Aaron Wemhoff
Habitat East Bay bids a fond farewell to long-time volunteer, Aaron Wemhoff, as he moves on to a new life in Pennsylvania. Aaron began volunteering with us in 2005 on our Freeda Court development in Livermore. Thereafter, he committed himself to volunteer as often as he could, attending a build day at least one Saturday each month. Aaron also participated in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Earth Day Build-A-Thons, and he contributed to the completion of over 30 homes! Aaron not only has a lot of experience volunteering with Habitat East Bay, he has the knowledge to back it up. “He’s like a Habitat encyclopedia,” says Steve Eales, AmeriCorps construction site assistant. “He knows the history of every development he’s worked on and the volunteers who helped build them.”
It is a weekly tradition for volunteers and construction staff to go to a local pub and relax after a hard Saturday’s work. “Aaron was the guy that got everyone together to go out after the build day,” declares Eales. “He kept our tradition alive and promoted a sense of community among the AmeriCorps, construction staff, and volunteers.” We hope to continue the tradition in his absence, but it won’t be the same.
Thank you, Aaron, for three years of service! We will miss you.
What motivates you to volunteer with Habitat?
Habitat East Bay has consistently had a great group of people to work with on the site – the staff, the AmeriCorps, the homeowners, and the volunteers. I had such a great experience from day one that I kept coming back. Plus, finishing a job well done is extremely rewarding.
How does the mission and philosophy of Habitat East Bay fit in your own life values?
I like the overall Habitat goal of providing affordable homeownership opportunities to working families, which is more important now than ever given the current housing crisis. Habitat East Bay’s green building techniques are particularly interesting to me since they jive with my line of work.
What are your plans in the future?
I am unfortunately bidding farewell to Habitat East Bay to move to the east coast, but I plan to continue Habitat work in my new hometown of Philadelphia.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’ve been working with Habitat East Bay for the last three years of my eight-year California stint, but now I’m starting a new life chapter in to the Philadelphia area. My favorite tool: magnetic nail sweeper; favorite post-workday spot: Casa Mexico in Livermore; favorite building job: framing; best Habitat advice: becoming a regular volunteer amplifies your Habitat workday fun by a hundredfold.
Describe your most memorable Habitat experience.
The weekend of the second-phase dedication in Livermore had temperatures about 117 degrees or so... That’s a bit warm. Still, we stuck it out and had a great, informal barbecue on Saturday after the workday, and the dedication the following day was perfect.
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