Troy began volunteering during the summer of 2023 when he was a Freshman at East Chapel Hill High School before transferring to the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Even though he lives further away now, he comes home to visit on the weekends, which includes volunteering with Orange Habitat. His volunteer efforts with Habitat recently earned Troy a Congressional Award for volunteering, logging over 400 hours on the construction site.

Troy may be one of the youngest volunteers on our construction site, but it doesn’t come into play (much) when he is with the other volunteers. “I don’t feel young being out here. I feel like I can be a part of the crew; the community, because there is, like, the great community here,” said Troy. “It’s always nice; I love coming out here and seeing the friendly faces, like friends. The only way my age comes into play, is I can’t use power tool right now.” Instead, Troy’s favorite task on site is framing.

“I think Habitat is great to learn construction skills. Part of why I wanted to start volunteering was I wanted to learn how houses are built. I was always curious – I lived in a house; how was it made? But, you know, coming down here, I think, has really grown me as a person with all of the things I have learned.”

Thank you, Troy, for your time and dedication to Habitat!