6 Great Reasons to Volunteer in Your Community

Over 17,000 volunteers make Twin Cities Habitat’s mission come to life each year, and there are probably 17,000 unique reasons why they choose to volunteer. We’ve listed six great reasons to volunteer in your community—see which ones resonate with you.

1. Volunteers Make a Big Difference

It’s simple: volunteers matter. The Independent Sector calculates the value of volunteer time annually. They determined that the estimated value of one volunteer hour in Minnesota is $36.31. At Twin Cities Habitat, volunteers complete over 30,000 volunteer days annually, which means they contribute over $6.3 million each year—just with their time! According to Volgistics, about 63 million Americans volunteered regularly in 2023. This is equal to a quarter of the adult population. If volunteerism were a company, it would be worth more than corporations like Ford, AT&T, and Amazon.

2. The Need is Great

When you volunteer at a place like Twin Cities Habitat, you can rest assured that your time is meeting a greater need in the community. Throughout the Twin Cities, many families need stable, safe, affordable housing. Here are a few facts from this year’s State of the State Housing Report:

• The number of cost-burdened households increased from 590,538 to 641,549, an increase of 9% in one year.

• Housing instability is on the rise: evictions increased 44% relative to the pre-COVID rate in Minnesota.

3. Health Benefits

Volunteering is good for your soul, but it’s also good for your physical and mental health, too. According to the Mayo Health Clinic, volunteering can help to reduce stress and increase positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine. By serving others, volunteers report feeling a sense of purpose and appreciation, both given and received, which can reduce feelings of stress.

4. Build Relationships

Volunteering is a great way to build bonds with new friends or people you’ve known for a long time. Many different groups of people volunteer with Twin Cities Habitat and become a stronger team in the process—corporate groups, faith communities, civic organizations, school clubs, and regular crews.

You can get a group of women together for Women Build or create your own group for a bachelorette build (or any other special event). You can also sign up as an individual and make new friends on the build site or at a ReStore. The possibilities are endless, but you’re bound to build relationships.

5. Everyone’s Doing It

The Twin Cities is a region of big-hearted people who like to give back to their communities. Minnesota ranks in the top five states for volunteerism. 35.5% of Minnesota residents  volunteered during 2020 and 2021. Join in the fun!

6. Many Ways to Get Involved

Organizations are increasingly looking for ways to allow volunteers to match their volunteering with their skill sets. Many people associate Habitat for Humanity with swinging a hammer on a build site, but there are so many more ways to get involved. Here are just a few of our volunteer opportunities:

• Join a committee

• Volunteer at ReStore

• Share about Habitat on your social media

• Help with direct outreach in the community

• Volunteer at events, like the Hard Hat & Black Tie gala

• Become an Advocate with our Government Affairs team

A Lasting Impact 

By volunteering with Habitat, you are doing more than building homes or organizing donations; you are increasing access to affordable housing for hundreds of Twin Cities families each year. Our commitment to sustainable homeownership ensures that families can maintain long-term affordability and stability in their homes. As a volunteer, you make a lasting difference in the quality of life for many generations to come. 

Need more reasons to volunteer in your community? Check out our volunteer page by clicking the button below.