AmeriCorps comes to Gypsum to build homes and community
Special to the Daily
Maura Oyler/Courtesy photo
Gen Z is going to be the generation that changes the world — and it’s happening right here in Gypsum. A group of eight AmeriCorps NCCC volunteers rolled into town Jan. 8, ready to help build Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley homes at Stratton Flats in Gypsum.
The volunteers range in age from 18 to 26 and come from around the United States — some have a bit of college experience, some were already part of the workforce, some have graduated college. Their backgrounds are diverse and their enthusiasm high — not easy when the temperatures hovered around zero for the better part of a week. They have jumped right in to building and being part of the community.
“It’s great having these young people on the jobsite. Habitat relies heavily on volunteers to ‘get the job done,’ and this group of AmeriCorps volunteers are indeed helping us build homes with families and other volunteers,” said Doug Amberg, Director of Construction. “These volunteers are not afraid to learn and work hard — we’re really grateful to have them here.”
This group of volunteers came after a 13-week stint in Wyoming and will be heading to Arkansas after their 6 ½-weeks here. And that’s exactly what they like — traveling the US, getting hands-on experience, learning new skills and helping the community. It’s unlike college in that there is hands-on training but with progress updates and a rigorous schedule, it does resemble college.
“You can choose what’s right for you. You can see if you want to do a trade — it feels like there are so many branches that this program can bring,” shared one of the group leaders. “There’s stability, working in a team and continual learning. It’s such a great experience.”
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“This is something people our age are interested in and want to keep it going for as long as possible,” chimed in another group member.
While they volunteer 40 hours at the jobsite a week, they then volunteer at other area nonprofits from the Thrifty Store to Mountain Valley Horse Rescue. They live together, work together, eat together and seem to really thrive together.
“In their time with us, our NCCC team will volunteer 40 hours of service each week for a little more than 6 weeks, coming out to a whopping 256 hours from each member and 2,048 hours as a team! This will be instrumental in helping us embark on our new strategic plan goal to get to 200 Habitat homes by the end of 2028,” added Kelsie McKenna, Project Manager.
While they are busy giving back, the community can give back to them: They love home-cooked meals or baked goods. Contact Volunteer Coordinator, Cassie at cassie@habitatvailavlley.org to help. They will be serving with Habitat in Gypsum until Feb. 22.
Heather Hower is the Communications Manager for Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley. She can be reached at heather@habitatvailvalley.org.
