Habitat for Humanity of Ohio Names Greg Hoertt
Volunteer of the Year
Greg Hoertt, a Montgomery County adult probation officer who developed a unique program to involve defendants on probation to help build houses as part of their community service, has been named 2008 Volunteer of the Year by Habitat for Humanity of Ohio.
Mr. Hoertt won the award for the Large Habitat affiliate category at the 2009 Habitat for Humanity of Ohio statewide conference, March 27-28, 2009, in Columbus. This award is given for significant contributions to advance the mission of Habitat for Humanity.
Mr. Hoertt has made significant, measurable and sustainable contributions to Daytons goals to increase house production and improve community relations, according to Habitat officials. As an adult probation officer for the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, he established a program for offenders receiving community service hour requirements to work those hours in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
Although many affiliates use community service hours to supplement volunteer requirements, Mr. Hoertt’s program is unique in that it is structured in a disciplined and systematic program. Each Wednesday, he personally brings 10 to 15 offenders to work on assigned Habitat projects, which has provided a much needed boost to weekday volunteers and has been instrumental in the success of the affiliate this year.
Some offenders have even volunteered their time on Saturdays to continue working on those projects they were exposed to on the previous Wednesday. In addition to his work in Ohio, Greg and his wife travelled at their own expense to Dallas in 2008 to participate in the Whirlpool Building Blocks campaign to build Habitat houses for the local Dallas affiliate. Mr. Hoertt has been volunteering with the Montgomery County affiliate.
“Volunteers are the critical component of the Habitat program. It is people like Greg who have made the dream of home ownership a reality for so many families here in Ohio and around the world,” said Ryan Miller, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Ohio.
