'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond

Ep. 30 | How Habitat for Humanity Creates Real Change with Dan Groth on The Hub with Michael Allen

• Kevin Shook • Episode 30

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What does a real hand up in housing look like? On this episode of The Hub, Michael Allen sits down with Dan Groth, executive director of Habitat for Humanity’s Richmond affiliate, to walk through the full journey from a family’s application to the moment they turn the key on a safe and affordable home. Dan shares how a small two person team brings together volunteers, corporate partners, and community donors to turn distressed houses into stable homes with 20 year, 0 percent mortgages.

We talk through how open enrollment works, why applicants must show the ability to pay and commit to sweat equity, and how a volunteer committee with backgrounds in banking, real estate, and construction selects candidates. Dan also breaks down why rehabs often make more financial sense than new builds, featuring a close look at the current Sheridan project. It is a full overhaul with new systems, the addition of central air for the first time, and a 600 square foot expansion to meet the three bedroom requirement for a single mom with two kids.

You will hear how properties sourced from private owners and county commissioners return to the tax rolls, strengthen neighborhoods, and create long term stability. Dan also highlights the monthly warehouse sale that helps fund projects, the vision for a future ReStore, and the fundraising events that keep momentum strong. These include the Hard Hats and High Heels Gala at The Leland, a beginner friendly par three golf tournament, and a community Halloween event.

If you want a clear and practical look at how Habitat for Humanity delivers affordable housing right here in Wayne County, this episode lays it out step by step.

Subscribe and share this episode so more neighbors can discover what Habitat is doing. To get involved, donate, or volunteer, visit https://www.goodnewshabitat.org

Watch every episode of The Hub at https://www.mprichmond.com

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SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Hub Podcast, recorded right here in Richmond, Indiana. I'm your host, Michael Allen, and on the Hub, our mission is to share stories of people making a difference in our region. In addition to hosting the podcast, I work with a wonderful team of staffing professionals at Manpower. Manpower is helping companies all over East Central Indiana find staffing so they can continue to grow and thrive. Find out how we can help your company at mprichmond.com. Welcome to the hub. And with us today is Dan Growth. Dan is the executive director for our local Habitat for Humanity. Welcome, Dan. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you for coming onto the hub and for joining us. Uh I think the first thing I want to do is maybe just give you a chance just to tell a little bit about yourself, your background. Um you're not originally from the area, so how you maybe kind of how you ended up here and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I'm an East Coast boy, born in New York, raised in New Jersey, went to college in Massachusetts, and then I started a career with the Boy Scouts of America, and I ended up in Colorado for four years. And then I got promoted and transferred back to Connecticut, and I served out of Norwich and then out New Haven, and then ended up in Indianapolis after that. And from Indianapolis, I went back to Connecticut, and then we moved back here, and I said, We've moved enough. And uh I've also worked for the American Red Cross uh locally for 10 years, and now this is my second year with Habitat for Humanity.

SPEAKER_02:

Is that what brought you to Richmond? Is the Red Cross position? Or how'd you end up in Richmond?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh we actually we moved back from Connecticut. We actually were renting in uh Indianapolis, but I was working with a friend down here, so we decided to buy a house down here. Okay. And that's how I got here. And then uh I went back to work for the Boy Scouts for a short period of time. Um, and then that's when I ended up uh with the Red Cross.

SPEAKER_02:

When you uh were in school, did you think that going into not for profits was going to be a career path for you? Is that kind of is that what you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, because I was in the Boy Scouts as a kid and worked on camp staff for seven years uh in the Delaware Water Gap area, and all of our camp directors were uh district executives professional position with the Boy Scouts. And I learned a lot from them, but I also thought I could do that job better. And I, through my guidance counselor in high school, found a uh a college, which was Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, that had a program that was uh community leadership and development that prepared people for nonprofits and local, state, and govern and federal government jobs. So that's so yeah, I knew I was gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02:

It's part of that process. I mean, did you over the years have to write a lot of grants or try to find money through the organization that you work for, or is that always someone else's job?

SPEAKER_01:

Pretty much it was always somebody else's. It doesn't mean I haven't done it, but um the first three Boy Scout councils that I worked for, there was no more than seven of us on staff. And when I came to Indianapolis, I that shot up to 36 on staff. So there was a whole fundraising department.

