My family and I relocated from Santa Clarita, CA to the Rogue Valley in beautiful Southern Oregon in 2004. We heard so much about the Quality of life the Rogue Valley had to offer, but our decision to move here had already been made as we drove down the Siskiyou Pass in to Ashland in April, awed by the green hillsides and pear blossoms in bloom. It has been a major lifestyle change for us. We had to learn that people REALLY yield to the traffic merging from freeway on-ramps; there is no such thing as a "California stop" here - people will waive you through the intersection if there is any question about who has the right of way; when you see your neighbors, you slow down and talk for a while; and the grocery store clerks will ALWAYS call you by name.

No longer trapped on Southern California roads and freeways for hours on end, we found there was TIME on our hands. After we spent several months exploring our surrounding areas at every given opportunity, the novelty of gardening wore off, school was back in session, and I started looking around for where I wanted to direct my efforts in giving back to our new community.

I was truly amazed by the number of non-profits in this area and the multitude of causes being served. Did I want to deliver meals to Seniors? Advocate for Children? Feed the Hungry? Help the Homeless? How about help seniors balance their checkbook? Work with Dogs for the Deaf? Help with Coats for Kids? Help battered and abused women & children? Work at our church's Food Pantry? Was I feeling Civic Minded, ready to join one of the many volunteer committees in the City of Medford where we live or the City of Ashland where we work? Choices...so MANY choices!

After being thoroughly OVERWHELMED by the choices available to me, I took the "easy route". I went down to a Volunteer Orientation meeting for Habitat for Humanity/Rogue Valley, a cause I thoroughly support and a mission I believe in. "Easy route" is in quotations, because the first thing I learned was when your heart and soul are thrown in to a mission/cause you believe in 150%, it is anything but EASY! But, oh...the work is so rewarding!

If you do nothing else, you should attend the House Dedication Ceremony for a Habitat Partner Family. You won't find many dry eyes in the house, and all the statistical information that so strongly supports this cause is buried underneath the HUMAN aspect of this mission, the elimination of substandard housing and the numerous positive factors resulting from this.

Like many people, I did not fully understand the details behind the Habitat program. I knew that it is a HandUP, not a hand out, and that the partner families contribute many hours of sweat equity toward the building of their home. What I did not fully understand was that:

• The homeowners pay for their homes. They receive zero interest mortgages, but they PAY for their homes.
• These homes are simple and decent, a foundation of Habitat's philosophy. They might be renovated, but in this Affiliate, they are usually stick-built.
• The bond the partner families form with the many volunteers involved in this process continue on, and they reach out to help the Habitat Partner families who follow them, attend events, and speak to the community about the affects homeownership and the Habitat Program have had on their families, and especially, on their children.
• The community pitches in with volunteer labor, material contributions and financial support, all integral pieces of the puzzle that leads to the building of a Habitat Home. The commaradery that results from these community efforts is amazing.
• Literally HUNDREDS of people are involved in the building of each home, yet this Affiliate operates with a staff of 3 full time and 2 part time employees!

I'm now serving on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity/Rogue Valley, where I've volunteered since April 2006. I started out volunteering with Habitat for Humanity/Rogue Valley in 2005, volunteering on the Family Selection Committee. This was my first venture in to volunteer work outside of volunteering in our child's school, and after a few meetings, I thought "this is no big deal...I can do this". Then, along comes Orientation Day - the day we met over 400 people interested in partnering with Habitat and becoming homeowners. I think that was the first time the NEED finally got through to me. In the Mortgage & Real Estate Industry, we all hear about the need for Affordable Housing, how hard it is for young people to start out on the road to homeownership, but these were people who not only earn between 30-60% of Hud's Median Income for Jackson County, but also live in substandard housing! And these are just the people who showed up...so many people coming from multi-generational poverty don't bother, believing changing their circumstances is hopeless.

I think the hardest thing the Family Selection Committee gets to do is whittle the pool of applicants down to the number of homes that the Affiliate is going to build. In the case of this selection process, 6 families were chosen, but the Affiliate ended up with land and funding to only build 4, so 2 families are still waiting in the wings, helping the 4 families whose homes are in progress while waiting for their turn.

I'm proud to have been a part of the team of hundreds of people who have all come together to build the 4 homes, 2 on Garfield Street in Ashland and 2 on 11th Street in West Medford, that Habitat for Humanity/Rogue Valley will dedicate in December 2007, adding 8 more adults and 17 more children to the number of people lifted from substandard housing in to the joys of homeownership. I pray that the land acquisitions we are working on come to fruition soon, so we may continue in 2008 along this path to the eliminatation of substandard housing in Jackson County.

If you wish to be a part of this amazing process, whether it is swinging a hammer, manning a paint brush, participating in Women's Build, partnering with a family or in the many other Volunteer Opportunities, call the Habitat Office in downtown Medford at 541-779-1983, go to www.RogueValleyHabitat.org or e-mail Habitat For Humanity Volunteers habitatvolunteer@charterinternet.com for more information.