New to Denver and Going Extreme

Denver is the place to be and the city is getting flooded with new residents daily. Andrea just moved here from South Carolina. She decided it would be a good idea to volunteer as a way to get to know the city of Denver and to meet new people. So, she signed up as an individual volunteer on one of the Work Days."My first experience with Extreme Community Makeover was in the Westwood neighborhood. It was a painting project and I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the group that I was involved with too. You could just tell how much the homeowner appreciated our help," says Andrea.Another benefit to Andrea, besides meeting new people, is that she is able to learn how more about Denver neighborhoods. ECM serves eight Denver neighborhoods and each volunteer Work Day is held in one of these areas. Andrea explains, "That is one thing I really enjoy about this as well. Every Work Day is a new area that I haven't been able to get out to. So, it's really giving me more knowledge about Denver itself."Andrea also enjoys the diversity of people she is able to interact with. "You meet so many different walks of life volunteering with ECM. They first Work Day I was teamed up with a church group and they were great. Then, two weeks ago was nothing but a bunch of high schoolers with the National Honor Society. So, it's all different groups of people," exclaims Andrea.Andrea has seen how volunteering has connected her to these great communities. "One of my first experiences was that there was really a lot of interaction with the homeowner. She was very much involved and out there working with us. She really wanted to help as much as she was being helped. My second experience was cleaning up an alley. That was cool because I got to get to know the people I was volunteering with. So, I got to experience two different interactions," Andrea says enthusiastically.Andrea has learned a lot within the short time of volunteering with ECM. "It's definitely eye-opening. This really gives me more opportunity to figure out what neighborhood I want to land in since I am renting right now. Some of these communities could be a long-term community for myself," expresses Andrea.With her enjoyable experiences so far with ECM, Andrea has decided to join the Extreme Teams. She is currently doing a grad program for Nonprofit Leadership and she has always taking a liking to nonprofit fundraising.  "If I can apply my experiences and help out, I certainly want to! I've loved my experience so far, so I really want to get more involved with the Extreme Teams," says Andrea. She will be a great fit for the Fundraising Team and we are thankful to have her!ECM is now Andrea's new community. "I've met a lot of great people and gained some new friends. It's been a great experience!" If you'd like to experience community and go extreme with ECM, learn more about our Extreme Teams opportunities and click here.