Chesapeake Habitat relies on volunteer labor to help build and renovate affordable homes. Our full-time construction staff oversees thousands of volunteers a year. Both skilled and unskilled volunteers work with us and undertake activities such as demolition, framing, dry wall, painting and trim.

In our 2008 building year (July 2007 - June 2008) our plan is to complete 15 homes.  We are working to increase our production to the level of 20+ homes per year.

Our development philosophy includes the following:

Renovation of vacant houses or strategic new construction.  By renovating clusters of vacant houses in existing Baltimore City communities, we can strengthen an entire neighborhood while we fulfill our core mission of providing simple, decent and affordable homes.  The same applies to strategic new construction within our communities of focus.  This in-fill strategy allows us to make the most of the strengths that already exist within a neighborhood - long-time residents, community associations, health centers, recreation programs, etc - while participating in a collaborative approach to increase stability through higher homeownership rates and decreased vacancy.  Clustering development also allows Chesapeake Habitat to operate as efficiently as possible.

Green building and energy efficiency. Whenever possible, Chesapeake Habitat strives to incorporate 'green' and energy efficient materials and techniques into our construction practices.  In addition to being good for the environment, building energy efficient homes passes long-term savings on to the eventual Habitat homeowner.  The following are incorporated on a routine basis:
      - air-sealing with focus on the ‘building envelope’
      - low-E windows
      - high-efficiency furnaces
      - reduced waste / strategic re-use of materials (a direct byproduct of rehab)
      - salvage of re-useable items for future use by Habitat and/or for eventual resale at our ReStore
      - compact fluorescent bulbs and fixtures
      - Energy Star appliances

To learn more about general construction volunteering, click here.

If you have specific construction expertise and would like to help, please contact Miriam Hardes at 410-366-1250 or miriam@chesapeakehfh.org and she can discuss available opportunities with you.