Court-related Volunteering

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Greater Fredericksburg Habitat for Humanity offers a safe, flexible, and fun place to fulfill court-related volunteer requirements. We have a separate process to get our court-related volunteers qualified and processed on paper. After that, our court-related volunteers perform the same tasks as the rest of our volunteers, whether it's on a Build Site, at the ReStore, or in the office!

Any volunteer who intends to accumulate hours for the legal system qualifies as a "court-related volunteer."

Many of the court-related volunteers at Greater Fredericksburg Habitat for Humanity are volunteering due to reckless driving tickets, first-time charges of drunk in public or DUI, and other such offenses.*

Any volunteer who is asked or recommended to accumulate hours by some member of the legal system is considered a "court-related volunteer." We confirm volunteer service for probation officers, court-ordered therapists, for ASAP programs and other similar programs, etc. These are all considered "court-related" and should join our court-related program.

Any volunteer who is choosing to accumulate hours before a sentencing date or before a hearing/trial is also considered a "court-related volunteer," if that volunteer wishes to receive an official letter of confirmation.

*Note that the GFHFH performs background checks on all of our incoming volunteers. Read further for more detail about what charges and/or criminal history are never accepted into our programs.

We offer two primary opportunities for court-related volunteers: accumulating hours at the ReStore or accumulating hours at the Build Site. Each individual volunteer may choose whichever option works best for them, depending on schedules and individual preferences!

Generally speaking, our ReStore offers volunteer opportunities six days a week (Monday-Saturday), from 9 am to 5 pm. Volunteers can work in one large 8-hour block of time, or in smaller 2-hour segments within those hours.

Our Build Site generally offers volunteer opportunities on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 8:50 am to 3:30 pm, offering volunteers an 8-hour day to get a lot accomplished on the Build Site!

ReStore volunteers generally help with loading and unloading donations, stocking items, cleaning and maintaining the ReStore, organizing items in the ReStore, and assisting customers. What Build volunteers work on depends on what the needs are at the construction site! Build volunteers can participate in many different aspects of the home-building process, from yardwork to laying floors, to installing siding and drywall or painting walls!

Whatever court-related volunteers choose to do, Habitat offers an opportunity to make a difference and learn new things, while accumulating hours!

• All new Habitat volunteers must consent to a background check before they begin with us. The safety of our volunteers, staff, and supporters is our number one priority.
• Our Habitat affiliate at Greater Fredericksburg has a zero-tolerance policy for criminal history involving the following kinds of offenses: violent offenses, sexual offenses, crimes against minors, and any criminal act of theft. (That list is not intended to be all-inclusive, and GFHFH reserves the right to make decisions regarding acceptance into our volunteer program at our sole discretion.)
• Court-related volunteers must sign an etiquette contract before they begin, consenting to our expectations of conduct and attendance.
• Court-related volunteers must pay a $25 processing fee, to cover the costs of the formal background check and to defray other administrative costs of the court-related program.
• Court-related volunteers use Galaxy, our online volunteer management system, to sign up for shifts like any other volunteer
• Court-related volunteers must give the Volunteer Coordinator 48 hours' notice before their confirmation letter is due, in order to allow staff enough time to verify hours and compose the letter.

With any specific questions, contact the Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@fredhab.org, or 540-891-4401.

• To jump right in, first register on Galaxy, our volunteer management system. Click here to get to Galaxy.
• While filling out your registration at this link, be sure that you have selected "Yes, I understand and need services," when answering the question about court-related service.
  *** Please note that, if you have answered "No" to this question, you will not be processed into the correct part of the system and will not be eligible to receive a community service confirmation letter to present to the legal system. ***
• After you have filled out your registration on Galaxy and consented to the first part of your background check during the Galaxy registration process, keep an eye on your emails! The Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch via email within one or two days, in order to collect the correct paperwork and collect the $25 processing fee.
• Wait for your background check to come back with an approval. This is generally a 3 or 4 day process. Once the background check has been approved, the Volunteer Coordinator will contact you with details on how to get signed up for a shift in Galaxy!

Start here by registering on Galaxy!