IC Habitat is so excited to present two incredible break trips for this winter break! They're always some of the most memorable features of Habitat for Humanity at Ithaca College — a great way to make friends, build homes, and enjoy an affordable week down South!

This year Habitat is traveling to Sea Island, South Carolina (a longtime IC Habitat Winter Break trip staple) and Statesville, North Carolina, where 20 students worked with Habitat last year. Both trips are under $250 and include all housing, travel costs, and food. They will take place the week before the Spring semester kicks off - we leave from Ithaca on Friday, January 14 and return on Saturday, January 21. Get pumped!

Sign-ups for this year's Winter Break Trips will be held on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 at 4:00pm! Make sure you get there early to secure your break trip spot! All you need is a check with the amount of the trip you want to go on (made out to Ithaca College), medical information and emergency contact information, and a fun, open attitude!

Email us at habitat@ithaca.edu if you have any questions at all about this year's WINTER BREAK TRIPS!

Get ready for SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, for IC Habitat for Humanity's biggest fundraiser of the semester, the Habidash, a 5K around the Ithaca College campus! You can run, walk, stroll, skip, or hop, but whatever you do, consider yourself included in the Habidash!

The annual run will be corresponding this year for the first time with Ithaca College's Spirit Week and Alumni Weekend (Facebook) and (Website)! Ithaca College students past and present will be joining in on the fun - it will be an awesome opportunity to be involved with one of the most unique ways to give back. We'll begin at Butterfield Stadium at 10:00am and continue all around campus. 

Registration for the race will be held at our table in Campus Center ALL next week, from October 3 through October 8, from 9:00am-3:00pm. Pre-registration is $8 with a student ID and $12 without a student ID. You can still register on race day! Race-day registration will begin at 9:30am and will cost $10 with a student ID ($15 without a student ID). All proceeds benefit the Ithaca College chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which works hard each year to contribute to the construction of affordable, safe homes locally, regionally, and nationally (on our winter and spring break trips). 

There will be prizes, raffles, free food, and music - so bring your friends and make a day out of it! All Habidash participants will receive a free shirt to hype your Habidash pride well into next year. 

Tell us you're coming on Facebook!
Email habitat@ithaca.edu if you have any questions!

How many people are you sleeping with? This Thursday, September 22, come join dozens of Ithaca College students and faculty members and members of the Ithaca community for Habitat for Humanity's annual "Sleepout for Homelessness."

Beginning at 7:00pm on Thursday, come join Habitat members and supporters on the Academic Quad. We'll be listening to a wide range of interesting and engaging speakers who will share their personal experiences with homelessness and affordable housing advocacy. 

Make sure you bring a sleeping bag and a pillow, because after the speakers, who will continue from 7pm until around 11pm, we'll be sleeping out on the quad to better understand the homeless experience and get a better perspective on why organizations like Habitat for Humanity are important.

The event is informal and relaxed, so attendees are encouraged to come and go as they please. Bring friends, bring a sleeping bag, and bring a positive attitude!

TELL US YOU'RE COMING on Facebook!

Ithaca College Habitat for Humanity is back, and we're excited to hit the ground running this year! We have an incredible semester shaping up, including one of our most engaging Sleep-Out for Homelessness events ever and a Habidash 5K Run that's partnered up with Ithaca College's annual Alumni Weekend! 

We'll also have all of the traditional instances of direct service that make Habitat for Humanity so unique. On our weekly builds to our Winter and Spring break trips, you'll see how easily you can make a difference in the lives of local families and families across the country. 

To learn more about all of the ways that you can get involved in IC Habitat for Humanity this year, come to our FIRST MEETING OF THE SEMESTER on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 at 4:00pm in the Taughannock Falls Room on the third floor of Campus Center.

Email us at habitat@ithaca.edu for more information! And if you haven't already, FIND US ON FACEBOOK!

See you SUNDAY!

After kicking off ACT! SPEAK! BUILD! month these past few days, we're now about a week away from our special keynote speaker's visit to Ithaca College!

On Monday, April 11, 5:30-7:30pm, Mark Horvath, documentarian and founder of www.InvisiblePeople.tv and We Are Visible will be speaking at the college in Textor 101 (http://hardlynormal.com/blog/). He's been featured on CNN, NPR, CBS and was named one of The Huffington Post's Top Twitter activists, and he will be speaking about his advocacy regarding homelessness, diversifying the face of homelessness, and effective social media activism. He's coming from Los Angeles, California for our event, and we're thrilled to be having him. His presentation will be beneficial for anyone interested in journalism, strategic communications, sociology, cause marketing, independent media and the nonprofit sector. Contact Adam Polaski (apolask1[at]ithaca.edu) if you want more information or if you'd like to join Habitat members with Mark for lunch at noon!

It's hard to believe, but the semester's already halfway done! We're looking to fill our e-board for the 2011-2012 school year! There are many available positions:

>>>President: Oversees the executive board and their responsibilities, monitors all events being planned, facilitates weekly e-board and general body meetings, monitors the email account, and acts as the main contact on behalf of the organization. Also responsible for registering the club on campus through OSEMA, working with the Vice President in submitting annual report, annual dues, and chapter/affiliate covenant to Habitat for Humanity International, and working with the Treasurer in submitting annual tithing and local affiliate donations.

>>>Vice President: Works closely with the president, leads meetings when the President is not available, assists in monitoring the email account, makes agendas and records minutes during all meetings. 

>>>Treasurer: Obtains and tracks all receipts of expenditures and fundraised accounts by maintaining a log, processes all reimbursements, and works closely with executive board members to create and submit budget proposals for operational, programming, and traveling requests, as needed. Also monitors the finance section of IC Link and serves as the liaison between the Financial Department of OSEMA, the Student Government Association, and Habitat for Humanity.