SPEAKER_02:

So what did those jobs like because you spent a lot of time with the scouts. And so what what kind of what encompassed that job and kind of what was your responsibilities?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, with the Boy Scouts, the big thing was the number of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and explorer posts that you had, and the number uh uh of kids that were in the program. So that was your primary thing was opening up new packs, troops, and posts, or helping one reorganize. So uh what I liked about that position was I wasn't tied to a desk. So I did a I put a lot of miles on my vehicles in that time. So the last district I work in uh was Fayette Rush, Shelby counties, and everything south south of 70 in uh Hancock and Henry. So territorially it was big. But my first districts that I worked in were in Colorado were bigger than the whole state of Rhode Island. Okay. So I did a lot of traveling out there.

SPEAKER_02:

Most of the money, the administrative money uh for the scouts, does that come from from primarily government funding that provides that, or it was all it's primarily uh individual and corporate giving. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh as opposed to grants and that sort of thing. Doesn't mean that we didn't get grants, it just wasn't the primary.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh you mentioned we moved here. I I think uh there's this person that's pretty well, I mean, you're pretty well known guy, but there's this other person as part of the we, uh Noreen, right? Correct. Your your wife's been pretty active in this community and done lots of things.

SPEAKER_01:

And we always say that uh if you hire or recruit one of us, you get both of us.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. To help. So what's Noreen doing these days?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh she's at the Lel Leland legacy and totally loves it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I'm sure she's uh she's got a great personality. I'm sure she the people there really enjoy having her there.

SPEAKER_01:

She loves it there. I think she plans on retiring and they'll just move a bed into her office.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh one thing that I mean, we're we will talk about habitat here in a minute. But one thing that I in these podcasts I've done like 99.9% of the time is ask people uh because employment is my career, is going back a few years. What what was your first job? Do you remember what that was, what your very first job was where you got a paycheck?

SPEAKER_01:

That was Boy Scout Summer Camp. Okay. As like a I was 15 years old and I got$25 a week.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Room and board, too, meals. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Which was a tent.

SPEAKER_02:

So uh and then uh well back in uh so kind of what year would that have been? 1972. 1972. So what what were some of the fundraisers that they the kids did back in those days? Uh because you know, I think now I think of popcorn and different stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, popcorn didn't start with the scouts until 1982. Okay. But excuse me. Our troupe, we sold light bulbs, and I hated it. You can remember vaguely the light, yeah, the light bulbs. It was like you'd walk up to a door, knock, hey, you want some light bulbs? But uh the popcorn thing really took off. And I was in Connecticut when it started, and I recruited uh for my popcorn chairman, somebody that worked for Sears and Roebuck, and he got their uh fleet of vehicles to deliver all the popcorn that we sold, so we didn't even have to move it, which was really nice. But and there was probably a total of four products back then. But the last time I was in involved with it, I mean there was probably 20 or 30 different products, and it was all popcorn.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and that's a big that was a big probably a big front fundraiser for each troop because they get to keep that money. Correct. Yeah. Because both of my boys were in scouts, and uh and uh the only thing I look back, and I've never put a lot of pressure on my kids to participate in certain things, but uh they were in scouts, my wife was heavily involved helping out, and both of them got right to the edge of Eagle Scout, but neither one of them finished it. And I was always like, should I have put more pressure on them to do that? You know, uh I I don't know. I mean, they just like they were in it from the youngest that you can get, and they just got to that point, and I don't know. I just think they got into high school and other things started to take priority, and they just didn't finish the Eagle Scout part.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. And it's girlfriends and sports is what stops them because they get into that. But say I'm not a sports guy, and I earned my Eagle at 16, and uh and then worked on summer camp staff for seven years and then went into the profession, so that's what I did for all those years. It's been a big part of your life. And every every council I worked in, I was a camp director.

SPEAKER_02:

So uh you transitioned what brought you into running the local habitat um do we call it a just office or a chapter, or what what do you call it?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean uh So in Boy Scouts is it's a district. In Red Cross, it's a chapter, and in Habitat it's an affiliate.

SPEAKER_02:

Affiliate, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I got hoodwinked into it by two friends. Uh they'll they'll remain nameless. But I was uh I was actually looking for something to do, and a friend said, Would you ever consider habitat? And I really didn't know a whole lot about it. But uh I I love woodworking and rehabbing houses and that sort of thing. So I I came on uh as a volunteer, and then they put me on the board. Uh, then they two three months later they made me the president, and then they told me the real reason they wanted me there was to take over uh as executive director in three months or whatever it was. Okay. So that's how I got here.

