Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity has been committed to its MISSION of providing safe, efficient home ownership for those citizens in substandard housing on the Eastern Shore. Since its incorporation in 1988, Habitat has complete and dedicated more than twenty homes in Northamton and Accomac counties. They are now occupied by families who are working and able to make a small monthly mortgage payment, which is INTEREST-FREE.

Each family is partnered with a support person who works with them on financial management, nutrition, health and parenting issues. A system of workshops in coordination with the Virginia Extension Service helps educate the families about home maintenance and financial planning. These are given each year.

2005 Volunteer(s) of the Year: Lynne Calvert and Chris Lane

This year’s Volunteer of the Year Award goes to two women who worked side by side to coordinate one the most successful events for Habitat- the first Women Build. Both of these women were loyal volunteers alone, but put them together and you have a dynamite team. Lynne was a board member for five years, and held many positions- chair of fundraising committee, family selection committee and worked on the volunteer committee. She was also Secretary and Vice- President at different times. She worked tirelessly to accomplish Habitat’s goals and, with her husband Jack, cooked gourmet dinners that became legendary among our supporters. Chris was a board member for three years, again holding many positions- Secretary, office volunteer and chair of the Volunteer Committee. She was always available to do anything we needed in the office and on the Board. Her husband, George, was her right hand man and also worked with the construction volunteers. Working with the Volunteer Committee, trying to encourage more volunteer participation, they decided to coordinate a Women Build according to Habitat International’s examples. They put together a large committee, each responsible for a portion of the work, and put in too many hours to count, making sure everything was arranged. Over one hundred women and several men participated in this event, and in 27 hours moved our building schedule way ahead. A new house was started and two houses under construction had a lot of work done. Comments from those who were involved with the build all centered on how well this event was organized and carried out.