The Crew builds Habitat homes and community

Members of The Crew, a tight-knit Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity volunteer group, pose for a photo in front of one of their builds at 707 Downs Drive in Granite Shoals, along with the recipient of the home, Shawn McKinney (center in gray holding Subway box). Courtesy photo
A core group of Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity volunteers have become a well-oiled, homebuilding machine over the past 10 years. They’ve also become a tight-knit friend group through their love of giving back to the community and working with their hands. They’re known as “The Crew.”
Habitat for Humanity operates nationwide with volunteers building houses alongside the families moving in. Homes are financed with zero-percent interest loans to ease the burden of ownership.
The Highland Lakes chapter has built 29 homes in the area since its founding in 1995. The last 11 or so feature the workmanship of The Crew, whose membership has ebbed and flowed while its culture of gruff, gracious giving remains solid.
“I could be on my 11th house,” said Finnis Corley, a Habitat volunteer and one of the original members of The Crew. “I lose count sometimes.”
Corley has been with Highland Lakes chapter since 2014. He’s a 77-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, originally from Post, a small town about 40 miles southeast of Lubbock. He retired to the Highland Lakes after leaving behind his aircraft mechanic engineering firm in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Corley and The Crew gather for what they call their weekly “union meeting” at Double Horn Brewing Company in Marble Falls on Tuesday afternoons. They talk shop, share drinks, and plot upcoming projects.
Many of The Crew’s members started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity out of a desire to give back and avoid an idle retirement, but they inadvertently built a small community.
“It’s about comradeship, having friends,” Corley said. “I probably have more friends now than ever before.”
The Crew mainly consists of about 15 volunteers commited to Habitat for Humanity builds. They also refurbish housing for the Highland Lakes Crisis Network, restore dilapidated churches, install handicap ramps, build sheds for friends, remove fallen trees from yards, and more—all on their own time and for free.
“Habitat is what got us together and keeps us together, but any opportunity for friends and family needs, all of us jump in,” said Jeff Herzog, who, at 57, is one of the younger members of The Crew. He’s been with the group since 2018.
Herzog echoed Corley’s feelings about the camaraderie that comes with volunteering.
“Within a couple of workdays, I figured out this was a great group of guys,” he said.
Like Corley, Herzog is a U.S. Air Force veteran who retired in the Highland Lakes. Many of The Crew’s members have similar backgrounds and reasons that drew them to Habitat for Humanity.
“The goal (of the organization) isn’t to do something for somebody but to do it with somebody,” Herzog said.
Habitat for Humanity has a thorough process that requires applicants have a stable income and a true need for housing. Future homeowners must contribute at least 300 total hours of sweat equity on another house and their own. Habitat finances the house, and the homeowner pays the organization back on a fixed, 20-year, zero-percent-interest mortgage.
“It gives you a good feeling working with these families,” said David Waldo, president of Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity. “By doing this, we provide somebody a house and we carry the mortgage at cost.”
Waldo joined Habitat in 2015 as a volunteer and took over as president in 2022. He jokes he was supposed to be golfing and relaxing by the lake but somehow ended up running the show. Over the years, he has watched and participated in the organic transformation of volunteers into The Crew.
“When I first started out, we’d have three or four people (on house builds), and it would take forever,” he said. “Right now, we’re getting between 10 and 15 solid volunteers (on build days). It’s really evolved into, I think, a pretty energetic group.”
The Highland Lakes chapter has been building at a decent pace with The Crew in full swing, putting up five houses since Waldo took over in 2022.
Many of The Crew members have backgrounds in mechanics or do-it-yourself home projects. Some even have full-on homebuilding credentials. Others joined with little to no construction experience.
Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity Vice President Harry Born is a 76-year-old retired computer scientist who commutes from Cedar Park to participate in builds and attend The Crew’s meetings. He told The Picayune Magazine he had little background in building, but that didn’t stop him from getting involved.
“A lot of us do this because we want to learn, and I think all of us have some interest in helping people,” he said.
Geoff Murphey joined in 2023. He had 20 years’ experience with Habitat for Humanity in Montgomery County near Houston. That branch is much larger, building 12-13 homes a year, but Murphey appreciates the care the Highland Lakes chapter puts into its work.
“I think the quality is above what we were doing in Montgomery County,” he said. “These are good people, and, for me, it’s a way to give back. I think that is an important thing for people to do.”
Quality is paramount when it comes to The Crew’s builds, Corley said.
“We will not accept any defects that we wouldn’t have in our own homes,” he said.
Learn more about the Highland Lakes chapter of Habitat for Humanity or sign up as a volunteer at hlhabitat.org.