Are you looking for a way to give back to your community? Looking for a volunteer activity where you can actually see the fruits of your labor? Would you like to learn new skills and meet new people? Look no further! We love this work. We think you will, too.
Volunteers can help in a wide variety of capacities:
- We have a particular need for folks with building/carpentry skills. However, it is not required for volunteers to have any special skills to help build our houses. We can teach you basic skills and often need help with things like painting, cleaning, etc!
- We work Thursdays and Saturdays starting 8:30 a.m. We finish by 4:00 p.m., but welcome volunteers to come even for a few hours if you can't sacrifice your whole day.
- We do encourage you to check our Facebook page for any announcements There are occasional Thursdays & Saturdays that we don't work.
- Our construction report (found on the Facebook page each week) explains the work, what we've done on our current build so far, what is on the schedule, and directions to get to the job site.
- We do require volunteers to be at least 14 years old in order to help on the site. Occasionally we can allow younger volunteers to help with yardwork or fundraising activities. Please contact us for more information.
- COVID-19 Procedures & Policies: We used to provide lunch on Saturdays, but for the time being we are asking volunteers to bring their own food and water to the job site.
- If you're part of a group, please see instructions below.
Our Home Accessibility and Safety Program (HASP) focuses on assisting local residents with accessibility issues in and around their home. Examples of HASP projects include building ramps on the interior or exterior of the home and minor home repairs that ensure safety. We need semi-skilled carpenters to design and build these ramps or assist with the modifications/home repairs. Email habitatotsego@gmail.com to find out more.
Looking for a way to get involved that doesn't involve physical labor? We have committees for publicity, building & site procurement, family support, fund raising, finance, and more. Do you have any special skills in these areas? Let us know! Committees typically meet once a month.
On occasion, groups or individuals can provide lunch or snacks to the volunteers working at the job site. The best way to do this is to donate gift pre-packaged snacks, water, etc., or to supply a gift card to a local grocery store to purchase snacks.
We also allow individual volunteers or organizations to provide lunches to our job site workers each Saturday. Donations can be sandwich fixings, pizza, family-style dishes, etc. Please email us to inquire more about the lunch donation program.
You can mail us the gift cards or coordinate a drop off time by emailing habitatotsego@gmail.com.
Join the group of dedicated volunteers who work to govern and make decisions on behalf of the organization. This is not a significant time commitment, but is a great way to help guide and make the biggest impact for our families and community. Board members meet once per month and typically serve on one of the committees. Email habitatotsego@gmail.com to find out more.
Are you part of a group looking for a community service activity? We would love to host you!
- Please reach out at least 2 weeks in advance via email to inquire about dates you'd like to volunteer. This will help us plan & see if there are any dates we need a larger number of volunteers.
- We are currently very limited to allowing large groups to help on the job site due to COVID-19 restrictions. Please contact us to discuss further.
- Print off waiver forms (below) and have each member of your group fill one out prior to your arrival.
Please reach out to us at habitatotsego@gmail.com or 607-432-7874 to inquire about any of these volunteer opportunities.
Insurance Waivers:
If you would like to volunteer at the job site you can print out a waiver form and bring it with you to save a few minutes when you arrive.
We keep waiver forms on file, so they’re only needed once each year.