Summer 2026 Youth Volunteer Academy
This July, Houses into Homes hosted our Summer 2026 Youth Volunteer Academy. We closed our regular warehouse operations to allow these students unique learning and volunteer opportunities, and we had a lot of fun doing so.
In all, we had 24 students from 4 area high schools participate in 3 hour daily sessions over 5 days. We divided the group into a morning and an afternoon cohort to allow for as much individualized instruction and participation as possible.
And participate they did! On Monday we learned about community building and set some shared values with Mr. Brad Kelly from ICCSD before learning some woodworking safety basics from HiH super-volunteer Steve Smith. Tuesday was all about woodworking, when the students assembled a total of nine coffee tables from scrap wood collected at our warehouse.
Wednesday the students heard from the Executive Director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, Jessica Andino, about the local affordable housing landscape before another HiH super-volunteer Tyler Baird supervised the expert finishing of their tables.
Thursday brought Ryan Dickson, the Director of Training and Staff Development at CommUnity Crisis Services, who schooled the students in the same de-escalation techniques that Ryan has developed and taught to FBI agents, among many other clients. They then loaded up delivery trucks after packing for many local families in our warehouse.
The week culminated with a combined group unloading furniture and unpacking at Valor Pointe in Iowa City, a first-in-the-state housing project collaboration between the city of Iowa City and the VA to house at-risk veterans, and a pizza party. We got 15 total townhomes move-in ready, and the students had lots of fun cleaning, organizing, and decorating each room.
By the end of the week, students had contributed a combined 350 service hours. We’re so impressed with their work ethic, curiosity, and commitment to their community. Here’s just some of what they had to say:
“It was amazing working with a lot of people from my school”
“I really loved building tables, especially the big sanding belt!! It seems a lot harder than it actually was.”
“There are all different types of people in our community who need help that we wouldn’t necessarily think about, so it’s healthy to broaden your mind to who all could possibly need assistance.”
“Every little thing we do makes a big impact.”
A big thank you to our summer 2026 practicum student from the University of Iowa School of Social Work, Kaleb Curtis, for his work in putting this week together. It’s another successful edition of YVA, and we can’t wait to welcome a new group of students in 2027.