Who are our volunteers?

Volunteers are an essential and integral part of Habitat for Humanity Costa Rica.
They come to us individually as well as with larger groups from a single church, organization, school or community. Some work for a week, others stay for three months or longer. The work they do provides greatly needed help for Habitat Costa Rica and the homeowners we serve. The opportunity to perform meaningful work with tangible results, right alongside the families whose lives you are helping to change, makes this a unique and rewarding volunteer opportunity to serve others in need.

In this spirit of partnership, Habitat is an inclusive organization encouraging people from a broad spectrum of social, ethnic and economic backgrounds and from a wide diversity of religious faiths, including no faith, to participate and work together.
Office volunteers
If you are interested in gaining some administrative, fundraising or other office experience in a dynamic non-profit organization, you may be interested in applying to our Office Volunteer Program run by Habitat Costa Rica.
Office Volunteers must:
Make a minimum commitment of six (6) weeks;
Make a minimum $100 administrative donation to Habitat Costa Rica;
Have a strong working knowledge of Spanish;
Have strong interpersonal and organizational skills;
Have the ability to cover their own expenses (transport, food, housing, etc.);
Be open to living and serving in a different culture.
Acceptance and placement into the Office Volunteer Program will be based on matching the current needs of Habitat Costa Rica with the applicant’s timeframe, skills and interests.
 

Construction Volunteer

If you are traveling or plan to travel in Costa Rica and would like to help build a home, you should organize your visit through the Construction Volunteer Program run by Habitat Costa Rica. As a Construction volunteer, you will literally help build a home for a Costa Rican family! This is a very important aspect of Habitat’s mission, as volunteer labor reduces the cost of the house and thereby reduces the monthly mortgage payments the beneficiary families have to pay back to Habitat. Construction Volunteers must:
Make a minimum commitment of one (1) week and begin on a Monday;
Make a minimum $200 adminstrative donation to Habitat Costa Rica;
Have a very basic knowledge of Spanish;
Have the ability to cover their own expenses (transportation, homestay program is $20  per day);
Be open to living and serving in a different culture.
 Application
To apply to become a Construction Volunteer please fill out the online volunteer form and click submit at the end. You must contact us at least three weeks before your anticipated arrival date. Please keep in mind that we need several weeks notice to set you up with an affiliate.
Once you submit your application online we will respond within three to five business days via e-mail and confirm receipt of your application form. We will also provide instructions on sending the required $100 donation to Habitat Costa Rica, which will be used to cover all the administrative and personnel costs associated with running the volunteer program.
After we receive confirmation of your donation we will continue to communicate by email regarding your home stay (if you requested one), provide you with a Pre-Orientation Volunteer Guide and other information to get you ready for your trip. Information regarding your home stay will be sent to you via email approximately two weeks before your arrival in Costa Rica.
Although we accept all volunteers, depending on our construction schedule and how little lead time you give us, there may be rare instances when a position is unavailable during your requested work dates. Acceptance and placement into the Construction Volunteer Program are not guaranteed until we receive confirmation of your donation.