Volunteer

We have many wonderful opportunities for you to get involved in, but here are a few popular ones:

Construction volunteer opportunities consist of working to help build or preserve homes in Tucson and surrounding areas. Currently, we are set to build within Tucson for the next year or two. No construction experience is expected or required, just a willingness to work hard and to learn! Opportunities Available: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, &  Saturdays, typically from 6:30am-12:30pm (we move with the sun) .

CHUCK Center The CHUCK Center (Workforce Development) ⋆ Habitat for Humanity Tucson (habitattucson.org) volunteers help staff with modular wall construction, producing exterior load bearing walls and zip system sheathing for our homes. The CHUCK also searves as our warehouse, and learning center for construction trades.  

The HabiStore sells donated and new building materials, furniture, and appliances at discounted prices to the public and all profits go directly towards Habitat Tucson programs. Typical volunteer activities include welcoming and assisting customers, reorganization, merchandising (i.e. restocking, product consolidation), and moving items onto the floor. Some heavy lifting may be necessary but will not be asked to lift more than they are able to. 

Our Administrative opportunities consist of volunteers manning our front desk, entering data, stuffing envelopes, organizing for volunteers, or making phone calls. Occasionally, we call on the help of professionals to assist in our Homeowner Services and Marketing departments. 

College, High School & Youth aged volunteers can assist us with our mission in various ways. We have a University of Arizona Campus Chapter with a great group of volunteers who build with us, fundraise, advocate for systemic change and educate their fellow students on campus about the affordable housing crisis. We offer opportunities for youth ages 5 and up to become involved in strengthening our neighborhoods and communities! Click here for more info.

Click here to see more opportunities  

We accept volunteers with all skill levels and backgrounds! While we welcome skilled volunteers, on and off the worksite, we want to encourage those in the building trades to join us on site; the majority of our volunteers have few construction skills. Numerous volunteers remain with us on a long-term basis and volunteer regularly in order to build skills. We will train you in all aspects of construction (or other areas) with the hope that you will continue to volunteer, and even perhaps share your skills with unskilled volunteers in the future.

Team builds and corporate build days are a ton of fun and a great way to work outside of an office and get to know your team! We definitely encourage you to give it a try! Those interested in a group volunteer day should email ginah@habiattucson.org directly or click here to fill out a quick form.  

We can take groups from 5-100 members depending on what stage we are in the home building process or what event we have going on. Our volunteer resource staff will work with you on all the details. To ensure a quality experience for our volunteers we will assign no more than 10-15 volunteers to a specific house. Groups with more than 20 members should anticipate working on multiple houses and/or sites. We will do our best to keep your group as close as possible. 

Please also see our Group Build Guide for a little more information on we run our group builds CLICK HERE  

Yes, we accept volunteers who need to complete community service hours for school or for court ordered restitution. Please click here to learn more.

Many of our opportunities are on a set schedule and some are needed. Please email volunteer resources at volunteer@habitattucson.org for specifics.

Construction

We build year-round (minus holidays), Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday, from 6:30am-12:30am (we move with the sun so hours may vary slightly).

HabiStore

Location: 935 W Grant rd. 85705

Monday-Sunday Morning Shift: 9:00am – 1:00pm; 11:00am-2:00pm; 12:30pm-4:30pm

We are all a team and count on each other to show up on time as well as stay for the entire shift so we can make sure we are all being productive and focusing on our mission. We know things come up or appointments arise, but we do ask for that communication ahead of time if possible. Our construction shifts are typically 5-6 hours with a break in between. Construction site and CHUCK Center, provide circle up and training during the first part of the shift, and it makes it a lot easier on staff if everyone is there for initial greeting, safety brief and training so we can make sure everyone is accounted for and ready to go.

The HabiStore offers three short 4-hour shifts each day and we do ask that volunteers be on time and try to remain for their entire shift.

We have a professional construction crew and knowledgeable volunteer construction crew leads who make sure all build site volunteers have a safe, productive, and fun day. Each site has a construction lead who works alongside the volunteers and provides training and general supervision. The members of the construction staff are highly skilled carpenters who are used to working with skilled and unskilled volunteers.

The HabiStore has staff members who supervise volunteers. Please check in with a store manager when you arrive for your shift and s/he will review the tasks for the day. We want your HabiStore experience to be safe, productive, and fun so please make the staff members are aware of any skills or limitations when you first begin.

We have various opportunities for ages 5 and up!

Construction

Volunteers 16 years and older may register themselves and sign up for a volunteer shift online. 16 and 17-year-olds must also have a waiver of liability signed by a parent or guardian. They may work on a construction site by may not use power tools or ladders. For safety reasons, youth under the age of 16 are not allowed to volunteer on an active construction site.

Neighborhood Revitalization & Brush with Kindness Projects

Volunteers 14-15 years old may volunteer for these projects with a parent or guardian and have a waiver of liability signed by a parent or guardian.

HabiStore

Volunteers 18 years and older may register themselves and sign up for a volunteer shift online. 16 and 17-year-olds must provide a waiver of liability signed by a parent or guardian. They may work in the HabiStore but may not use power tools or ladders. Volunteers 14 and 15 are welcome to volunteer at the Habitat ReStore with a parent/ guardian present.

Youth Groups

For groups with youth under the age of 18, we require at 5:1 ratio of youth to adults

Please check out our youth volunteer page for those 5 and up!

Volunteers should be reasonably physically fit and prepared to do the work that is planned for the day. Some tasks are more physically demanding than others. It is important that all volunteers communicate to the construction supervisor any concerns they may have about particular tasks, such as climbing ladders or working with power tools.

Acceptable attire includes close toed shoes (no open toed/back shoes) , T-shirt, jeans or shorts. Please make sure you wear clothing you do not mind getting dirty or soiled and make sure to dress for the weather. No offensive or political shirts and shorts must be at least mid-thigh or longer.

Habitat Tucson provides all the tools you will need, including hard hats! We also provide small snacks and plenty of water!

However, we know many volunteers like to bring their own tool belts, tools or other items and we welcome that. We suggest writing your name on your belongings just in case it becomes misplaced.

Volunteers are also welcome to bring their own lunch, snacks or drinks.

Currently, we are not providing in-person orientations, but we do require interested volunteers to watch a quick self-paced online orientation and take a small quiz before beginning to sign up for any opportunities with Habitat Tucson. Learn more about orientation.

We also require volunteers to sign up in our volunteer database, CERVIS, as this is how you will sign up for shifts, keep track of volunteer hours, track rewards and more. ALL volunteers must be in our database before volunteering anywhere.

Time commitment can vary depending on the opportunity. Habitat is always looking for volunteers to volunteer on a regular basis with us, but we also understand that some cannot make a long-time commitment for various reasons or may be interested in one-time opportunities. We suggest you reach out to the volunteer resources department volunteer@habitattucson.org to determine the best opportunity for you or check out our website further for more info on volunteer opportunities.

You must first be approved and accepted into the home ownership program in order to accrue sweat equity hours. If you join Habitat Tucson as a volunteer before applying and being accepted into the program, the hours will not count towards your sweat equity. If you are interested in owning a home through Habitat Tucson please check out more information here.