Summer 1997 Newsletter

Formatting Update: August, 1998

Seattle Habitat appoints new Executive Director

Somehow it seems fitting that the Internet helped lead Executive Director Linda Murtfeldt to the high-tech Northwest and Seattle Habitat for Humanity.

Just a few short months ago she was serving as Director of Programs and Services for the Minneapolis/St. Paul HfH affiliate. "One day a coworker came into a meeting and said "If anyone's interested I just saw on the web that they're looking for a new executive director in Seattle,'" said Murtfeldt in a recent interview in the Seattle HfH office. "My family and I lived in Vancouver, BC for a year a while back and vowed we'd come back to this area some day."

That vow was Seattle HfH's gain when Murtfeldt arrived this June to assume her new post. She has since worked on acclimating herself and, with the recent arrival of her husband (he stayed behind to sell their house), begun to look at Seattle as home.

A Lifetime of Giving to Others

Working with volunteer organizations is a longtime habit for Murtfeldt. For many years her participation paralleled her children's growth. When her son and daughter, now 21 and 25, were in elementary school, she founded a Junior Great Books program in their school to encourage kids to read and discuss classic literature. When her kids reached middle and high school, she joined a Parent Community Network to sponsor chemical-free parties for students after school events.

Her church life has also provided avenues for volunteerism. The ministry focus of her Presbyterian church in Minneapolis introduced Murtfeldt to HfH when she joined fellow parishioners in working with the Twin Cities affiliate. Her volunteer status with Habitat continued until 1989 when she was hired as the group's volunteer coordinator.

Challenges for the Future

With her settling-in period nearly complete, Murtfeldt has begun working on her immediate goal of preparing Seattle HfH's infrastructure for growth.

"To be able to build 10 houses per year we must change the organization's thinking from being a grass roots organization to being a non-profit organization," said Murtfeldt. "That means increasing staff and trying to incorporate VISTA and AmeriCorps volunteers as one means to that end. That's a big change for any organization."

The seven years she worked for the Twin Cities affiliate provided Murtfeldt with valuable experience helping a successful organization to grow. At the time she was hired, the Minneapolis/St. Paul HfH was building 12 houses per year. By the time she left in 1997 that number had soared to 45 houses built annually.

Murtfeldt has also identified some of Seattle HfH's unique challenges. "One is that land here is precious. There are no "give-away sites' in the area. It's hard to find building sites because of the expense."

A second challenge is that there are a lot of HfH groups in the area. "In the Twin Cities we stayed one affiliate," she explained. "Here there are six or seven affiliates in the Puget Sound all drawing on the same corporate and foundation bases." Murtfeldt hopes to ease any competition by fostering cooperation between the region's affiliates. She has begun talking to these other groups about setting up a regional warehouse for donated building materials. She has also suggested consolidating fundraising efforts to encourage regional corporate sponsorship.

In the meantime Murtfeldt is encouraging people to volunteer whatever skills they possess. "The more you get involved with Habitat the more you realize that people are needed in many different jobs, not just construction. We need people to help select families, nurture families, help with closing mortgage documents--there are so many things people can do with Habitat.

"And you know, as you find different ways to be involved in families you really enrich your life. You really do get more out of it than you put in."