What Habitat for Humanity is all about

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller in Americus, Georgia. It has since flourished into an expansive organization that serves communities worldwide. Their goal is to provide housing for those who could otherwise not afford it; they build houses and sell them for no more than the price of the materials. In 2005, HFHI celebrated building their 200,000^th house, and have since built more than 500,000 houses, housing more than 1.75 million people on 5 continents. The houses they build are typically described as “simple, decent, and affordable,” and are built primarily by supervised volunteers.

A typical Habitat build will follow roughly the same procedure: there will be a brief safety orientation in the morning, and two breaks throughout the day. The first break (often referred to as the “morning break”) occurs around 9:30, and the second break (often referred to as the lunch break) occurs around noon.  The morning break lasts for around 15 minutes, while the lunch break lasts roughly an hour. Work typically commences around 8:00 in the morning, and ends around 3:00 in the afternoon. Habitat builds usually occur on Saturdays.

While working at a Habitat build, a volunteer will learn how to use a variety of tools and will also learn valuable practical skills. Such skills would be useful to future homeowners and anyone ever needing to fix something; things break all the time. As a Habitat volunteer, you will be provided with water throughout the day and with lunch at noon. You will be supervised by an experienced coordinator to whom you could ask nearly anything about construction. There are also often many experienced individuals that could answer questions as well.

It is recommended that any individual wishing to volunteer for HFHI wear close-toed, thick-soled shoes, a long sleeve shirt (if the weather permits), and a rugged pair of pants. Though the coordinator directs all workers to throw nails in one spot, it is very possible that nails still lay strewn about; along with all the other debris that accumulates while doing construction work, the work area can be very dangerous unless the proper safety precautions are observed. Eyewear must be worn at all times, and minors are not allowed to operate any power tools. Volunteers at or over the age of 17 (the age varies by location) must be trained by the Habitat coordinator or another experienced individual in order to use any of the power tools.