Jean Bell, Habitat Employee of 18 Years, Retires

Two weeks ago, Jean, HFHN's office manager of 18 years, retired. She is looking forward to spending time with her grandson, Sincere, and getting involved with more organizations.

Here are some stories Jean has recollected:

"I can remember in 1991 when I came for my interview with the board, HFHN was brand new. I came to meet them in what today is the volunteer room. The rest of the building was just starting to be renovated and was still a disaster. They had to move a big board that was acting as a temporary door aside to let me in. You would not believe ho much the neighborhood has improved since then."

"When I started, there was no place for an office. I would go to the post office and pick up the mail, make sure the few checks we received were deposited (they tended to be small back then), paid the bills I could, checked the answering machine and then I would go home to do the rest of my work. Back then, everything was manual. We wrote checks by hand, did the payroll by hand, typewriters were manual and those answering machines were relics."

"One of the great things about this job is the ability to work with our volunteers. I have seen so many true acts of love and dedication to their fellow man that it is hard to remember them all. The work our volunteers accomplish is fantastic. I know many of our volunteers would do almost anything to help our partner families and others in need. It never ceases to amaze me what people will do to help each other."

On behalf of everyone at HFHN, we would like to say thank you, Jean for all that you have done for this organization!!

As Jean said three years ago, "the most important thing to me is the joy I feel when a partner family that I first screened for the program goes through all the hard work and finally owns their own home. You just can't beat that feeling."