Habitat seeks new volunteers
Group needs people to be board members

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Audrey Schuurmann is looking for some new idea people — “new faces and new blood” — who are interested in making a positive difference in the life of a local family.

Although she’s a longtime volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Gallup, Schuurmann is not particularly looking for people interested in physical labor like swinging a hammer, laying a floor, or painting a wall. Rather she’s looking to recruit about a half-dozen people with fresh ideas and interest in planning safe and affordable homes for Gallup’s working poor families.

Schuurmann would also like people — particularly people who have never served on a board of a nonprofit organization — to understand that although serving on a board or committee may seem scary and intimidating, it’s really not.

In the case of Habitat for Humanity, she said, volunteering just helps Habitat provide more needed houses for deserving families.

“For a minimal amount of time commitment, you can really make an impact on a family’s life,” Schuurmann said. She added that she believes serving on the Habitat board is more satisfying than serving on other nonprofit boards because it offers the chance to really get to know a local family well and see how one’s volunteer work makes a difference in their life.

“The minimum is two hours per month,” she said. “They could start out at that commitment,” she added. Habitat board members meet from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second Monday of every month at Bethany Church, 1110 S. Strong, and the public is always welcome to attend. The next meeting will be on Jan. 12.

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that invites people of all backgrounds, races, and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. To date it has built more than 250,000 houses around the world in more than 3,000 communities. With the recent completion of the third Habitat home in Gallup, the local affiliate has now provided housing for 20 local children from three families.

Schuurmann has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Gallup since its establishment in October 2001. A mother of two adult children, Schuurmann stepped up to be the first project manager to oversee the construction of the first local Habitat home. She is currently the organization’s volunteer treasurer.

After seven years in Gallup, the local Habitat organization needs more area residents to serve on the board of directors and working committees, Schuurmann said. Although the organization started out with 24 people, she explained, it’s now down to six board members because people have moved away or reached the end of their term limits. In an effort to attract new volunteers with new ideas, Habitat has a policy of requiring board members to step down for at least one year after serving two terms of three years each.

Because of this policy, she explained, the Gallup Habitat recently lost two board members, including the board secretary. Schuurmann and Bill Bright, the project manager for the third house, have returned to the board after stepping down for a year.

“We especially need people on our resource committee,” Schuurmann said. That committee plans and oversees the annual fund-raisers, like the Habitrek bike ride in the spring and the Navajo rug auction and mall gift wrapping booth in December.

As a nonprofit, Habitat depends on volunteer labor and donations of money and construction materials to build its homes. In addition to needing more people to serve on its board and committees, the local Habitat is “barely making it on donations,” Schuurmann said. She would like to see more local residents help out by making a financial donation to Habitat at the beginning of each new home building project or at the completion of a project — which just happened with the completion of the third house last week.

Now Habitat volunteers are hoping to select the fourth partner family soon. Richard Kontz, who is heading up the family selection committee, said he hopes to close out the application process by Dec. 31.

Although Habitat officials have been saying the fourth house will be a four bedroom home, Kontz said they may modify the plans to make it a three bedroom house in order for a smaller-sized family to qualify. Families with a serious interest in the project should stop by Kontz’s business, Bread of Life Christian bookstore, 104 Boardman Dr., to talk with Kontz before the end of the year.

Information: Habitat for Humanity of Gallup, P.O. Box 1777, Gallup, N.M. 87301, (505) 722-4226, habitatgallup@yahoo.com, or www.habitatgallup.org