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Construction / Site Selection
Chair: Steve Smith
This committee is responsible for overseeing the actual
construction of houses. They provide guidance
on appropriate activities for construction volunteers
versus professional contractors, selection of house
leaders, choice of materials, and other issues related
to construction management. Volunteers are asked
to volunteer on the construction site prior to joining
the Construction Committee.
This committee also finds property on which Habitat
builds homes. They research, negotiate, and
acquire properties for building Habitat houses. The
committee members are involved in logistics surrounding
the acquisition of property such as investigating the
feasibility of a property, meeting with sellers,
and working with the county or city on zoning issues.
Volunteers with backgrounds in real estate, site
engineering and urban planning experience are especially
needed.
Development / Church Relations
Chair: Bob Untiedt
This committee works to engage local faith communities
to facilitate their participation in Habitat projects.
The faith community's involvement can consist of
sponsorship or co-sponsorship of a house; organizing
a congregational workday; providing lunches for
volunteers on the worksite; making a long-term financial
pledge to support our work; advocating in the community
for Habitat and for affordable housing; and/or
committing to pray for the work of Habitat in the
community.
This committee guides the overall resource development
strategy of the affiliate, incorporating volunteers,
money, land, materials, and services. It utilizes
representatives of all the other standing committees
in order to develop a holistic resource development
strategy across the entire organization.
Family Support
Co-Chairs: Mike Barton and Linda Krug
The Family Selection Committee provides support to
families who are in transition to ownership of their
own home. Partnering begins when the family is selected
for the Habitat house and continues until the
family is established in home ownership (in most cases,
six months to a year). The ultimate goal of the
committee is to have Habitat families who can
independently and responsibly care for themselves and
their homes. Volunteers interested in being partners
should be willing to make a long-term commitment
to help the Family Support Committee achieve its goals.
The services provided by the partners vary
depending on the needs of the family. Budgeting
counseling is required for every family. Other services
include instruction and advice on basic home
maintenance. Partners make frequent phone and personal
contact with the families and establish bonds of
friendship and trust.
Family Selection
Chair: Becky Picard
The Family Selection Committee chooses families best
suited for a Habitat house based on need, ability
to pay and willingness to partner. The committee holds
orientations that are mandatory for new applicants,
reviews the newly received applications as well as the
mid-process applications, and makes follow-
up phone calls to potential applicants in order to gain
further information. When a family has passed
the first few screening processes, two or three of the
committee members will visit the home to look
for: substandard living conditions, overcrowding, unsafe
location, etc. Once a family is chosen, committee
members begin the nurturing process until a Family
Partner is assigned.
Finance
Chair: Karen Hufnagel
This committee oversees the budget and finances of the
affiliate. They set policy for financial planning
and tracking, direct the annual budgeting process, and
ensure professionalism, precision, and transparency
in our financial statements.
ReStore,
Chair
Julie Palmer Nelson
Over 200 Habitat affiliates in the U.S. operate ReStores,
which take donations of used and surplus building
supplies and resell them for the benefit of Habitat.
This committee oversees the operation of our Re-
Store in Hiawatha. Volunteers with background in the
building and/or retail industries are especially
needed.
Volunteer
Chair: Joe Strathman
This committee provides assistance to the volunteer
program. Members facilitate the volunteer orientations
and plan the volunteer recognition events. They also
help provide volunteer coordination on the
worksite, oversee the volunteer database, and provide
volunteer support for special events.
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