Today we spotlight the Secretary of our Youth United group, Jordyn Yee. Jordyn is a junior at Wilton High School and serves as Vice President of the school’s Habitat for Humanity club. Jordyn is a member of the National Honor Society, part of the Robotics Club, and is on the Varsity Swim Team. Jordyn looks forward to going to college and pursuing a career in STEM while continuing to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in college no matter what school she attends.
Jordyn got started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity during her freshman year of high school. Jordyn and a couple of friends thought it would be interesting to get involved with Habitat, but they didn’t know what they were getting into. “We had all heard of Habitat because it is so widely known. It looked like a great hands-on activity and a lot of fun to do with other people.”
Jordyn first volunteered on a bookcase building day with other friends and classmates from Wilton High School. During that day she was able to work alongside some future homeowner families. “I truly started to learn that Habitat didn’t just build houses. They are building a community of people helping each other, while helping others afford housing.”
During another bookcase building project, Jordyn got the pleasure of working with an entire future homeowner family. “It was fun because you could see how excited they were picking out the color and knowing they were building the bookcase for their house.” The next time Jordyn was volunteering, while Project Manager Anthony was showing her and other volunteers around the Granfield Avenue site, Jordyn was able to see the bookcase that she worked on in one of the homes. “It was great knowing that I helped in a small way, but knowing that I could help in some way was really fulfilling.”
Throughout her time volunteering with Habitat CFC Jordyn has participated in Youth United ReStore fundraisers, birdhouse and bookcase building, and her Wilton Habitat Club has held bake sales to raise funds for Habitat CFC.
“Bake sales do well especially if you know where to do them. We set up outside a local diner around breakfast and lunch time on a Sunday last winter. The bake sale raised over $300, and the money was donated to Habitat CFC as a part of the Youth United match program.”
When asked what her favorite experience with Habitat CFC has been, Jordyn said, “The coolest experience for me was attending Habitat on the Hill and hearing the stories of all the people that make up the larger Habitat for Humanity community. I got to hear from Homeowners about their experience while hearing from the staff from different branches of Habitat for Humanity in Connecticut. Most of the legislators that we met with had a staff person in their place, but my group got to talk directly to Senator Chris Murphy. From the energy he had talking about Habitat, you could see that Habitat for Humanity and its mission is something that interests him and something he wants to help with as our representative. It was the first time I’ve seen someone from Congress directly relate to something I’m a part of. People from Congress are such big names and you think, that’s Congress and the U.S. Government, you don’t realize that you can get to know them personally, not just as a figure.”
When asked what her message would be to someone who would like to volunteer, Jordyn said, “Habitat can seem very daunting because you are working on houses, but it’s an organization where everyone can find their place and be involved in some way. It is a great community to be a part of because you are interacting with people from all walks of life and it’s an experience that you can’t get with any other organization. I know that coming from where I am, I am very fortunate, and I don’t really see the struggles of other people. Habitat for Humanity is a way for me to broaden how I view the world.”
