Volunteer Budget Advisor

Objective:

Budget Advisors provide personal, face-to-face budgeting assistance and support to new homebuyers in the lease year. Through participation in this process, it is expected that homebuyers will:

Be able to easily distinguish between mandatory and discretionary household expenses
Practice budgeting for 6 months to a year before closing
Regularly incorporate “emergency savings” in their budgets
Identify short-, mid-, and long-term financial goals, and
Be prepared to show their budgeting work to an Atlanta Habitat representative before closing

Outline of Volunteer Responsibilities:

Promptly schedule appointments with homebuyers once assignment is made.
Meet with assigned homebuyers face-to-face at the Atlanta Habitat office to assist them create a balanced budget.
Document budgeting session.
Follow up with homebuyers as indicated.
Sign and abide by a confidentiality agreement.
Track personal volunteer hours.

Schedule:

Face-to-face meetings are arranged by volunteers according to their own schedules. The average visit will last
1- 2 hours.

Time Commitment:

We ask all Budget Advisors to commit to making an average of 2 meetings per month and to serve as a volunteer in this capacity for at least 6 consecutive months.

Training and Support:

Volunteers attend a new volunteer orientation.
At minimum, volunteers attend the Budgeting Home Smart class and are encouraged to attend all financial Home Smart classes.
Volunteers attend a specific Budget Advisor training session.
Volunteers meet with homebuyers on Atlanta Habitat for Humanity premises or speak on the phone.

Qualifications:

Passion and enthusiasm for Atlanta Habitat’s mission.
Good working knowledge of budgeting and credit issues.
Excellent interpersonal skills and comfortable working closely with Atlanta Habitat’s homebuyers.
Must be 18 years of age.
These sessions are offered both in English and in Spanish, so fluency in Spanish is a plus.

Getting Started:

We ask that all of our individual volunteers first come to an orientation. The volunteer orientation will provide you with an understanding of Atlanta Habitat's program, information on how to get started, and answer any questions you might have. Orientations are offered 2 – 3 times monthly on Wednesday or Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings and last approximately one hour.

To register for an orientation:

Go to the volunteer registration website at www.atlantahabitat.volunteerhub.com
Create an account by clicking Register.

Select a user name and password
Enter your join code: ORIENTATION
Input your contact information.
Follow the prompts to complete your registration.

Please contact Jessica Plante at 404-223-5180 ext. 107 or j essica.plante@atlantahabitat.org if you have any questions about registering for an orientation or if you are unable to view the upcoming orientation schedule.