SPEAKER_02:

But yeah, I mean, you have a I mean, pretty good resume to take over. I mean, even though it was something a different organization, correct. With the skill set that you have and then the the experience in the not-for-profits with Red Cross and Scouting, I'm sure it was they were probably fortunate to to have you accept that job. And maybe there's some people might say differently. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the big thing is, you know, people here are nonprofit and or they're involved with a a nonprofit, and then they think all nonprofits are the same, and they're not. They're on the surface, maybe that looks like it, but they're all different. Um but what's key in all of them is you know, your contacts and your leadership and that sort of thing. So going into habitat, it was more about learning what habitat was and is than it was, I mean, I got a pastel of friends and whatnot that I can count on to help volunteer and that sort of thing. Um what is different is that for me is you know, it was Boy Scouts of America, it was the American Red Cross, but Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit. So there's it's a little different. Everybody thinks that Jimmy Carter was the one who invented it, and that's not true. And um it's it's just been a little different. I'm so the next level up is we have a state office in Indianapolis, and those the that staff up there helps me a lot. So and then it goes straight to well, the United States and Canada are a region, uh, and then the rest of the United States is broken up and then the world.

SPEAKER_02:

I was gonna ask you about you know the international part of it, and and if you go to I mean your affiliate has its own website, but then there's the national website. And at least here in this area, uh because I I don't think it's it's not all just building uh houses for people, but is that kind of the primary function, at least locally? Well, and even worldwide. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

It's it's uh housing.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think there's other things when someone wants to see what that is, they can they can go on the websites, but I mean primarily it's creating some of uh affordable housing for people that might not otherwise be able to afford it. I mean I will gonna go into some of the the program a little bit, have some notes, but it's it's just providing uh housing for people creative.

SPEAKER_01:

And the person you're uh providing housing for for is identified ahead of time and have to do uh sorry and have to do uh sweat equity hours. So it's so we don't build a house and give it to somebody. They're there every step of the way. Um there's there's other things that can be done, but it again it all depends on the size of your affiliate and what but so it's it's me and one other uh as staff, yes, and then a volunteer board, and then we have volunteers that are in some of the standing committees and whatnot. So obviously we can't provide what an in it uh what a big huge metro affiliate does.

SPEAKER_02:

So what comes first? The you find a piece of property, a home that you can rehab, or even I I think you've done rehabbing even in some cases when we you and I just had met met briefly, even new construction has been part of some of the homes. And but so what comes first? Getting at home and getting it up, and then somebody applying for it, or you have somebody who's met the criteria, and then you try to find the home that they can live in. Which yes, yes, and yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, all right. We tried we do an open enrollment, which uh excuse me, is coming up in January and February, and uh I'll give you our website here. Uh it our program, uh and they'll they have to apply. Uh and then we shut it down, and then Amy and I will go through everything, uh, make sure that everything we need is there, and then we turn that over to a volunteer committee.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And then they'll figure out the top uh two or three families. Uh so it depends, but you try to time the project with having the family. And it takes even after you identify the uh the family, it's it's gonna take no less than a year before they actually close on the house and move into it. Okay. Uh lately we've been rehabbing houses because it's far more cost effective. So to build a three-bedroom, one-car garage uh uh from scratch, it's it's you know, it's gonna be over$150,000, but we can buy in a rehab and replace everything in it for you know$50,000. So it makes it work out better. Uh so our people they have to apply, they have to follow all the same rules as anybody going to a bank for a mortgage. The good news is our mortgages are 20 years, 0%. And because and the big part of that is being 0%. That's how we can help a we call it a helping hand up, not a handout. Right. So uh in the three years I've been involved, we rehabbed a house up on Hunt Street, we rehabbed a house uh right next to our office on South F, and now we're up on Sheridan, uh rehabbing a house, and we doubled the size of the house. So this is our first rehab with new construction. Yeah. And and it was because the family that we have uh that's going in there is a single mom with two kids. So it happens to be a boy and a girl. So we needed three bedrooms. So, and the house was only 600 square feet, two bedroom, one bath. So we've in lot we've doubled the size of the house. We put on a 6,000 uh 600 square foot edition, which is the master bedroom and the garage and a bathroom. And that's where we're working now. That the slab's been done, the walls are up, the roof is uh up. Um, so I'm hoping very early. I don't want to say, but um I'm hoping we're we get done with it quickly. Yeah. And and again, we've already gutted the house. Uh Wolverine sent out a bunch of volunteers one day, and they gutted all the paneling off the walls, all the insulation out, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um so we could get in there and and start the next thing, rewire the whole house, re-plumb the whole house, all new furnace. The house will have central air for the first time. Um and uh that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you find um has it been it seems like if you know this community, you drive all around, there's should be it seems like there's lots of opportunities for rehab homes. But do you find it hard to get them? Because it seems like we have I gotta be careful how I say this. I know. There's a lot of people that there's there's certain people that buy some of these homes and just want to turn right around and rent them and and they're not the greatest of conditions. Right. And so um not like when you get them, what you guys do to them. But so um they're they they buy them up real quick and then they'll turn around and just try to rent them. And so do you are you competing against that kind of crowd or is it um I don't know may I'm just this is just I could be totally off base here. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

