40 Stories from 40 Years: Volunteer Jack

In the mid 1990s, I learned of the Habitat mission. The “hand up, not handout” ethos, bolstered by the “sweat equity” model, appealed to me. Though I was still working at the University of Puget Sound, I showed up on occasion to lend a hand.

My occasional volunteering came to the ears of a Puget Sound colleague, Alison Paradise, who was considerably more invested in Habitat at the time.  Every spring, it seems, Alison tapped me on the shoulder and invited me to volunteer with her and the Puget Sound student group she led on spring break Habitat trips. 

When I retired in 2011, I began volunteering at Habitat in earnest. I spent a couple of months helping ready the warehouse space on South Tacoma Way that was to become the new Habitat Store. When that was done, I began volunteering on the new builds and have been there ever since – 14 years so far.

I typically volunteer three days a week, usually on new builds, but sometimes giving my time to Aging in Place projects. There is much to love about giving labor to Habitat. The most important reason I volunteer is to help aspiring families achieve homeownership, families that might otherwise find that goal beyond their reach. Aging in Place appeals for different, but equally compelling, reasons. Doing what we can to help seniors remain as long as possible in their homes is a mission I strongly believe in. The longer we seniors can remain independent in our own homes, the better – both for our health and our happiness.

My selfish reasons for volunteering with Habitat are equally strong. Nowhere are you likely to find a more interesting, fun, and thoughtful group of people than the “weekday regular” volunteers who show up at the Habitat worksites. Hard-working, positive in spirit, and quite remarkably handy, these folks give great contributions to the building of Habitat houses. I have put my hands to work on at least 80 of these houses, beginning with the 13 at Ainsworth Vista in 2011, and I couldn’t be prouder of the quality expected and achieved in raising these homes.