By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
There’s far more to building a Habitat for Humanity home than hammering nails and raising walls. Those are, of course, important skills for the building crews. But every new home also needs volunteers to select and support the new homeowners, to find building sites, and to feed the volunteers.
After building 55 homes all across Wood County, Habitat for Humanity is preparing for another building season. Its next project will be a rebuild – or “recycling” – of an older Habitat home in North Baltimore.
In preparation, the organization held a volunteer open house Tuesday morning in its headquarters in Bowling Green.
With the vision of “a world where everyone has a decent place to live,” Habitat volunteer coordinator Gina Skaggs met with potential volunteers – assuring them their skills could help the organization meet its goals.
“We try to match them up with what we have,” Skaggs said.
For Joel Berg, that meant offering to help new homeowners with good stewardship and money management, a skill he had used in a previous job.
“When I saw they had opportunities, I thought that would be perfect,” Berg said.
For Patience Flores and Brigitte Nulton, employees at 5/3 Bank, it meant offering a couple days on the building site for a group of 15 to 18 people from their workplace.
“We’re all looking for something we can do as a team,” Flores said.
On a previous Habitat project, Flores helped with painting and raising walls. She recalled meeting the family who would make the house their home.
“I actually worked on the days they were raising the walls. It was hard work,” she said.
But it was worth the sweat and any slivers they encountered.
“It’s very rewarding,” Nulton said.
Skaggs was glad to hear the women had positive experiences on previous builds.
“We want them to want to come back,” Skaggs said.
Helping a family find decent housing is a worthy way to spend volunteer hours, she said.
Oftentimes, families come to Habitat when they are desperate and have tried on their own to acquire good places to raise their children.
But many local families are spending 60% of their income on housing.
“It’s such a challenge,” Berg agreed.
Along the way, some volunteers are assigned to families, to “walk them through the entire process from beginning to end,” Skaggs said.
Skaggs said she has seen new homeowners be transformed when they finally get possession of their house.
“You watch them get their keys, and you can see the relief,” she said. “It’s not just building homes. It’s building families into confident, capable families.”
Three of Habitat’s homes in Wood County are in Bowling Green, but Skaggs said no properties have been made available to Habitat for the foreseeable future.
“We have a lot of people ask about that,” about more homes in BG, she said. “Unfortunately, it is very difficult getting property in Bowling Green.”
Following are some of the committees that could benefit from volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Wood County. Anyone interested may reach out to Skaggs at 419-481-8100 or gina@wchabitat.org.
Homeowner selection committee
This committee is responsible for selecting families for the homeownership program. Committee members can expect to visit applicants’ homes in pairs, create a report and present the report to the selection committee for review. Committee members also conduct outreach to create awareness of the homeownership program, by putting up flyers or speaking with community groups to solicit applications to the program.
Homeownership support committee
This committee is responsible for supporting families who are in the homeownership program. Members are paired with one or two families to serve as their support partner to be sure that the families feel supported, by listening to concerns or helping to answer questions as needed. The committee is responsible for overseeing the homeownership education program provided to families.
Site selection committee
This committee is responsible for identifying potential sites for construction of new Habitat homes. This includes working with local government officials on acquiring land for new home construction. Members are tasked with meeting and following up with potential leads, and vetting land offers with the goal of land acquisition.
Build committee
This committee provides support to Habitat’s home construction projects by procuring materials, coordinating deliveries, counting inventory and preparing materials for shipment to the site from the office, ensuring site safety, house design specifications and any other build related issues. The build committee meets weekly during the build season.
Core crew members
Core crew volunteers have familiarity with tools and availability to build throughout the week. These volunteers enjoy fellowship together while learning new skills and helping to build a home. Core crew members help the construction manager to complete various construction tasks on core crew build days, and to assist in the managing of volunteers during group build days.
Finance committee
This committee is responsible for reviewing affiliate finances, including the audit and budget functions. It is also responsible for implementing and reviewing policies that foster good stewardship and money management. The committee ensures that there are adequate financial resources and processes to successfully execute Habitat’s mission.
Lunch committee
These committee members help support Habitat’s home build projects by providing a lunch for the build volunteers, which can number between eight to 15. The lunches consist mainly of sandwiches, fruit, cookies/chips, and must be brought out to the build sites. Water can be donated as well to keep volunteers hydrated.