So the first the the first two houses we bought them from private individuals. This particular home up on Sheridan we got through the commissioners.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So the good news about this house is that we will we're gonna renovate that thing from top to bottom and it might basically it'll be brand new the day the family moves into it. But one of the good things for the city is it that house is now going back on the tax rolls. And we I like doing it that way um but I'm glad that on this one for me and my current set of volunteers that we're going through a new construction part of it too. Okay. So we're all learning a little bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So you've been on board a couple of years and so how many houses have you been a part of since this is the third one that I've been uh involved with. So is that kind of I mean you've only been you've been on organization for a couple of years.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that kind of normal to you know I mean house and a half a year I mean or is it well for for us that's what our average is currently uh but we're also growing with our volunteer base and even though I wasn't involved during COVID COVID hit a lot of affiliates hard with like you can't build a house when you're required to be six feet apart. Right. And that so and then they were doing Zoom meetings instead of face-to-face meetings so the whole volunteer base kind of disappeared uh so we're back rebuilding all of that um I I would say I would like to get to the point where we're doing two or three a year.

SPEAKER_02:

But what will what will make that happen is rehabbing houses because right you know you find a house with good bones well you know you're three months ahead if you were building one from two I'm sure it's finding finding a good home that has like you said good bones that you can rehab and then also kind of where you are with your volunteer base and then also I'm sure there's different partners in the community you mentioned Wolverine was one of them different people the organizations maybe that help out is there any other partners like that have kind of helped out Centerpoint Energy which was Vectron.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay uh they've helped on all three of the houses um so they'll send a team over and they can do anything you ask them to do. So one of the first things obviously is you know they'll check out the gas lines and all that and if they need to be replaced you know we replace them but all of those guys can do anything. So they came out a month ago and put all the trusses up on the new part of the house got the sheet sheathing down and the tar paper down. They did that all in like three and a half hours. Wow and it was it's it's great. Uh but for the first house they came to they they did two things they put in all new gas lines and put flooring down. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

The south second house same thing gas lines um there was something else I had them do but I can't remember exactly what it was and then this time when they came out it was uh gas lines and and the roof is there another piece of property right now that you guys have that's kind of on the list not no not currently the program just to go back just a little bit um you said there's a there's a sign up period right what do you call what did you call I I forget what you called it uh made me think of insurance open enrollment open it made me think of insurance open enrollment period and uh so people come in and then but the criteria from what I understand is maybe this is part of the open enrollment they have to provide their their ability to pay their payment and then their their particular need for housing has to be uh vetted and then their willingness to partner with habitat and that's where they have to serve so many hours whatever is that am I correct on that okay and what we follow uh you know the HUD guidelines and everything and what we what we do with the open enrollment the first thing is get a flyer and it's gonna tell you everything you need to provide if there's anything that you can't provide or whatnot you know we'll talk to you but you know and and the reason we do that is because when you get to the actual uh application one it's like 14 pages long and two that's when you have to start providing you know credit reports and uh checking accounts and all that sort of thing and uh so if they can do all that then the process is easier to you know moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

And then we turn that over like I said we turn that over to the partner family committee and and that's that's volunteer based some are involved with mortgages at a bank or real estate or whatever. So you know they know what they're looking for and based on applications who's you know going to be number one number two number three.

