For volunteers ages 16 and 17 years old, a parent or guardian needs to complete a Houston Habitat Minor Release and Waiver Form to enable youth ages 16 and 17 to volunteer and email it to volunteer1@houstonhabitat.org. Volunteers ages 16 and 17 ARE NOT allowed to use power tools, use ladders, or perform roof work. Note that other restrictions may be imposed on site.
Garden volunteer opportunities are 14 years old and up, and their parents must fill out a form as well.
No! Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome. You will be guided by a Houston Habitat Staff (wearing bright yellow shirts) and Core Volunteers (wearing orange shirts) will be present to supervise and help you.
Rain or shine, you will volunteer! However, if weather conditions are so bad that require cancellation, then you will receive an email and text notification by 6 AM the morning of your volunteer event.
If we need to cancel the event due to severe weather or rain, registered volunteers will receive an email the day before as well as any group leads. If you are not registered in the portal you will not receive the cancellation email or text.
You may call 713-671-9993, option 3, to hear the status of your event that day.
For Home Builds:
Arrive between 7:30 AM – 7:45 AM
Work begins on time at 8:00 AM
Lunch 11AM
End time is at 2PM
Summer Build hours (Mid-May through June)
Arrive by 6:30 AM-7:00 AM
Work begins at 7:00 AM (Total of 5hrs)
Mandatory breaks every hour
Ends at 12:00 PM (No Lunch)
For ReStore Volunteers:
We have two shifts: 9:00 AM- 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM- 4:30 PM
For Community Garden Volunteers:
Generally- 8:00 AM- 12:00 PM.
Summer hours- 7AM-11AM
For Home Builds:
Do wear: long pants, sneakers, work shoes or work boots, comfortable clothes that can get dirty, shorts that are mid-thigh length.
DO NOT wear: any open toe shoe, heels, jewelry, and no shoes from this brand: Crocs, Keds, Vans or other smooth bottom shoes. These can be slippery and cause you to fall. No shirts or clothing with obscene or controversial messages, or that are too tight or revealing.
For ReStore:
Do wear: comfortable clothing that is not baggy. Jeans and yoga pants. In the summer, shorts mid-thigh length are acceptable. Hats and caps.
DO NOT wear: any open toe shoes, heels, and no clothing with obscene or controversial messages, nor clothing that is too revealing.
For Community Garden:
Do wear: pants that you can get dirty, sneakers or closed toe shoes, hat, sunglasses, sunblock.
DO NOT wear: any open toe shoes, heels, and no clothing with obscene or controversial messages, nor clothing that is too tight or revealing.
For Home Builds, you will get safety gear, a hard hat and protective glasses, and gloves (you may bring your own gloves as sizes vary). You will also get all power tools needed and you can bring your own tools if you’d like.
For Home Builds:
Lunch break is at 11:00 AM-11:30 AM
We do not provide food, but do provide water coolers with ice, so you can bring your favorite water bottle on-site. Paper cups will be available to you.
Volunteers are responsible for their own lunches, and there isn’t a microwave or any refrigerator onsite.
If you are a group or sponsored build, please check with your group coordinator to check if your lunch is being provided.
For ReStore Volunteers:
Lunch break is at 12:30 PM for individual volunteers. If you are a group, your shift is 4hrs long and there is no lunch break. You can take a snack break if needed.
We do not provide food, please bring your lunch!
We have a kitchen space for you to use with a microwave and refrigerator. We have a filtered water cooler and bottles of water.
Make sure you are using a compatible browser. Our software works best with an up-to-date version of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox.
If you are volunteering with us for the first time, you need to create an account first. Please go here: Houston Habitat Volunteer Portal and then sign-up for your home build or volunteering event.
Tip: Consider using your email address as your username when you sign-up so you don’t forget your username!
Online registration ensures that each volunteer has agreed to waive claims for liability, allows us to track the number of hours volunteers contribute and allows us to keep volunteer information organized and secure.
Everyone, including minors, must to sign up online.
Houston Habitat is currently NOT ACCEPTING Court Ordered Volunteers (COVs) at this time.
Therefore, we will not be able to sign any paperwork from the courts. However, we can provide a signed memo with your total volunteer hours or hours in a time period, and your volunteer activity description. Most local courts accept our memo, but please check with your court first if they accept our memo before starting to volunteer.
If you need a record of your hours, then please email us at: volunteer1@houstonhabitat.org with your name and the date range you would like the record to show. If you need additional information on the memo, please let us know.
Volunteering at one of our ReStores is the best place to complete this type of hours. There are two shifts: 9:00 AM- 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM- 4:30 PM, Monday- Saturday, with a lunch break at 12:30 PM- 1:00 PM.
