Pat McGoey is lively, unassuming, an excellent conversationalist and delightful lunch companion. Twice she suggested that maybe someone else would be more interesting to interview, someone who works on houses. What she doesn’t realize is that she is indeed the perfect person to interview for the Habitat volunteer newsletter. Pat has been volunteering for ten years, working in the office in whatever ways she can. She is a retired elementary school teacher who taught 30 years at various schools in TUSD and no doubt perhaps some of her students grew up and found themselves in Habitat homes. Pat is a native Arizonan, growing up in the Globe/Miami area, who earned her BA at the University of Arizona and later a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, spending 5 exciting summers in NYC in the process.

After her retirement Pat knew that she “had better be doing something” so answered an advertisement for Habitat because they needed someone to answer the phones who could speak Spanish. Pat responded because she knew that she could do both, answer the phones and speak Spanish and now 10 years later here she is. When she is not volunteering her time, she travels with friends to Europe, Canada and throughout the States. She meets her friends for breakfast and conversation. When asked why she keeps volunteering for Habitat, she talked about how Habitat became a comfortable place to come to on a regular basis, that the people are special and that she stays at Habitat because as an organization it has integrity and value. That’s interesting because you could say the same about Pat. It takes integrity to make a commitment to an organization for 10 years and while Pat might not say so, answering the phones in Spanish (or English) is as valuable a contribution as swinging a hammer in this group effort to build people homes.

Pat talked about working in the original Habitat offices above a church, she talked of Habitat people who have come and gone. She talked about memorable homeowners and how they continue to maintain long relationships with Habitat, and that is exactly what she has done. Volunteering at Habitat gives back to Pat as much I think as she gives. It is a group of friends and colleagues and homeowners who give her a place where it is worthwhile to spend so much of that precious commodity we never have enough of…her time.

Interviewed and Written by Volunteer Teresa Terry