Americorps Members Visit Habitat in Pagosa Springs

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Habitat for Humanity of Archuleta County will host our first ever AmeriCorps team this summer.

Habitat Archuleta staff applied for an AmeriCorps’s National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team last fall, in hopes of landing some extra hands for our projects this summer. These AmeriCorps NCCC members will work alongside our usual crew of core jobsite volunteers, our partner families, and a few high school interns from the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation’s (PSCDC) RUN program, “Reskill, Upskill, New Skill.”

AmeriCorps NCCC places an emphasis on service learning, in which their members are able to see the impact of their volunteer hours firsthand.

The NCCC, pronounced “N triple C,” is one program under the AmeriCorps umbrella. NCCC teams are typically groups of eight to 12 that work on a project site for six to 12 weeks. Seven of these teams of young adults, all part of the NCCC’s Summer of Service Program, are currently training at the AmeriCorps campus in Aurora, Colorado before disbursing to projects throughout the western United States. Archuleta County is the only Summer of Service location in Colorado this year.

AmeriCorps NCCC is traditionally a full-time, 10-month program in which members serve at least 1,700 hours. Summer of Service is an abbreviated version of traditional AmeriCorps NCCC, allowing college students and others without 10 months available to serve, to spend their summer traveling somewhere new and making a difference in that community—and the timeline fits our build season perfectly.

Habitat Archuleta will work with eight AmeriCorps NCCC members 5 days a week throughout July, plus a week on either side in June and August. The members will work on our job site four days a week, and spend Mondays on a construction project at Restoration Fellowship. And four days per week, a few members will also lend a hand at the new Community Food Pantry of Pagosa Springs, located at 2800 Cornerstone Drive Unit A1 where Sears used to be.

Katherine Solbert and the group of volunteers who manage the food pantry recently outgrew their space at Restoration Fellowship and joined forces with even more community members as they moved to the new location this spring. The food pantry is open Mondays 11-1, Wednesdays 4-6, Thursdays 11-1, and Fridays 10-12. Historically this group has served about 750 families per month or 2600 individuals. Solbert expects that number to continue to rise in this new space.

Winning this AmeriCorps team was a community effort. Restoration Fellowship is providing lodging for the NCCC members throughout their 6-week stay in Pagosa Springs. Pagosa Lakes Property Owner’s Association (PLPOA) has generously donated the use of shower facilities at the recreation center, just a short distance away from our three build sites in the PLPOA this summer.

To learn more about AmeriCorps NCCC program you can hear from Habitat Archuleta staff and the NCCC team leader, Madison Van Duzer, on KWUF radio at 106.1 FM or 1400 AM with Executive Director, Mary Jo Coulehan during the Chamber of Commerce’s “Good Morning Pagosa” show on July 12 at 8:05 a.m.

With the grant support Habitat Archuleta received from Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board, we will provide several meals for the NCCC team during their stay. The AmeriCorps members coming to Pagosa Springs are from all over the country and are excited to lend a hand in our community.

During a site visit in May Assistant Program Director, Catherine Trumpis, indicated that the collaboration between several organizations bumped our application to the top of the pile. Habitat Archuleta is grateful to partner with Restoration Fellowship, PLPOA, PSCDC, the local tourism board, and food bank for their help getting this AmeriCorps NCCC team to our community.

We cannot thank our community enough on behalf of our homeowners, the businesses who employ them, and the children who rely upon them. Habitat Archuleta projects are a combination of volunteer labor, subcontractors, in-kind donation of products and services, and homeowner sweat equity. Habitat families work alongside volunteers to build their home and pay an affordable mortgage.

Watch our Thank You Advertisements to find out who in your community is supporting affordable home ownership! Starting June 20, we’ll be on the job site Tuesday through Saturday, 8 AM to 2:30 PM. Please call (970) 264-6960 or email office@HabitatArchuleta.org before you come to volunteer so we can plan for how many hands will be on deck.

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