Changing homeowners’ lives in a neighborhood near you!
For the past four weeks, AmeriCorps NCCC “Green Two” team has been hard at work tackling home improvement projects that Habitat for Humanity had on their agenda for summer season. The team of 9 college-age AmeriCorps team members has had the opportunity not only to see the unique qualities and geography of our community, but also have a better understanding about who they’re serving and how important affordable housing is.
So far, the team has completed three projects in the Summit and Wasatch counties. One of them consisted of a major cleanup project for an elderly disabled couple, a veteran and his wife, led by team members Xan O’neil, Michael Shim and Skylar Wirth. The senior citizens have lived in their Summit County home for over 30 years; they are both restricted to wheelchairs, so managing things on their own has become a daunting task. Luckily, Habitat and AmeriCorps were able to help! Habitat and the AmeriCorps team worked on site for 3 days to help with some deferred maintenance, and even partnered with ASSIST, a non-profit architectural and design organization in Salt Lake City, to obtain plans for two new wheel chair ramps.
According to team member Eddy Acosta, their placement with Habitat has been unique compared to prior assignments because different team members have had the chance to take on leadership roles as project managers. Habitat loves being a host site for AmeriCorps NCCC, whose goal is to strengthen communities and develops leaders through direct, team-based national and community service. The AmeriCorps NCCC Green Two team will be with us for another two weeks, and we are confident that they will continue making a lasting, positive impact on Summit and Wasatch Counties! We look forward to sharing more about their accomplishments.