Website: https://gdmhabitat.org/
Mission: Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity (GDM Habitat) brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope. GDM Habitat is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian ministry founded on the conviction that every person should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. We are about building with people in need regardless of race or religion. We welcome volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds.
Location: Des Moines area, also including Jasper County
Needs: Support affordable housing by serving on site, assisting with new home construction, home repair, and the ReStores. Activities range from all construction projects (home building) to repair, revitalization, and accessibility (ramp construction), to inventory management tasks with our ReStores.
- Construction: Join us to work on building and rehabilitating homes in partnership with hard-working low-income families.
- Home Repair (Rock the Block®): Assist residents with needed repair, maintenance, weatherization, safety, accessibility, and beautification of their homes.
- ReStore: Help prepare donations for display, assist customers, keep the store organized, and help with special events or trade shows!
- Core Crew: Help lead small groups of volunteers with guidance from our Construction Managers.
Volunteers:
- One-time events: Yes
- Ongoing: yes
- Groups possible? Groups can be between five to eight people (or more when working on sites with multiple houses).
When is service needed: In the winter months volunteer hands diminish, but Habitat does not stop building towards a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Volunteers are vitally important throughout November – April each year.
Modality:
- In-person: Yes
- Hybrid in-person/virtual possible: No
- Fully virtual possible: No
Prerequisites: No prior experience in any field is necessary.
Equipment/logistics needed: Bring a water bottle, appropriate clothing for the weather conditions, closed- toe shoes, and a heart to put into action for the community!
Training supplied: All training is supplied on site.
How to apply: Apply at the website: https://gdmhabitat.org/volunteer/
Contact: Zach Frank, 515-471-8686 x 140, zfrank@gdmhabitat.org
Operation information: Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, GDM Habitat builds and rehabilitates houses alongside our homebuyer families. GDM Habitat does not give away homes. In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor (sweat equity) into building their Habitat house and other Habitat houses.
Many residents of Greater Des Moines struggle daily with the lack of decent and affordable housing. More than 10,000 low-income families in our community are stuck in cost-burden rental situations they cannot afford. In neighborhoods with Habitat’s focus, more than one out of four homes are in need of repair to preserve the home or keep it at a basic level of safety. In Polk County, thousands of working families do not earn enough to qualify for a traditional mortgage. The average monthly payment for very low-income families would consume half of their monthly income. Rent is no better, the average monthly payment is a cost burden for 75% of this population.
If you are with this organization and need to update your listing, please access our update form on this page: For Community Partners