On the way to the Peace Corps, with a stopover at Habitat

Callie Keeney, a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, is on a mission to join the Peace Corps this fall. She’s hoping to secure a health education job in Latin America and commit to two years of service abroad.

It is this very journey to the Peace Corps that has actually led Callie to Habitat for Humanity.

A recruiter for the Peace Corps encouraged her to begin volunteering somewhere regularly to make her application stand out from others. Callie knew exactly which place she wanted to get involved with, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. Her aunt has been an avid supporter of Habitat, so Callie thought this was the perfect time for her to volunteer with the organization.

With her class schedule, she couldn’t commit to the full eight hours required to work on a Habitat build site; she did however discover volunteer opportunities at the ReStore that did fit her schedule.

Since November, Callie has been a regular volunteer at the ReStore, serving about 15 hours a month. What does she do at the ReStore? “Anything and everything,” she says. Callie has done a lot of sorting of incoming donations and played a large role in the reorganization of the hardware and window sections.

“I enjoy learning about new things and using tools,” mentions Callie, “along with taking things apart and putting them back together.” She likes that volunteering at the ReStore provides the opportunity to work physically for a few hours a week.

Erin Green, AmeriCorps member, says she really appreciates that Callie comes in so often to help out. As the volunteer coordinator at the ReStore, Erin knows how valuable volunteers like Callie can be. “If we’re really busy, I don’t have to worry so much about regular volunteers, because they have a sense of what they need to do.”

Callie enjoys working with Habitat homebuyers who are fulfilling some of their sweat equity hours at the ReStore. She remembers a time when she and Erin were tearing up carpet in the ReStore break room, and they were really struggling. “Erin and I had little sections done, and I looked over at the homebuyer helping out and she had a huge section of the floor cleared!”

The Twin Cities Habitat ReStore feels lucky to have had Callie as a volunteer and wishes her well in her future years of service.

Contributed by Julie Wedig