>>>Education/Advocacy: Educates members on how Habitat for Humanity operates, informs the general body about current developments in Habitat for Humanity International, and acts as a resource and motivator for a comprehensive understanding of local affordable housing, and poverty issues including homelessness. Also works to reach out to the local community and sponsor advocacy events to further the Habitat for Humanity mission. This includes but is not limited to planning Act! Speak! Build! Week events and the sleep-out. Also responsible for organizing tabling schedules when necessary. Will lastly serve as Ithaca Habitat’s intercampus liaison as part of the intercampus coalition that will be formed by the end of this year.

>>>Volunteer Coordinator: Works actively with local affiliates (South Eastern Steuben County and Tompkins County) and arranges weekly builds for the organization.  Must foster close partnerships with our primary affiliate, South East Steuben County, and attend at least one board meeting per semester. 

>>>Special Events Co-Chairs (2): Organizes and plans all fundraising events that Ithaca College Habitat for Humanity sponsors. This may include, but is not limited to, flocking, Habidash, Row for Humanity, coordinators of Act! Speak! Build! events, and any other fundraisers decided upon. Works closely with the other special events co-chair in order to share responsibilities equally. Coordinates advertising and works with the treasurer to ensure adequate funding for each event, and delegates responsibilities to board members and committee members when necessary.

>>>Break Trip Coordinator: Selects locations for Winter and Spring Break trips, registers with Habitat International, selects break trip leaders, recruits drivers, reserves vans, and plays a role in helping trip leaders develop budget proposals. Also, advertises for break trips, organizes necessary paper work for break trip sign-ups, and also meets with each break trip leader to pass on all necessary information. In addition, he or she must be available to help guide each break trip leader through the various planning processes of making contact with the local building affiliate, finding directions, and arranging accommodations. Following each trip, coordinator should distribute an evaluation form for each trip and gather data for future years.

>>> Webmaster: Responsible for updating and maintaining the webpage and Facebook group for the organization. The webmaster will also be responsible for assisting with advertisement of events and weekly meetings via Facebook messages/invites or Intercom articles.

To apply, download the application below. If the download doesn't work, here's all the information we need from you! Complete the following and e-mail it as an attachment to habitat@ithaca.edu with E-board application as the subject line. Applications are due no later than March 11th at 5pm. Please answer these questions as thoroughly as you wish! All responses should be typed. 
Name:
Class:
Email:
Cell:

1. What position(s) are you applying for and why? (please list in order of preference)
2. What qualities do you have that make you a good candidate for this position?
3. How have you been involved in Habitat previously?
4. What are your goals for Habitat next year?

 5.   What other commitments will you have besides Habitat?

Thanks for your interest!

Do you want to go on a Spring break trip? IC Habitat is getting ready to embark on two wonderful trips to two wonderful locations during this SPRING BREAK, March 12-19. Break trip sign-ups will take place on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH!

The first trip is a traditional Spring Break weeklong build, in Columbus, Georgia. We've had a lot of success building there in the past and we know that this year will be no difference. It's an 18-hour drive, costs $175, and will be awesome. If you're 21 and want to go on the trip, consider driving! Contact Emily Holland, break trip coordinator, at ehollan1[at]ithaca.edu for more information!

The second trip is called Advocacy in Albany, and this will be our second year attending. The structure of the trip is more closely connected to educational, advocacy-related tools and knowledge. The first few days involve learning about the legislative and lobbying process, the next involve actual lobbying for affordable housing with state senators and representatives, and the last two days include a build in Albany! It costs around $120 (final number TBA). For more information, contact Kaylee Underkolfer, who led last year's trip and fell in love with the program, at kunderk1[at]ithaca.edu.

If you're signing up for a break trip, come to THIS WEEK'S MEETING on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 4pm in the Taughannock Falls Room with cash or check for the cost of the trip, emergency contact information, your doctor's office address and the date of your last tetanus shot. Drivers will take priority for sign-ups. Get excited!

On Friday, February 4, IC Habitat paired up with the college’s crew team for the annual fundraiser Row for Community (formerly known as Row for Humanity). From 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening, the two groups worked together to occupy eight ergometers in the North Foyer of Campus Center to raise awareness and raise money. With 37 different members who showed up to erg for at least 15 minutes, Habitat rowed over 99,000 meters by the end of the day.

Thanks to generous pledges from the friends and families of Habitat members, the club raised over $3,000 of our own funds, which the crew team matched in donations from their own profits for a total of $7,300. These funds will help our club go on our Spring Break trips (Albany, NY and Columbus, GA), donate to our affiliate in Corning, NY and
make a tithe at the end of the year to a cause that will be determined (last year, the tithe from IC Habitat for Humanity went to Haiti).

Thank you to everyone who rowed, donated, and stopped by to show your support! Anyone who participated and wants to see their meters can do so at THIS LINK.

Habitat's biggest fundraiser of the year, ROW FOR COMMUNITY, is THIS FRIDAY, all day long in the North Foyer. Stop by and see what we're all about. Habitat members should sign up for a rowing shift (it's just 15 minutes, and it officially excuses you from having work out for the rest of the day!) HERE for the chance to row beside members of Ithaca College's Crew Team. It's one of the easiest ways you can help out Habitat!

SIGN UP for a time slot HERE: https://spreadsheets2.google.com/ccc?authkey=COjCtpEB&hl=en&key=tmVOV4W3DQb0H_38sUB17rQ&hl=en&authkey=COjCtpEB#gid=0