Volunteers make the world go round! One only has to start up a conversation with any one of the many individuals that volunteer during Women Build. Each volunteer has a wonderful story about why they were inspired to sign up for a day with Habitat. Their backgrounds are varied and range from retired corporate executives, architects, stay-at-home moms, students home for the summer, the list goes on and on. No two women have the same story. But all are women who want to make a difference and manage to fit yet another obligation into their very busy life schedules.
While at the site on Tuesday, I was fortunate to photograph many of the volunteers, including the site hostess, Barbara Eschle. Barbara had recently retired from a customer service position in the senior housing industry. She was looking for a volunteer opportunity that would fit her personality and expertise. She approached retirement the same way she had job searches and had business cards made! She searched for a few months and eventually discovered Twin Cities Habitat, which led to volunteering for Women Build. The Site Hostess position was a great fit for her because heavy lifting was not a requirement and she said that a lot of her skills were easily transferrable to this position. She found the work very rewarding and was asking questions about additional tasks that she could take on and also expressed interest in serving on the planning committee. She has definitely caught the Habitat Bug!
Last week, thanks to our volunteers and hardworking staff, the siding was installed, primed and painted a beautiful taupe. This week the plan is to complete the garage and begin the interior finish work. Believe it or not, there are only three weeks remaining on the summer build! There are still volunteer opportunities available, so check Volunteer Hub to see what slots are open. Invite a friend who may be looking for that extra special something in her life. This volunteer opportunity offers free training and a large group of very supportive volunteer friends that only want to see you succeed and have fun!
Huge thanks go out to our Week #7 Team Leaders: BATC Professional Women in Building Council and Jane’s Gang. The lunches were fabulous and were provided by Lisa Dahl, Alice Reuter and Pam Svihel & Ann Hoven, the Team Leaders of Jane’s Gang.
A super way to view the progress of Women Build houses (past and present) is to visit our Flickr photo stream or our Facebook page. If you Friend us on Facebook you will receive the latest and greatest information and updates and will also have the ability to ‘tag’ yourself in photos. Also, if you have photos that you would like to have posted to the Twin Cities Habitat website and/or the Twin Cities Women Build website please e-mail them to womenbuildphotos@gmail.com or use Streamfile to easily send multiple photos at once.
Have you had your Habitat fix lately? Have a great week!
Robin O’Brien
2011 Women Build Committee Member and Crew Leader
matt haugen : 10:22 AM on May 5, 2011
matt haugen