Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area Announces New Sustainability Department

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact:
Kahya Fox
Executive Director
Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area
(608) 785-2373
kahya@habitatlacrosse.org
 
Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area Announces New Sustainability Department
 
February 2, 2023 (LA CROSSE, WI) – Building on three decades of providing safe, affordable, and healthy homes, Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area has created a Sustainability Department. The department’s two full-time staff will strengthen new and existing environmental initiatives across the organization. Key projects for 2023 include ReNew the Block--a community revitalization project in the Washburn Neighborhood--and an analysis of internal sustainability practices. Sustainability staff will also manage Habitat’s recent acquisition of longtime partner NewGround.
 
Established in 2008, NewGround provides project management and outreach strategies for water and land restoration projects. As a result of the fall 2022 acquisition, Habitat will take on past NewGround partnerships and offer NewGround’s services. Current projects include:

• Educational content and outreach strategies for the La Crosse Urban Stormwater Group, which aims to reduce runoff pollution in local waterways
• Project coordination and communications for Fishers & Farmers Partnership, which advocates for healthier land and water throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin
• Connecting with farmers to create new story content and updates for Wabasha County SWCD’s website, SmarterTogether.info, as well as developing a future work plan for the group.

 
Habitat’s mission to make sure every person has a safe and affordable place to live starts with building homes, but it doesn’t stop there. Habitat sees a need to create vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities that people want to live in. At Habitat, care for the environment goes hand in hand with quality housing.
 
Sustainable practices are already part of Habitat’s work. For example, Habitat homes include energy efficient systems, which lower a homeowner’s carbon footprint and energy bills. At the ReStore, Habitat keeps useful goods out of the waste stream. The retail store sells these items at affordable prices to the community. This makes home repair less expensive, and it reduces the need for newly manufactured products. Habitat’s ReClaim program salvages usable materials from buildings that are about to be renovated or demolished. This popular program extends the lifecycle of items that would otherwise be thrown away.
 
Looking ahead, the Sustainability Department is gearing up for Phase II of ReNew the Block. ReNew promotes access to healthy foods, stormwater mitigation, and green public spaces to enhance neighborhood health and boost residents’ pride in their homes. Throughout 2023, ReNew will host hands-on projects and workshops to share sustainable practices with the entire La Crosse community.
 
Anyone interested in learning more about sustainability at Habitat can visit the new sustainability webpage: www.habitatlacrosse.org/sustainability. 
 
About Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that partners with homeowners and the community to build simple, decent, and affordable housing. For more information, to become a volunteer, or to make a donation, please visit our website at www.habitatlacrosse.org or call 608-785-2373. 
 
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