SPEAKER_02:

I would think that um good board members would be somebody in that's involved in banking and somebody that's into building trades and maybe someone in real estate maybe an attorney I don't know um uh but I um I would think that a good mix of those type of people would it really help a lot with your well we have had and still have people in all of those professions um we have bankers construction uh we've had an attorney serving as secretary um real estate so we've had all those and we've had when I first got involved we had a lot on in other profession uh professions but at that time that's three years ago there was actually a lot of bankers on it yeah so uh yeah but uh if people are interested they can go on our website there's a volunteer application okay on there what I like about our application is you fill out everything that you're good at and what you don't want to do and then we figure out how to plug in yeah well since you mentioned that um we'll we'll put it up but what what is the website? It's goodnewshabitat.org okay and and what you gotta remember is you gotta put the good news habitat in there because if you just google habitat for humanity you're gonna get the whole world yeah so goodnewshabitat dot org correct all right so if somebody um wants to volunteer that's where they would go um what if somebody wants to make some type of contribution how do they do that they can contact us they can give us a call our business phone number is 765 9625986 okay and currently we have a lot of people that want to donate stuff um physical stuff but we find out what it is try to find out the quality of it whatever and we've been doing a where we call it a warehouse sale the first Friday Saturday of every month which is this Friday Saturday we'll be doing the December one at our warehouse and it's home goods building materials you name it we get it um and all that money goes into whatever house we're working on. Okay and so the those things do you use any of those things or it's just stuff that you sell to use the fund we will use it if it's brand spanking new.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Um if it's okay we have to make a judgment call on it but for the most part uh if it's brand new and it for example uh a hood over a stove or something like that if it's brand new uh then we'll use the the one that was donated as opposed to going out and spending another hundred and fifty bucks on it so of course people can make cash is king so if someone wants to write a check he'll take that that's that would be that's that's good news have it that we I'll take whatever but but um cash is nice and uh construction materials now how do you avoid I'm I'm not trying not to be negative here but how do you avoid people just bringing you their trash that you have to deal with so oh I I I don't this is the easy way for me just to get rid of this crap so I'm gonna I'll just drive over to Habitat and leave it at their doorstep. I mean what are the kind of things that's helpful and what are some of the things like hey appreciate the thought but no we really don't want that.

SPEAKER_01:

Well we let no when somebody calls what we do not take is uh clothing anything material wise because of bed bugs uh we will have them take pictures of stuff and send it to us so we can decide uh if we're gonna accept it we do have the dumping problem sorta um primarily the the people who call us are the a couple in their 50s early 60s and they they have to clean out mom and dad's old house.

SPEAKER_02:

Right and so we get a lot of those calls um and uh if need be we'll go over and and visit and tell them what we'll we will and won't take yeah so it's not really there's not a setup right now where people can just bring stuff and drop off to work. So they have to contact you like for example just changed out this uh dining room light in our home the light that we took down perfectly it's it's like new but it just wasn't we wanted more light in that room correct so because you're getting older my son's well that's part of it but my son happened to um move back to town and so he didn't like his light that was over his dining so he bought a new one put it up and then the one that he had like well we like that that's better than what we have so he helped put that up and we have the other one.

SPEAKER_01:

So perfectly wonderful condition dining you know ceiling light you know I guess that's something correct that that you would take right because we can put that in the warehouse hail uh sale and you know somebody that's rehabbing their own house or whatever I mean we got more life fixers there's plenty to choose from okay uh yeah we'll we'll take that and then in a situation like that you know we'll have you can just come and make the appointment and just bring it to our office okay and then we'll get it over to our warehouse.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. But people need to bring it to you you you're not in a situation where you can come and get stuff it depends.

SPEAKER_01:

We are we can uh we can come and get it because especially for the folks that are clearing clearing out a whole house we do have a 12 foot box truck.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Do we like taking it out?

SPEAKER_02:

No not really yeah I mean you've got that uh requires a volunteer to come and not exactly know what they might be getting into you know um as far as lifting and loading up and whatever so but anyway so you will take those donations but just make sure it's something useful because that just creates kind of a more work for you all to deal with.

