Building Committee
The Building Committee plans and implements the construction projects for Habitat. The committee is responsible for obtaining house plans and associated building permits and inspections, soliciting professional help and donations of building materials, coordinating volunteers and safety meetings, and supervising construction.
Committee members should be design and construction professionals, but people without building skills are more than welcome to join the committee as a liaison to other committees. Members should possess the following skills:
- Have a working knowledge of building materials and the practices and codes involved with creating a home.
- Can successfully organize labor and manage volunteers.
- Works well in a team environment and possess excellent leadership skills.
Church Relations Committee
The Church Relations Committee establishes and maintains relationships with local churches. The committee works with churches to gain volunteers, prayer, and financial support.
Development Committee
This committee is responsible for coordinating fundraising events and activities to help finance the organization. Activities include, but are not limited to, fundraising campaigns, grant proposal writing, special events, and building relationships with potential major donors. When representing Habitat for Humanity of Portage County the committee should emphasize and promote the importance of Christian stewardship.
Individuals with the following skills make a great addition to the Development Committee, but these skills are not required:
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, the ability to create personal relationships, and represent the organization effectively and professionally.
- Knowledge of fundraising techniques.
- Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of people and work collaboratively with other committee members in a team environment.
Family Selection Committee
The Family Selection Committee is responsible for drafting the selection criteria and application forms for potential Habitat homeowners, or Partner Families. The committee also screens applications, interviews applicants, and recommends applicants to the Board of Directors for approval. The committee holds monthly orientations to discuss the Habitat homeownership process with applicants.
Family Support Committee
The Family Support Committee provides a support system, educational opportunities, and an environment for discussing Habitat homeownership policies, and procedures. Each partner family is assigned a support person from the committee who serves as their primary liaison and is responsible for guiding Partner Families throughout the partnership process, beginning from the time the Board of Directors accepts them into the program, through the building process and for one year following homeownership. The Family Support Committee will continue to act as liaison for the homeowner thereafter as required.
Family Support is always searching for mature, committed individuals looking for opportunities to help qualifying partner families to achieve their Habitat housing goals. In addition to accepting the Habitat philosophy and learning its policies, potential committee members must have good social skills and understand the difference between “enabling and empowering” as well as the difference between “doing for and doing with”.
Finance Committee
The finance committee provides financial satiability for the affiliate. The Committee handles accounting and finances for the corporation, prepares annual revenue and expense budget, works closely with the Development Committee to coordinate development of resources to meet the revenue goals of the budget.
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee works closely with the Board of Directors to identify the affiliate’s needs for individuals to serve as officers, directors and committee members. The committee searches for, interviews, recommends and nominates candidates the Board of Directors for approval. The committee is also responsible for maintaining and communicating records of officer and director term schedules and eligibility.
Public Relations Committee
The Public Relations Committee is responsible for all marketing and public relations efforts of the affiliate. Theses activities educated the community about the need for simple, decent housing, volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and other activities. The committee is responsible for many activities including press releases, the Building Blocks quarterly newsletter, marketing materials and advertisements, and photography.
Property Services Committee
The Property Services Committee is responsible for the maintenance and safety for all physical assets, buildings, grounds, vehicle purchases and maintenance, and building service (including telephone systems, copiers, computers, and utilities). The committee also creates inspection forms to be used in evaluating the condition of areas of responsibility. Inspections are conducted semi-annually.
Site Selection Committee
The Site Selection Committee is responsible for targeting areas of Portage County in which the affiliate will be build or renovate houses. These sites are researched and investigated by the committee and then recommended to the board of directors for acquisition. The committee works closely with the Building Committee to evaluate the suitability of potential sites prior to acquisition.
