Wanna Build A House?
Helping out with the construction of a Habitat home can be a richly rewarding experience. It's a great way for anyone to give something back to the community. Right now the biggest impediment to our growth is a shortage of volunteers with or without construction skills. We need more volunteers - no skills or time commitment necessary. We have lots of work that unskilled volunteers can do. If, however, you are slightly or very skilled, we would especially appreciate your help. Our guidelines give you an idea of what to expect at a Habitat work site. The volunteer positions that are needed most are:
Unskilled Construction Volunteers. Absolutely no skills necessary. No time commitment necessary. We work Tuesday through Saturday and although we need people for every time, week days (when lots of people work or study) are especially critical. Please contact the Greater Charlottesville Office volunteer coordinator (293-9066) if you are interested in volunteering on any of the house sites in the area.
Skilled Construction Volunteers. Some people are handy with tools but are not comfortable being crew leaders. Saturdays go more smoothly, though, if we have some handy people working alongside the unskilled volunteers. Even if you can only sign up for a Saturday once every few months, that is extremely helpful.
Construction Crew Leader. Habitat for Humanity needs people with some construction skills and people skills who can volunteer on occasional Saturdays as Crew Leaders. On Saturdays, each house has a Site Supervisor who can show the crew leaders what needs to be done. The Crew Leaders show the unskilled volunteers what to do, but always have the Site Supervisor to go to if they have questions. The houses are simple, so Crew Leaders don't need to know everything about construction. They just have to be willing to work with eager, unskilled volunteers in small groups of five.
Construction Site Supervisors. Habitat for Humanity needs contractors and professional house builders to lead volunteer work crews on Saturdays (and a few Sundays). Each Saturday we work on several houses, and each house needs to be overseen by an experienced builder. Our houses are very simple, one-story, 3 bedroom homes. Site Supervisors work with the Crew Leaders to divide up the work for the day and to lead the unskilled volunteers in the day's task list.
Project Coordinators. Contractors or home builders who are currently retired, or have time in their schedule to give one-to-two days each week to assist our construction staff in overseeing the construction of one house. To help us supervise the unskilled volunteers, keep the house on schedule, and work with the Building Committee to see the house from start to finish, approximately four months.
Mid-Week Habitat Construction Volunteers. Habitat needs a few good retirees or others who have a day off during the week to volunteer to work on our Mid-Week Construction Crews. We have a Thursday crew and a Friday crew who have a great time together working together every week and we are starting a Wednesday crew. You don't need to come every week, but once you get started you will want to because it's so much fun. And you don't need to have any construction skills, but you will have plenty after a few months.
Masons, Electricians, and Plumbers. One of our greatest and most costly needs in house construction, is the specific skill that can only be performed by skilled masons, electricians, and plumbers. Anyone who has professional experience in this field is a highly prized volunteer. We work flexibly with scheduling.
To volunteer for any of these roles, email us or print off the Volunteer Form and mail it to the address below.
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