Habitat For Humanity: A Volunteer Experience

When our Homestead Custom Carpentry team heard about the opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Red Deer team, we were thrilled and immediately wanted to get involved. We have always had a desire to contribute to the City of Red Deer’s development by fighting poverty in our local communities and building hope for those who need a safe home.

The volunteer on-boarding process was straightforward and simple.
Alyson, Habitat’s Volunteer Coordinator, sent us the volunteer agreement forms to fill out along with the information:

Days and times available for scheduled shifts
Steel-toed boots required
PPE supplied (eye wear, hard hats, gloves, safety vets etc)

Our Homestead team chose to arrive on a Thursday: we were greeted by Habitat’s Construction Manager Todd Lamoureux, who gave us an orientation, explained the day’s duties (e.g. siding, painting, and decking) and asked us some questions about our construction experience. Todd was thankful to have Homestead’s Brent Purdie and Mike Wark, who are skilled carpenters, along with a handful of other eager volunteers.
Once we were assigned a task, we set to work. As one of our tasks for the day, we were given the job of installing vinyl siding on the north side of the house. Vinyl is an appealing choice for many homeowners, as it is easy to install, requires virtually zero maintenance, and is quite affordable.

At noon, it was a surprise to be greeted with a delicious catered lunch, served on-site in one of the garages we were constructing.

Homestead Custom Carpentry was not the only local building contractor to volunteer time and skill towards Habitat’s admirable cause. For work beyond the scope of what day-to-day volunteers can handle, other professionals from trades such as plumbing (e.g. Bruin’s Plumbing), electrical, HVAC, metal-working, and drywall finishing also ensured that the finished home was of high quality and met or exceeded building code requirements. Without these individuals and their experience, it would be difficult to complete the project.

Throughout the day, it was exciting to get to know and work alongside the eventual owners of the houses themselves. We were also delighted for Todd to inform us that, because of Canada’s 150th birthday year, Habitat for Humanity has set out to build 150 homes in their goal to end the cycle of poverty, and help provide families with affordable housing in our local communities.

Overall, the experience as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Red Deer team was inspirational, fun, and one that you can’t miss! We hope to volunteer again soon!

You can read more about the experience HERE.

See Habitat For Humanity Red Deer‘s Twitter and Facebook activity here and maybe you could help too!