Habitat For Humanity Greater San Francisco

I volunteered for the first time with Habitat for Humanity this past weekend and I have to say– it was both a rewarding and educating experience. That’s an incredibly cliché thing to say and I usually roll my eyes when people tell me something was «rewarding and educating», but it definitely applies here.
First off, a quick plug for Habitat for Humanity. They asked me to talk about them on Facebook, but Unilocal users are just so much more active than Facebook users, am i right am i right ;)? It’s a group that puts together homes for low income families while teaching those involved the skills needed to build homes. Check out their website here —
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Habitat is involved with some homes near the 280 in Daly City that I had the pleasure of helping out with. After a quick speech that went through safety and logistics, we were divided into groups to help put together this group of homes. My friends and I were put on the roof and learned all about shingling. Taking a hammer and nailing shingles into what will someday be somebody’s home is a very rewarding feeling and I feel both stronger, kinder, and smarter because of it. Later that afternoon we worked on removing part of the scaffolding and moving it to other parts of the neighborhood. A bit more muscle-​work, but still learned some good stuff.
It’s always good to volunteer with your local community once in awhile. If you have the time and curiosity, I definitely recommend you check out Habitat for Humanity. It’s actually a pretty popular volunteer destination, so you might have to register well in advance. Worth it though!

I volunteered at Habitat for Humanity Greater SF Area’s Menlo Park site yesterday, and I had a great time. The site on Carlton Ave. is in a nice neighborhood, and the house was being remodeled, so I didn’t have to do any backbreaking labor. The foreman (or forewoman in this case) Sarah briefed the volunteers on proper safety protocol at the work site. Most of it was common sense anyway; «Lift with your legs, not your back» and how to use a ladder. I did grating and landscaping. All I had to do was clear some debris in the front yard, dig some gopher holes, and plant pansies and primroses. The work was easy enough that I had an active conversation with the other volunteers. There was a long break for lunch, but I couldn’t wait to get back to work! After 5 hours of volunteering, I had to go to my day job, but I felt a profound sense of accomplishment. I guess you can call this «Good Karma» because I found the volunteer opportunity via Unilocal.I think I’ll volunteer for Habitat again. All you have to do is sign a «safety waiver» form at the beginning, and then you get free reign over your assigned task. I hope the family moving in enjoys their house.

Thanks for waiting three days before the event to tell our group of 20 volunteers that we are no longer wanted. Thanks for not providing a reason. Course we later find out it’s because of something you probably knew weeks ago but just decided to wait until the last minute to inform us. Real professional. Horribly organized.

I volunteered at 7555 Mission St in Daly City where they are building 36 condos.
I was really looking forward to this, both from the point of view of volunteering to do something useful and for learning at least one skill.
The good part:
The people running it were really nice.
They taught us about what Habitat for Humanity does IE. give people who can’t afford a down payment a way to put in sweat equity (500) hours) instead and get a mortgage with no interest amounting to no more than ¹⁄₃ of their monthly pay.
We also got basic safety training.
The bad part (and this may only apply to Saturdays– which is when I was able to volunteer) is that they are amazingly disorganized. There weren’t enough supervisors to lead us. I spent the morning doing very little and left around noon because, frankly, it was a waste of my time. If I’m going to spend a Saturday volunteering I want to feel I actually did something not just stand around.
It’s a shame because I am semi-​retired and am actually looking for something to volunteer with on a regular basis but, based on my experience, this will not be it.

It was a sunny winter morning. I was late for my volunteering activity at the Habitat for Humanity. I walked out of the Colma BART station, scurried through a small alley towards the main road and found myself standing in front of an imposing structure, clearly under construction.
As I entered the building, I came across a portly gentleman of whom I enquired «Salesforce?». He nodded while sipping his cola, and pointed me to the toolshed/​kitchen. After slipping on a hard hat, gloves and a fly pair of safety goggles, I strapped a toolbelt around my waist and turned around to swagger out like a cowboy from an old western, only to find my way obstructed by a young lady wearing a red hard hat with the word DAWN labeled on it.
«Have you volunteered here before?»
«No»
“Did you fill out the waiver form?”
«Negative»
“Safety training?”
«What? I’m a big boy»
She wouldn’t have any of it. After completing the aforementioned formalities, I was assigned to a team working on the ceiling insulation.
«Here Michelangelo» she said, handing me the staple gun, «better get crackin’ on that Sistine Chapel.»
The work was a ton of fun, the people were really friendly and helpful. Though, sedentary workers like myself, who spend most of their days ensconced on a comfortable swiveling chair, may discover soreness in places that they didn’t know had muscles. For those working on the ceiling insulation, I would recommend not bothering with the bottle of shampoo for the next day or two.
Highly recommended, would definitely do it again!

I started my very first habitat project in Menlo Park today. It was a great experience, and I look forward to returning. The site manager was very friendly and helpful, as were all the people that I worked with. Everyone works really hard, but you are also expected to have fun and to work at a safe pace. I can see learning a lot doing this kind of work, which of course will benefit others but also provide me with new skills and knowledge to put toward my own home projects. I highly recommend doing this!

