Meet Stacy: Stepping Up When You see a Need

Service to one’s neighbor is a no-brainer for Rebuild Upstate volunteer Stacy Sargent. She lives by the motto, “What are you doing for others?”

“I wanna be awake,” Stacy goes on. “The more awake you are, the more aware you are of people’s situations.” 

Stacy first started volunteering on construction sites through Salkehatchie service mission camps with her boys’ youth group. These camps, led by the United Methodist Church, require two women and two men on each build site as leaders and chaperones. Stacy admitted it’s difficult to find enough women to serve on camps of this size. Her response? Learn the skills herself and become a more effective leader. Stacy thrived in this intense environment. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more work to do beyond yearly camps- and she was the one to do it. 

When she discovered Rebuild Upstate, Stacy didn’t look back: “It’s been everything we wanted and more!” Stacy volunteers each Monday as a faithful member of the Handyman Club, fulfilling her dream of local, impactful service, one house at a time. You can find Stacy working on flooring, decking, and… crawling under a home? Director of Programs Nick Kulick has a favorite memory of Stacy. “She put my crawl suit on and crawled the length of the house to secure a board in place and do a little plumbing. She is a rockstar!” 

Not only does Stacy jump into the task in front of her, but Stacy also lives out Rebuild Upstate’s value of community. She uses empathy to create a relationship with each homeowner and continues to connect him or her with resources long past the build day. Homeowners’ pets and Stacy’s teammates are not exempt from her sense of community. Stacy has volunteered more than  300 hours with our program since joining.

Stacy shares that her faith plays a role in her motivation to volunteer. 

 “There are so many different things that Jesus said, from the Good Samaritan to

‘for the least of these’

‘love your neighbor’

‘take care of the widow’

‘faith without action is dead’

…I mean, drop the mic!” 

Looking towards the future, Stacy is ready to grow her skills- this year in plumbing and site leading.

What would Stacy share with a woman who wants to volunteer?

“Just try it. It’s a two-way street, and if you try something and don’t like it, there are so many opportunities out there! Just do something… It doesn’t get any better than this!”

 

This story was originally published in 2020 and updated in March of 2022.