Action Services offers Home Buyer Education Classes on a monthly basis. Classes in February will be held February 5 and 6, 2014 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. and February 22, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To register, please call (801) 691-5200 or go online to www.communityactionuc.org.

Have your taxes prepared for free! VITA is United Way of Utah County’s Volunteer Income Tax As-sistance program. Anyone in Utah, Summit or Wasatch Counties with an income of $51,000 or below may be eligible to have their taxes prepared and filed for free by one of our trained volunteers. Local volunteers are IRS certified and look for specific tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Volun-teers help participants receive the best refund possible. United Way of Utah County’s VITA program is a part of a coalition with other nationwide financial institutions, nonprofit and government agencies and the “Earn It! Keep It! Save It!” program. Call 2-1-1 for an appointment.

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Thank You

Utah Valley University, Johnny

McCoy, Acadian Builders Inc

Powerhouse Electric Robert Tonks Spencer Measom TD Ameritrade Utah County Association of Realtors Utah Valley Home Builders Association Utah Valley University Utah Valley University Chapter Utah Valley University Service Council Utah Valley University Student Involvement Utah Valley University Volunteer and Service Learning Center Utah Valley University Wellness Programs

Vantage Controls

BE GOOD TO YOUR HEALTH (ww.fi.edu) Everyday Heart Health Tips

If you're not convinced about the need to develop an exercise program for your life, you can at least try following some of these tips in your eve-ryday routine. Take advantage of any opportunity for exercise. Try some today.

Acadian Builders Inc. America First Credit Union Brenda Hiatt BYU ASCE Case Excavation Clyde Co. Dynamic Structures Galaxy Lighting Heidi Price Jamba Juice Johnny McCoy Lonny Woolbright Megan Lloyd Mike Elliot

• Think of housework as an extra chance to exercise. Vacuuming briskly can be a real workout.

• Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and rak-ing leaves are chores that can be done yourself as a chance to exercise.

• If you have a dog, think of the dog as an exercise machine with fur. A brisk walk with the dog is good for both of your hearts. Make it a part of your daily rou-tine.

• If you have a family, schedule an after-dinner walk. Make it quality time.

• Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator at school or the mall. Just start with one flight. Soon, you'll be ready for two.

• Park your car at the far end of the parking lot. The short walk to and from the store or school helps your heart.

• If you ride a bus or subway, get off a stop before your destination. Walk the rest of the way.

• If you can, spend a few minutes of your lunch break taking a stroll around the cam-pus grounds. It should help you stay awake after lunch.

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 4—Development Services

5 6 7 8

9 10 11—Building 12 13—Family

Partnership 14—Executive

Happy Valen-tine’s Day

15

16 17—President’s Day

18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26—Home

Maintenance 27 28

Of Utah County

Development Services February 4, 2014 Noon Office

Building February 11, 2014 2:00 p.m. Central Bank

Family Partnership February 13, 2014 6:30 p.m. Office

Executive February 14, 2014 7:30 a.m. Office

Happy Valentine’s Day February 14, 2014

President’s Day February 17, 2014 Office Closed, ReStore Open

Home Maintenance February 26, 2014 6:30 p.m. Office