Building Bonds Through Language- A Day in the Life of an AmeriCorps Member

Each AmeriCorps term is unique, just like the members who take them on. Habitat Iowa encourages members to think about their service term and share that experience through reflection exercises. We are so grateful to have members like Loic sharing their experiences and skills with our AmeriCorps team.

This reflection comes from Loic McGiverin, a Construction AmeriCorps Member who spent the past year at Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity. Here’s Loic's take on his time with Fabrice, a Habitat homeowner and volunteer in Iowa City.

Loic (Left) and Neil Kane (right), fellow AmeriCorps member posing for a photo on an Iowa Valley construction site.

"Stepping onto a construction site for the first time in my AmeriCorps term, with little

experience in building or carpentry, was a bit intimidating—but I quickly found myself useful in an unexpected way: by speaking French.

A few days into the term, I noticed that one of the volunteers—Fabrice—wasn’t a native

English speaker and struggled to communicate at times. On several shifts, I chatted with him in English, noticed he had a French name, then learned he spoke French; I was genuinely pleased to discover we shared that language. I remember how excited he was when we first exchanged a few French words. We could get by with basic English and gestures, but speaking French allowed us to connect more deeply. I learned about the other languages he spoke, where in the Democratic Republic of the Congo he grew up, the different places he had lived, his children, the late‑night/early‑morning shifts he worked, and how understandably tired he was on any given day.

Fabrice and Kiesse and their family at their home dedication celebration.

A couple of weeks into my term, I was working on siding when Fabrice showed up. We

exchanged a few pleasantries, and he told me—with great pride—that half of the duplex we

were building would be his. As it turned out, he had been doing sweat equity, and the structure many of us had been working on was half his home. That moment gave a face and a story to the project and made everything feel much more personal and meaningful.

As the build wrapped up, I spent many afternoons working with Fabrice, hearing about his plans for a garden in the yard, the plants he would grow, and how eager he and his children were to move in. In the days leading up to their dedication ceremony, I helped interpret logistics between him, his wife, and the construction staff; what snacks to bring were high on the priority list.

I returned a few months after they had moved in to fix a door and shovel some gravel on the

curb. The garden we had talked about was tilled, planted, and beginning to grow. Fabrice and his family were settled in, and the structure we had worked on had become a home; Iowa Valley Habitat had begun the next one. Now in the final days of my term, I’ve picked up more ways to be useful around the Habitat construction site, but those early days helping communicate with the would be homeowner stand out as some of my most meaningful contributions of my term."

Are you considering joining AmeriCorps? Dive into an amazing opportunity by visiting www.iowahabitat.org/apply-americorps to learn more! You can earn money, gain new skills, and make a real difference in your community at local Habitats across Iowa.

Photo taken in Greenfield, Iowa May 2025. Highlighting all the AmeriCorps alum and members out on the construction site that day.

View some more AmeriCorps Member Spotlights from Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity below.