SPEAKER_01:

Anything else on the volunteering or donation contribution stuff well the the warehouse gig we're trying we've been doing it for a year and a half now and that was to build up a following because we'd like to get to the point where we have a full full fledged restore. Most people know what that is because you see them all over the place. So that that's part of why we're doing that. And then the other thing on the fun side that we do is we have fundraising events and we only do three the next one coming up is the gala hard hats and high heels gala it will be at the Leland uh tickets are$60 per person or you uh can buy a table for$400 and save some money get your friends together uh we we basically do the uh the corner cafe provides the meal uh we do a silent auction and a live auction all right and uh 50-50 and it you know it's kind of upscale thing then in June we do a par three golf tournament and then in October we do a Halloween thing.

SPEAKER_02:

All right yeah so this it's the third annual and we'll we'll make sure that uh we put this up but it's the third annual hard hats and high heels uh gala and it's at um Leland and it's February 21st at six o'clock and if they go to your good news habitat is is there something on there that's on talk about it right now it's on the website the initial flyer is on the website right now okay it will you can buy tech tickets on AdventBright or if you're a company and you're gonna buy a table or two you know just call us and if you want to you know use a credit card or write a check. The uh the par three uh tournament that's kind of cool because there are quite a few golf tournaments in town but that's a kind of a different kind of a spin so um just all par three so it makes kind of a shorter day and and maybe brings in more people who could participate than than normally it's a lot of fun and from who's ever putting it on yeah it is much shorter from start to finish it's only four hours.

SPEAKER_01:

For those that don't know what it is the golf course turns all 18 holes into a par three so there's no fours and fives. And that's what makes it go a lot faster. Where was last year's at we did it at Forest Hills. Okay. But what I want to do is move it around the county um and and you know a novice golfer can participate in that and you know still have fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah absolutely no that's I I like that idea.

SPEAKER_01:

So there's cash prizes for first second second and third uh place teams uh we also pick one of the holes and uh if it if you hit a hole in one it's 250 bucks uh prize if there is no hole in one winner in the course of the thing uh we have a closest to the pin uh thing you gotta buy a uh raffle tickle ticket for it and then we pick out two people at the very end when everybody's done and the closest to to the pin is a$500 cash prize. If there's no hole in one prize given that$250 gets put onto the$500 and then the closest to the pin turns into a$750 cash prize. And again it's closest to the pin so that and we pick two people so you don't have to be on the green to win if it's the closest to the pin. I mean you could be in the other fairway and win.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah well that's really cool. I I like that um the uh let's think um the warehouse which is on southeast street um so currently you don't have are there any days right now that are on the calendar that you do have sales there or not or is that it's always the first okay Friday Saturday of a month from 10 to 3 that's that's a given okay um and our next step would probably go to doing two weekends a month. Okay. But do you and Amy go there for those who you kind of work those or not?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah volunteer driven yeah Amy and I do Friday and then I and the partner family do Saturday and and we're open through the winter and there's no heat in that building.

SPEAKER_02:

So yes so Amy she's she's the other staff member correct that that works uh at Habitat and uh uh trying to think of anything else uh anything else that you want to share I've I've done a great job talking about it I don't I mean it's uh great organization and uh so what's uh what do you kind of see coming around the bin for habitat anything different or just trying to Maybe get us a little bit up the houses that we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we have to we have to start hunting for the next house. Um Amy's gearing up for the open enrollment. Uh so that that that's what's coming up in the win winter months. Um how many people might enroll?

SPEAKER_02:

Do you have a ballpark? Do you know?

SPEAKER_01:

Well last year we had thirty-three apply. Uh and by the time we went through everything, there were only three picked. Okay. But they were and actually uh number one is already in a house, number two is on this house, and then uh I forget what happened to number three.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh it takes a while, so sometimes I'm sure some of the people It's not overnight. Some of them move on to other other opportunities that may come up come around, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

And the other thing too, we get a lot of calls. We don't have any rentals, and we don't do any direct sales of homes. You gotta, you know, for a house, you gotta go through our program.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. All right. Well, really appreciate the great work that you're doing. And uh um it's uh a lot of us, you just you and Amy, so a lot of us volunteer driven, right? Yeah, so um I'm sure if you have questions uh about what it means to be a volunteer, you can call and talk to either of us to either of you about it, and just go to the the website and check things out. But uh um it's been great to learn more about Habitat and really appreciate uh your service to our community very much. Thank you. Appreciate you inviting me. Yeah, it's been great. Thank you. Thank you. All right. That's all for this episode of The Hub. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next time for another conversation with a difference maker from our region. Manpower is proud to support the hub. Find out how they can support your business at mprichmond.com.