Serving in AmeriCorps NCCC, one can only expect the unexpected when it comes to their service year.

Our first round service project was with Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity, and we found it to be a tremendous success and?a very rewarding experience for our team. Working on the build site enabled our team to gain valuable knowledge and skills that will stick with us far beyond our year of service. The skills learned throughout our 6 weeks with Habitat are directly transferable and applicable to various real-world situations.

Our workday was largely determined by a list of goals that were stated on the morning of each build day, and those tasks ranged depending on where were in construction. We learned that as a volunteer with Habitat, you could expect to hammer copious amounts of nails, cut numerous pieces of wood at very specific measurements, construct scaffolding, hull lumber to the appropriate places, and of course, joke around with our three excellent site supervisors Harry, Brac, and Mark.?The Fort Collins staff continued to provide overwhelming generosity, understanding, and patience with all of our team.

Working with Habitat was a tremendously rewarding experience. Habitat is unique because you are working alongside the eventual homeowners, thus the work our team performed was personalized and humanized in a way that allowed for us to see how our service was making a direct difference in a tangible way.

Our partnership with Fort Collins Habitat was extremely beneficial because of the people we worked with and we truly came to understand why Fort Collins is experiencing a lack of affordable housing.

Of course, we can understand why people want to stay here. Fort Collins is a great place that has something for everyone to enjoy. Our team was fortunate enough to check out the surreal beauty atop Horsetooth Mountain, as well as the rustic charm of Old Town. In addition, there are a plethora of great places to eat and shop. Colorado State University also offers numerous free lectures and events that members of our team attended. Our team found the entire experience extremely rewarding and it was a privilege to volunteer and help bring affordable housing to Fort Collins.

We are all better people because of our experience serving with Habitat and the rest of the Fort Collins community, and we extremely grateful that our team was able to spend 6 weeks in FoCo.