"Habitat is a win-win situation. The volunteers are rewarded by productive service, the houses get built, the homeowners provide sweat equity, and everybody wins.”
– Asheville Habitat Volunteer
Volunteers are the heart of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Over 1,800 people volunteer with us each year. Asheville Habitat has a variety of volunteer opportunities where you can partner with others to help fulfill our mission of building simple, decent houses for families currently living in inadequate conditions. In addition, you will have an opportunity to learn new skills and meet a variety of people.
Asheville Area Habitat Volunteer Wins Prestigious Award!
Congratulations to long-time Asheville Area Habitat volunteer Clarence Schmidt who was recently selected as an outstanding volunteer from Buncombe County. He will receive the 2008 Governor's Medallion Award on November 20 in Greensboro, for his 25 years of service to several Buncombe County service agencies including Habitat, MANNA, Givens Estate and Skyland United Methodist Church.
Asheville Area Habitat is indebted to Clarence for his commitment to Habitat's mission. Currently the 92 year old volunteers weekly in our Home Center - as the recycling guru for both the Home Store and Administrative Office. Thank you Clarence and congratulations on your award. No one deserves this more than you!
Volunteer Spotlight: Rebecca Lawton
When Rebecca Lawton moved to Asheville from San Francisco a few years ago, she really wanted to meet people and give back to community. She found that starting to volunteer at AAHH was incredibly easy - from signing up for orientation online to her first day at jobsite. Since then Rebecca has been an active volunteer. She started on the jobsite where she became a "Tuesday regular" and was soon thereafter recruited to co-chair the 2008 Women Build leadership team.
While Rebecca enjoyed the jobsite tremendously - both the work and the comraderie of the Tuesday crew - she transitioned to the Home Store because of the high physical impact of the jobsite. She currently volunteers in the Office, providing weekly support to the Volunteer Services department. "That's one of the great things about Habitat - there is always another volunteer opportunity to fit skills and needs," notes Rebecca.
Volunteer Coordinator Beth Russo says, "Habitat is lucky to have volunteers like Rebecca who are willing to share their talents and skills in a variety of ways within our organization. Rebecca's enthusiasm, team mindedness, and willingness to use her considerable skills is greatly appreciated by the staff".
Rebecca says of her volunteer experience with AAHH, "I enjoying seeing lots of different people doing lots of things to make it all work. I can see the connection between all the 'pieces' of Habitat."
When not volunteering, Rebecca loves to travel, hike, lift weights and run. She and her husband Trevor are gearing up for an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2009.
