November Volunteer Spotlight: Doug Vondrachek

November Volunteer Highlight—Doug Vondrachek

Doug Vondrachek – A Foundation of the Habitat Mission

If you walk into the houses being built and finished on College Street, the first two rooms you see as you enter are the living area and the kitchen. The kitchen is the gathering space for many families.  If you are a cook or baker, you are looking for a layout that allows a triangle configuration with the sink, refrigerator and oven.  Counter space and light, plus enough storage are also needed.  Doug Vondrachek kept all those ideas in mind while designing the kitchen space and then building the cabinets for these Habitat homes. 

When Doug fully retired in 2011, he did some traveling, but he knew he was not going to do traveling full time.  He was tied to his community and he enjoyed being at home and being part of  Newberg. “I retired and realized I had a lot of time on my hands.  What was I going to do?  I also had a shop and a lot of tools and still loved what I did.” At first, he started picking up jobs off of Marketplace and did many of those for free.  One of his friends then asked if he would be willing to volunteer at The Resource Center on Hall Boulevard in Tigard.  These jobs allowed him to keep active and use his detail and woodworking skills.  

Then one day in 2022, he received a call from Rick Rogers, past executive director of Newberg Area Habitat for Humanity (NAHFH).  This call was really initiated by his sister Anne Vondrachek Mildenberger, assistant to the executive director. NAHFH was looking for a new Construction Supervisor so she encouraged Rick to reach out to Doug.  At this point, the College Street project was at its beginning stages.  The infrastructure and foundations were just being planned.  “I started as Construction Supervisor and did that for about nine or ten months, but I did not like all the other tasks that came with the position.  I am a hands-on person.  I liked the building, but I did not enjoy the computer and paperwork aspect and knew I might not be the right fit.  I recruited Jeff Council to take over when they started framing the homes because Jeff was a master builder.”  

Doug did not bow out of service for Habitat. Instead, he used his skill and talent of building cabinets and finish work by committing to building the three sets of cabinets for the three College Street homes.  He spent four months in his home shop.  He then installed the first two sets once the walls and sheetrock were finished on the first two homes, and finished the third set of cabinets which are being stored at the Habitat office until the third home is ready for their installation.  Besides these three homes, Doug also promised to build the cabinets for the two homes that will be constructed on the Fifth Street site.  Since one of those homes will be a residence that will be designed and modified to meet physical accessibility for a veteran, he will wait until that individual is chosen to make sure the kitchen has the necessary features for that individual.

”I didn’t know a lot before I started at Habitat.  But I was always looking for a place to fit in.  I had a lot of life experiences in construction especially in carpentry and safety.  I had a lot to offer.”  Like some of our other construction volunteers, Doug has shared his specialized skills to help our new Habitat homeowners realize their dream of owning a home.  At the same time he supports these homeowners in learning new skills because being at the build site is more than just helping build a home.  “I would encourage volunteers to come and learn how to frame or lay down flooring or maybe put in countertops.  As a volunteer, people can come work on a house, and we in turn can facilitate teaching them a particular skill they may want to use in their own home project.” 

Doug has had a life of varied service and experience.  He enlisted in the Navy out of high school and was a surgical technician specialist who assisted in surgeries for soldiers during the Vietnam War.  After his military service, he moved to Seattle and worked at the Children’s Hospital before taking a union job as cabinet maker.  “I loved the idea of manufacturing and loved working with wood.  Later in my career, I worked on high profile jobs that took me away from Newberg and my family.”  A few of those big jobs were the Cultural Center in Vancouver, Canada, the C Concourse at Portland International Airport, and also the finish contracts for Phil Knight at the University of Oregon.  

“I grew up in a family of 10 siblings here in Newberg.  As we grew up together, we saw the people who could afford a home and those who could not.”  Doug likes to credit his older brother, Chuck, and older sister, Anne, for his inspiration for getting involved in Habitat.  All the three Vondrachek siblings are part of the foundation of NAHFH.  All three are true examples of how the commitment of service can change lives within their community.  While Chuck and Anne pour their efforts into the ReStore, Doug builds and installs the heart of every home – the kitchen.