{"id":33747,"date":"2024-12-03T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:48:34","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T00:48:34","slug":"family-faith-and-habitat-one-volunteers-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/family-faith-and-habitat-one-volunteers-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Family, faith and Habitat: One volunteer\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jon Gice moved fairly often throughout his career in the insurance industry. And his retirement in 2016 brought one more relocation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy daughter, my son-in-law, and two grandkids live here (in Portland). So, it was a magnet to move from Connecticut to Oregon,\u201d Jon said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jon and his wife happily helped take care of their grandchildren. But as the kids grew older and more independent, Jon found himself with more free time. About four years ago, he decided to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Portland Region.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-king-city.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33787\" style=\"width:419px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-king-city.jpg 480w, https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-king-city-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jon (2nd from L) with regular volunteers at King City<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur church was connected to the Denney Gardens project,\u201d Jon said, referring to Habitat\u2019s community in Beaverton. \u201cSo, it was sort of natural to get started there.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His first experience at the build site was hand-digging trenches for sewer lines. And he returned on several occasions, helping to caulk one of the last units.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He currently volunteers at King City Commons, near Tigard. Jon has witnessed the construction changes since COVID, and describes development now as \u201crapid fire.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo have the trades in this process, to get these places built more quickly, is such a gift,\u201d he said. \u201cMore families are getting in their homes more quickly.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jon volunteers once a week with Habitat. He says he loves continuously learning and getting to share knowledge with new volunteers. Jon alternates construction with <a href=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/volunteer\/businesses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Playhouse Experience<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/programs\/home-repair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Home Repair<\/a>. Don\u2019t ask him to choose a favorite! He enjoys each piece of the puzzle, as he puts it. \u201cPlayhouse is wonderful because it\u2019s for the kiddos. And Home Repair is keeping people in their home.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-Kenya.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33788\" style=\"width:263px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-Kenya.jpg 480w, https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jon-Gice-Kenya-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jon helped build homes in Kenya (2019)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Jon feels his faith helped him find Habitat. He previously did mission work, traveling to areas in Mississippi and New York to repair storm damage. And with the Lake Oswego United Methodist Church, he\u2019s helped build homes in Kenya, Ghana, and Saipan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now he\u2019s eager to bring members of his church to volunteer at <a href=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/homes\/west-lake-grove\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">West Lake Grove,<\/a> located just few miles down the road. Foundation work is set to begin soon on these 23 family-sized units.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neighbors helping neighbors and putting God\u2019s love into action is a dream come true for Jon. He hopes engaging with Habitat becomes a permanent part of the church mission. \u201cWe support a lot of things in the community,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is right up there as far as what I think is a meaningful contribution. To help people find a home, live the American dream and be able to afford it \u2013 that\u2019s huge.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jon Gice moved fairly often throughout his career in the insurance industry. And his retirement in 2016 brought one more relocation.&nbsp; \u201cMy daughter, my son-in-law, and two grandkids live here (in Portland). So, it was a magnet to move from Connecticut to Oregon,\u201d Jon said.&nbsp; Jon and his wife happily helped take care of their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-volunteer-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Family, faith and Habitat: One volunteer\u2019s story - Habitat Portland Region<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family, faith and Habitat: One volunteer\u2019s story - Habitat Portland Region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jon Gice moved fairly often throughout his career in the insurance industry. And his retirement in 2016 brought one more relocation.&nbsp; \u201cMy daughter, my son-in-law, and two grandkids live here (in Portland). So, it was a magnet to move from Connecticut to Oregon,\u201d Jon said.&nbsp; Jon and his wife happily helped take care of their [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Habitat Portland Region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-04T01:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DSC00434-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melissa Hassett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melissa Hassett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melissa Hassett\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2b3ceffb60ba2af0a3988a786340ef\"},\"headline\":\"Family, faith and Habitat: One volunteer\u2019s story\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-04T01:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\"},\"wordCount\":449,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DSC00434-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Volunteer Spotlight\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/?p=33747\",\"name\":\"Family, faith and Habitat: One volunteer\u2019s story - 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