Ballum named construction director at Habitat for Humanity Greater Plymouth

Carver, MA Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth (HFHGP) has appointed Doug Ballum as the organization’s new construction director.

The role is a brand-new part-time position, created to expand the affordable home building capacity of the nonprofit by offering more days in which building can occur. HFHGP is now actively engaged in construction activity on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays weekly, tripling the past pattern of building on Saturdays only. Under Habitat’s traditional model, nearly all home construction work is performed by community volunteers who come from all walks of life, many of whom have no construction experience. Ballum is charged with overseeing the work, ensuring quality standards and safety while training and teaching volunteers on the tasks at hand.

Although Ballum is new to this staff position, he is no stranger to the organization. Previously, he had served as construction supervisor since 2007 on a volunteer basis. In this role, he directed all-volunteer crews on Saturday builds over the course of 17 years, leading the construction of eight new homes, ten significant critical repair/renovation projects, and dozens of smaller repairs in the community.

Professionally, Ballum worked as a resident project engineer supervising public infrastructure projects with Environmental Partners for more than 15 years; earlier in his career, he owned and operated his own residential construction business. Overall, he brings more than 40 years of experience to the position.

“We are so excited to have Doug take on this new role, after all his years of dedicated volunteer work here,” said Amy Belmore, executive director of HFHGP. “He understands Habitat and our mission so well, and has tremendous appreciation for volunteers who give their time to this important work. His efforts will undoubtedly go a long way toward achieving our goal of getting more low-income families into stable affordable housing faster.”

Since last October, Ballum has been leading construction crews for HFHGP’s newest project located on Indian Ave. in Plymouth. 

For more information or to join the crew, visit www.hfhplymouth.org/how-to-help or call Lynn at 508-866-4188. Volunteers may sign up for just one day, or multiple, to suit their schedule. Everyone is welcome.