Newburgh - It just took a few moments, and Deirdre Glenn was hooked.
The magnetic attraction was with the Greater Newburgh Habitat for Humanity organization. The spark was lit about eleven years ago, and has been catching fire ever since. It was 1999 and Glenn had just returned to her native City of Newburgh after living in Ireland for a few years. Almost immediately upon reentering her large, old Victorian house in Washington Heights, overlooking the Hudson River, she couldn’t ignore something occurring nearby.
"Habitat was just starting up, working on some abandoned property right near me," recalled Glenn. "My neighborhood was very run down, and to see so many volunteers right here, working so hard on a Saturday morning where nothing else was being done was just so positive; I couldn’t help but get hooked."
It wasn’t long before Glenn was donning a tool kit, hammering nails, tearing up roofing, and helping make homes a reality for several needy families in the City of Newburgh. Her efforts weren’t limited to the house-building either; she could be spotted joining in on Habitat’s many fundraisers, including its popular Annual Walk. After about eighteen months, her role with Habitat evolved into that of Executive Director, a position she has held for the last ten years. It’s a job she will be retiring from on October 31, 2010.
"This is a good time for me to step down; I feel very positive about this organization’s future, which has undergone and has great opportunities for growth" said Glenn, whose November vacancy has already elicited 90 applicant responses, one from as far away as Vancouver.
It’s a future that has been made possible by Glenn’s relentless dedication. As Executive Director she manages the entire Greater Newburgh Habitat, which has a staff of eight, along with two AmeriCorp VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America.) Additionally, she is responsible for strategic planning, involving both finance and fundraising, two ventures that can be particularly challenging in these hard economic times. The list of her accomplishments is long. A total of 40 homes have been erected under her tenure. Most families involved in the program have been extremely successful. And perhaps most noteworthy, the organization itself has grown.
"We wanted to develop a highly professional place that provides opportunity for home ownership for low income, local families, while putting property back on the tax rolls," explained Glenn. "We have done that by increasing the assessed values by $8.3 million dollars in the 10 years I have been here."
Glenn further points to the adjustments that have been made to Habitat’s 125 Washington Street headquarters. Freshly painted walls, lofty ceilings and other updated adjustments make the historic spot feel like a true home to both Glenn and her co-workers - people she is quick to refer to as her "family."
That feeling of kinship extends to the owners of the homes Glenn, her staff, and thousands of "amazing" site volunteers (ages 16-70+) have worked with over the last decade. A smile crosses her face as she talks of her very first homeowner. A hardworking, single father of two children at the start of his Habitat journey, he has since adopted a third child while climbing the corporate ladder. Another homeowner went to college at the same time her three children did; her oldest currently holds a PhD in education from Columbia. Then there is the letter she got from the eight-year-old girl, who spoke of how she never felt safe until she moved into her new Habitat home. That girl is now in junior high school thriving academically, emotionally and socially. The youth also included how she hopes to help out Habitat herself some day.
"There is just something so special about a Habitat home; they have that hands-on touch, along with the caring and commitment that we are not going to fail no matter what," said Glenn. "Volunteering allows you to make friends and contacts you wouldn’t otherwise as well as increase your perception of what you can do; I get to be a part of all that."
Added Glenn, "You just can’t get the things you get from this job, such as the teamwork and satisfaction, from too many other jobs out there."
