Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County cordially invites you to its 1st Annual Hearts & Hammers benefit dinner and auction to celebrate three decades of building hope and changing lives! This fun-filled evening will include hors d’oeuvres and drinks, a seated dinner, silent auction, entertainment, and live auction at the historic Santa Paula Agriculture Museum. Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long will serve as guest auctioneer! Live auction items include two ‘unrestricted’ roundtrip Alaska Airline tickets with no blackout dates, value $2,500; a Vom Fass private tasting for up to 16 with hors d’oeuvres, cheese plate, wine, tastings of single malt scotches, brandies and more; A top gun experience as a fighter pilot for a day in a military aircraft; plus any sports game in 50 markets (NHL, NBA or MLB regular season game with premium tickets or NFL regular season game with basic tickets).

Event details:
• Saturday, October 5, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Santa Paula Agriculture Museum – 926 Railroad Avenue, Santa Paula, CA 93060
• To register, visit www.2013heartsandhammers.eventbrite.com or call (805) 485-6065, x200.
• Tickets $75 per person (includes appetizers, dinner and complimentary glass of wine or beer)
• Please RSVP by September 27th
• Attire dressy casual

Many thanks to our very generous sponsors and auction donors:
Platinum Sponsor: Montecito Bank & Trust

Gold Sponsors: Affinity Accounting Corporation, Anderson Kill Wood & Bender, P.C., Coastal Orthodontic Care; Corporate Graphics, Kim Larkin/Amgen Matching Grant, Prellis Property Management, Radant Family Fund, Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs' Association

Silver Sponsors: Alvarez Law Firm, Chase Bank, Limoneira, Martin Kircher, Ventura County Credit Union

Friend Sponsors: CEDC, David Goldstein, Santa to the Sea

About Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County
Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, a locally-run and locally-funded affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, has provided homeownership opportunities for 56 Ventura County families and repaired more than 300 houses since 1983. Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County strengthens communities and fosters hope by bringing people together to build simple, decent houses in partnership with those in need. At Habitat for Humanity, we believe that everyone everywhere deserves a decent place to live. Homeowners are selected based on their need for housing, ability to repay a zero-interest, no-profit loan, and willingness to partner with Habitat for Humanity. We offer a “hand up”, not a hand out, empowering families who are willing to work hard to achieve their dream of homeownership. Each Habitat for Humanity homeowner invests hundreds of hours to help build their home, and then purchases it with an affordable, zero interest mortgage.

This year, we’re celebrating our 30th Anniversary with the theme “Much to Celebrate, More to Build.” Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County currently has enough donated land to provide housing for another 28 families in Santa Paula and Oxnard, but only after funding is secured for infrastructure and construction costs. Thanks to partnerships with community leaders throughout the county, the affiliate has received funding commitments for numerous home preservation repairs and neighborhood revitalization projects in Ventura, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Meiners Oaks, and Oak Park. For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, please call (805) 485-6065 or visit http://www.habitatventura.org/.

Steven J. Dwyer, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County

Steve was born and raised in Michigan until moving to Whittier, CA where he completed elementary school and high school. He attended California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, CA, graduating with a B.A. in history. Following graduation from CLU, Steve was the Youth Director at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks. He also pursued his California secondary teaching credential, doing student teaching at Royal High School in Simi Valley and teaching one year at Santa Paula High School.

Following a year at Santa Paula, Steve pursued an opportunity to teach English in Shanxi, China which evolved into a keen interest in an international career. After returning to the U.S. from China and teaching for a short time in New Hampshire, Steve completed a Master of Arts in International Commerce at the University of Kentucky and was recruited to join GE’s Financial Management Training Program. Following successful completion of this two year program in GE’s Energy division in Schenectady, New York, Steve joined their international sales and commercial operations group focused on the Asian markets. In 1996 Steve and his family relocated to Hong Kong with GE to support business growth in the fast-growing Asia region. In 1998, Steve relocated to Singapore with GE to focus on risk management and operations finance during the Asia financial crisis, and from 2001 to 2007 Steve was the GE Energy Finance Director for Asia. Most recently, Steve was the Asia region Finance Director for Kennametal, Inc.

Steve’s career has included building business operations in emerging markets, leadership development, financial management, strategic planning and leading diverse global and regional teams. During his career, Steve remained very involved in leadership training and development as GE’s leader for the Singapore Financial Management Program, recruiting at local universities, and speaking at various training courses and finance conferences.

Steve and his family lived in Singapore for 15 years where his children (Josh age 20, Carrie age 18) attended Singapore American School. In Singapore, he was active in the Young Life organization as a committee member and fundraiser for the past seven years. His wife Barbara, an experienced French teacher, was a frequent substitute teacher at the school. Barbara is from Woodland Hills, CA, is a CLU graduate, and a certified secondary education teacher who began her teaching career at Oak Park High School in Ventura County. Josh is in his 3rd year at CLU and Carrie will begin her freshman year at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas in August 2013. During his free time Steve enjoys a game of tennis, a good book, and traveling with his family. Steve and Barbara are excited to be moving back to Ventura County. On April 7, 2013, Steve accepted the position of Executive Director with Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County and is currently living in Thousand Oaks.