Habitat for Humanity volunteer Jake Wolterbeek: 'A huge win for everybody'

Jake Wolterbeek took the suggestion of his neighbor in Wells that he might like working for Habitat for Humanity York County when he retired. He had closed the restaurant he had owned with his wife for years, Jake’s Seafood on Route 1 in Wells, and then downsized their home in Wells to move to Kittery where they now live.

“I started out just working here in the ReStore,” Wolterbeek said, explaining the ReStore recently moved to a new building in front of the one where he first volunteered. The Habitat for Humanity York County’s ReStore is located on Route 1 in Kennebunk, where it opened in the new space last May.

Since volunteering at the ReStore, Wolterbeek has gone on to work on two homes Habitat for Humanity York County built in Cape Porpoise, and a third which was recently finished on Normand Avenue in Sanford.

“It's a pleasure to learn and good exercise,” Wolterbeek said. “And you get to be outside. You can't beat it.”

He’s volunteered in the past for other organizations, but concentrates on Habitat now. He just had a normal homeowner’s experience of household repairs when he first volunteered to work on the home projects. He’s been trained by staff and learned from other volunteers during the course of the construction process.

He likes that it keeps him fit. “You want to get your steps in, right? I borrowed my wife's Fitbit one day. I think I worked until one o'clock. I had 16,000 steps,” he said. “One of the managers said she sometimes walks up to eight miles in a day. Why would you go to a gym when you can do something good for someone?”

He praised the flexibility of volunteering for Habitat, allowing people to work whenever they can. Volunteers don’t have to feel guilty about taking a vacation or going south for the winter.

“I enjoy it. It's a great group of people to work with,” he said. “Every single person that's here wants to be here.”

He likes that Habitat works hard to choose homeowners who are going to make the most of the opportunity.

“We give them a hand up instead of a hand out. They don't tend to fail. They keep those houses,” he said, citing the 200 to 400 hours of sweat equity homeowners are required to put into the construction of the home. “They have to have sweat equity in the house. I always thought that was pretty meaningful. They have a lot invested before they even get into the house.”

He is motivated by Habitat for Humanity’s mission and the fact that it really changes a family’s life.

“It's affordable housing in every sense of the word, right? The folks that wind up with the houses are generally incredibly deserving people,” he said. “They really are part of it. I work side by side with them, putting up insulation, painting.”

He’s inspired by the fact that the impact of building that home goes on forever, he said.

“It’s a win. It's really a huge win for everybody,” he said. “That home goes on for the rest of their life. Many Habitat homes become multi-generational. So it’s just wonderful, so wonderful.”

In between home projects, Wolterbeek is working with a crew of three others on roofing a part of the ReStore’s loading dock where people pull up to donate items, and on other repairs needed around the store.

“It's a good crew that kind of comes together for whatever they need done,” he said. “There are a few people who prefer to work on the houses ,,, but there’s a few of us who actually do both.”

His experience of downsizing his home gave him an even greater appreciation of what the ReStore does.

“They just do an amazing job of taking things, furniture or building supplies or tools, and all manner of stuff that people decide they don’t need, and giving it new life, and finding it a new home,” he said. “The ReStore is a perfect place to donate it. They do such great things and they keep stuff out of the landfill.”

He’d recommend volunteering for Habitat for Humanity to anyone.

“It’s flexible, a wonderful group of people. And a great cause,” he said.

To volunteer for Habitat for Humanity York County, visit https://www.habitatyorkcounty.org/homescommunityhope.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Volunteer Jake Wolterbeek offers high praise for Habitat for Humanity