Alabama meets the Habitat OC AmeriCorps

Our 9 AmeriCorps members are currently attending the third annual National Service Leadership Conference in Talladega, Alabama. The Leadership conference convenes almost 500 AmeriCorps National and VISTA members serving with Habitat for Humanity in more than 150 communities across the United States. Members are participating in training, service reflections and networking activities to further develop their leadership, knowledge and connectedness, which will equip them to more powerfully affect the community of Orange County.

This year’s theme, "Building Through Service," highlights the tireless efforts of Habitat AmeriCorps members to help build and strengthens communities throughout the U.S. They are building hope, communities, homes, families, capacity, strong volunteers – through their service, the possibilities for building are as diverse as the needs Habitat strives to meet and the people we partner with. AmeriCorps members also receive as much as they give, and the training and experience they receive through Habitat OC and Habitat International are helping to build strong leaders and, in turn, build our future.

So what are the AmeriCorps doing…
Members are attending core classes on Capacity Building, Conflict Resolution, Disaster Response and Recovery, Leadership Compass, Member Relations / HR Opportunities and Poverty Housing.

There are also elective classes in Advocacy, Community Mapping, Green Building, Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, Social Media and a variety of Team Building exercises.

We can't wait to hear about their trip.

The People's Fleet

I'm happy to announce that Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is partnering with The People’s Fleet™ project highlighting community-minded young adults involved with Habitat OC. Recently launched, The People’s Fleet™ is using a nation-wide social media platform to increase awareness of a generation inspired to transform lives and communities. The project is also awarding short-term use of new, economical vehicles, enabling young people to achieve their goals more easily.

Aimee Sibet, 25, Volunteer Coordinator, serves as Habitat OC’s main featured personality on The People’s Fleet™ website and social media sites. Aimee was an AmeriCorps volunteer with Habitat OC for a year before her recent hire. Her strong values and life-long dedication to helping others is truly inspirational. Aimee, a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, decided to work with Habitat OC because she believes that living in a home owned by a family is extremely important for children. She cites her parents as excellent role models in assuring that she and her siblings had a simple, decent home to live in during their school years.

Being chosen for The People’s Fleet is not only exciting, it’s perfect timing. This October is one of our busiest months. The car is being used by the young people working in Habitat OC’s volunteer coordination department as we continue to build, search for families and work with volunteers. We’re very pleased!

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S.E.

Small Group, Big Heart

On a sunny afternoon, a team of twenty First American Financial Corporation and CoreLogic employees spent a day building in Fullerton as part of their national day of service.

The team grabbed their tools and began work on five homes, the last group of homes to be built in this development.

One of the future homeowners, Mr. Chavez, was on site and talked to the volunteers about the development. "Habitat came to this neighborhood and started building beautiful homes," said Mr. Chavez. "You can see how the street has changed for good."

Andrea Amrein (in blue), Title Coordinator, First American Financial Corporation, took a break from resolving title issues at the office to work on siding. "I live down the street and it feels good to give back to the community. I can pass by and say I helped build this."

As always, we had one of our AmeriCorps on site to help guide the volunteers. Dan Hines, originally from Pennsylvania, was on site and worked alongside the volunteers. "This is a great group of volunteers," said Dan. "They were full of energy and enthusiasm."

Thank you to the volunteers who came out to build. I invite all of you to trade in your briefcase for a hammer this summer. You won't regret it.