I’ve been on 3 different projects, 2 in Menlo Park (read East Palo Alto) and 1 in Daly City, the condo development. It’s been a lot of fun.
I like that they do the safety talk at the start of each day. Also they have safety equipment such as helmets, ear plugs, knee pads. The knee pads are «well used» but are good enough to do the trick.
Really nice folks at every site. I’m one to ask a lot of questions, and everyone has been really patient in answering. It’s a good volunteer environment.
The work itself can be hard work! But it’s satisfying, and I was able to take the breaks I needed.
It’s also fascinating to learn about home construction. I’ve put down a subfloor, removed old laminate and hardwood flooring, and put down pergo. Plus done some random demolition. I’ve also seen inside of lots of walls, and have a better sense of how homes were constructed in the 50’s. yikes.
BTW I learned something important about Habitat. They don’t give away houses – they sell them to families at a % of family income over time (30 years?). Then if the family wants to sell, they sell BACK to Habitat, and then they can use their built-​up equity to buy something else. The neat thing is that the Habitat system is focused on affordability and smooths out bubbles by basing on salary. (US gov’t, are you listening?) Also families that buy from Habitat have to do 500 hours of volunteer work.
It’s good stuff.

To put it simply… you will get your ass served to you and you will thank them for it. Volunteered for Habitat for Humanity at their Daly City location. Spent the whole day mudding and taping. I am now at home dead tired barely able to raise the pizza slice to my mouth.
The people volunteering are all wonderful. The people leading us were fantastic and informative. I would totally do it again… just probably like in a month or two because I have never been so tired in my life.
I’m not a volunteer type at all. I did this simply to learn more about how to fix a house. And good god I learned a lot. And it was all free. I didn’t need to take a night class how to cut sheetrock, they taught me how today. It’s just a triple bonus that you’re also helping people who desperately need a decent home in the Bay Area.

My company has worked on three different builds in SF within the past three years and everyone has nothing but great things to say about them.
What really surprises our volunteers is how they can make a small tract of land worthy for one house let alone what they turn into three so spacious. Take the time to be a part of one of their builds to understand the impact they make to the community and those who get to own those homes.

I’m a volunteer, not a carpenter!

Alright, so I know I’m biased because I’ve been working for HHSF for almost three years, but Habitat for Humanity San Francisco is a wonderful organization that has been doing amazing work in SF for over 15 years.
HHSF partners with working families and engages the community to build homeownership. So far, we’ve built 31 homes in San Francisco and moved more than 150 people into new homes. If you’re interested in volunteering or donating, please visit our website at
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The altruistic Bucky K reminded me that I should really write a review for these guys and show a little love.
I love working with this organization. They fill up quick though, so this isn’t something you can think of on a Wednesday and hope to help that weekend. I’m usually planning a couple months in advance.
I’ve worked on sites in SF twice now, and will work on a site in SSF on Friday.
And yeah, that’s right, in case you haven’t heard me say it before — that building at 6^th & Mission right next to the «escaping furniture» building? The one with the blue siding? Not only did I sweep the hell out of two entire floors, but I also put up a few floors worth of that blue siding! Heck yeah!
On my other SF site (on the Daly City border) I put together a group of coworkers and we all headed over one Friday to help out. Most of us worked on the foundation (three of us girls had a blast trying to bend giant rebar rods into the correct shapes while others «whirligigged» them into place). We ordered pizza to the site for lunch and had a blast. It’s really a great team building activitiy if anyone is ever looking for one! The folks at HforH were great to work with, very friendly and helpful.
It’s somewhat selfish that I enjoy working with them so much — I really like construction type projects, and I typically get to learn new things on site. The best is if you ever get a chance to work alongside the home owners (they need to put in 200 – 500 hours of work on their own home). Talk about fulfilling, knowing that these are the people that will benefit directly from all your sweat efforts.

I just did a work-​sponsored volunteer day for Habitat yesterday. Anyone who was expecting some lightweight day off was seriously in for a rude awakening. Awesome site-​leader Erin had us crawling all over the place. I hauled a crap-​load of wood, learned to cut and bend steel (I am the bionic woman!), and got to pour concrete – all for a good cause.
Habitat is an excellent way to clear your mind for a day, give back, and build some non-​Microsoft Office related skills.
Also, be prepared for a mind-​bending day of soreness the day after (roughly equivalent to first-​time snowboarding soreness, with a few less bruises). Typing this review just maxed out MY planned activity for the day.

The company I work for volunteered yesterday with Habitat and they were awesome! Well organized & helpful all while keeping a great attitude. We helped them at a home site near the Daly City Bart station.
A special thanks goes to the Habitat leaders– Erin, Adam and Vanessa! You guys do great work!
If you are thinking about volunteering, go to their website and check out their calendars. Their days tend fill up quickly and early with groups looking to volunteer.

I haven’t actually built anything with them yet, but I am going to. Did you know that they’ve been building affordable housing in SF for 10 years? They just opened an apartment building at 6^th St & Mission. I’m glad they’re doing something to keep SF livable for families. I’m excited to learn how to build things.