By Peter Schmeling
Hello! My name is Peter Schmeling and I am the current Board of Directors President for the Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity. Just a little about my Habitat story and family. I started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in college at Bradley University. When I returned to Rockford in 2017, I began volunteering on our building sites and asking every question I could about how our affiliate worked.
Framing Hope and wall framing days onsite have always been my favorite days within Habitat. The joy it brings everyone involved, from homeowners to every volunteer, to see walls come off the semi-trailer and tipped up to frame new rooms and the shell of the house is like nothing else. It is especially gratifying to see homeowners and their children to walk through the framed home and start picking out their bedrooms and talk about the future that they can now see just a little bit clearer. These walls signify hope, safety, and a brighter tomorrow for our homeowners. I encourage anyone whose never attended a framing day, to attend one this Spring! It is an experience you will never forget.
I joined the board of directors in 2019 and have served on many of our committees, but with an extra passion for our construction and cost reduction committees. Construction is a passion of mine and let me tell you, we have dedicated builders! Our dedicated group of weekday wonders are an extremely dedicated group of individuals who make our builds happen! These caring people give up two to three days a week all summer long to make sure that each of our homes get built and are truly the backbone of our organization.
This upcoming year as president, we hope to accomplish a multitude of items within our affiliate. A couple of these items include a greater focus on rehabilitations of homes, attract new volunteers to our construction weekday wonders, and capitalizing on our largest donation that we have ever received. It is a true dream of mine to see a Blitz Build come to Rockford or possibly a Jimmy Carter Work Project! Either of these build projects would be huge for our City and affiliate!
I work for Schmeling Construction Co., as the fifth generation of Schmeling to do so and have been in business since 1903! We concentrate on commercial, food processing, financial, and healthcare construction. We employ union laborers, carpenters, and cement finishers. I recently married my loving and supportive wife Danielle and we currently reside on a farm in Winnebago. Farm life keeps us plenty busy tending to our cows, chickens, and many more animals. I believe I am the first board member to call into a meeting from the cab of a tractor! When we aren’t working around the farm we love to spend time at our cabin in Northern Wisconsin.
These walls signify hope, safety, and a brighter tomorrow for our homeowners.
Peter Schmeling
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