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Date: 12/17/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – After 12 years serving the Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, Executive Director Jennifer Schimmel is stepping down from her position at the end of December.
Jennifer Schimmel told Reminder Publishing she began her career many years ago with the Hartford Habitat for Humanity of Connecticut in 2005. A couple of years later, Schimmel then became the executive director of the Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, where she served for 12 years.
But after 11 years serving the company, she received life-changing news on Dec. 26, 2018, and was diagnosed with AML Leukemia. Schimmel said she received a life-saving stem cell transfer, the only cure for her diagnosis. During her time away though, she said she’d had “time to reflect” on the “life-altering experience.”
This, she said, is when she made the decision to step down from her role as executive director.
“I realized I want to continue to do work in the service work field,” she explained. “I want to do something bigger on the national level if I can. I want to spend time with friends and family.”
Schimmel explained that while “it’s a wonderful mission,” the role of executive director is “a lot of work, a lot of time” and is “an exhausting job.”
While she doesn’t know exactly what her next career move will be, Schimmel said she hopes “to do some work in the Greek field.” She explained, “I’m a member of alpha sigma alpha, and that organization has had a huge impact in my life.”
She also hopes “to support the growth of women in leadership roles” while working in the Greek field.
Additionally, Shimmel said she has been “in isolation for a long time,” and once cleared by her doctor, she hopes to spend time visiting both places she’s been before and new places she’s never been to.
“I’ve been in isolation for a long time, I’m still not cleared yet, but I want to spend as much time exploring the community as I can,” she said. “I want to explore parts of the country I’ve never been to. I’m planning on going to Disney, that’s my happy place and I’m hoping to go back to Italy.”
Also included in her travel plans is returning to Guatemala, where she has traveled with Habitat for Humanity for many years.
Schimmel said what she will miss most about her role at Habitat for Humanity will be the people, especially the volunteers.
“There’s something so magical and special about people that will take time out of their life to put their hands and feet into the world for someone they don’t know, I think it’s so special,” she said. “That’s what I’m going to miss, the families, the volunteers, the relationships I’ve built over the years.”
And while she’s worked with the organization on and raised money for hundreds of projects over the years, she said one of her favorite projects she had a hand in was a four-house build following the tornadoes that touched down in Springfield during June of 2011.
“We’re not first responders, just a group of people and volunteers that want to be helpful,” she explained. “We decided to build four houses on non-contiguous sites to benefit families affected by the tornadoes.”
After just a year of fundraising, Schimmel said Habitat for Humanity employees and volunteers began building the homes one year later, on the anniversary of when the tornadoes touched down in Springfield.
“We started on the anniversary of the tornado, and built for eight days straight and had 120 volunteers each day,” she recalled. “It was a madhouse, but awesome. We were able to bring those families home for the holidays.”
She noted that members of Habitat for Humanity from Guatemala came to Springfield and helped during the build.
As of Dec. 20, Schimmel will have officially stepped down from her position. “It’s been an incredible experience,” she noted. “The amount of people that stepped up and helped me has been incredible. There’s no way I could have done it all by myself.”
Anne Eisenman, board president for Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity told Reminder Publishing Schimmel has helped grow the affiliate throughout her time with the organization. “The number of houses has grown over the years in Jenn’s time and I think that our services have diversified,” Eisenman said.
Eisenman said Aimee Giroux will become acting executive director and they will begin searching to fill the role of executive director soon.
“Our mission to provide good affordable housing is an important one,” Elsenman said. “The mission is there, and we will continue with it.”