Team & Board of Directors

Joel is the President and CEO of Lake-McHenry Habitat, having started in the summer of 2021.  His career has been in the nonprofit sector, leading different organizations that have a mission to serve others.  The opportunity to join an organization that does work as amazing as Habitat does was too good to refuse, as he knows how impactful a decent and affordable home can be to anyone.  Outside of working at Habitat, Joel enjoys baseball and is a die-hard Cubs fan.  He lives in Lake County with his wife and teenage son.

Sara brought her enthusiasm for serving others to Habitat in the fall of 2018.  As a US Navy Veteran with a strong sense of duty towards her community she has served as a CASA, an election judge, a food pantry volunteer, and she currently sits on the board of directors for the Crystal Lake Teen Center.   Sara has a bachelor’s degree in health and human services and strives to apply her education to the real-life scenarios she encounters when working with the Families that come to Habitat for assistance with purchasing a home.  She believes that owning a home represents more than just a physical space to live –it provides a sense of permanence and stability and fosters a family’s connections within their community.  When she isn’t at the Gurnee or McHenry Habitat offices, you can find her immersed in a true crime podcast, at the movies, or cozying up at home with her Husband, their two daughters and their two (very animated) German Shorthaired Pointers, Maui & Chance.

As VP of Philanthropy/Chief Advancement Officer, Jamie is responsible for raising financial support and increasing community awareness for and engagement with Lake-McHenry Habitat. She firmly believes that home is where we become who we are, and she’s both humbled and delighted to play a part in ensuring more people have a safe, stable place of their own where they can become the best possible versions of themselves.

Outside of Habitat, Jamie can most likely be found wrangling her two curious kiddos alongside her husband,  sipping on a coffee (probably her third of the day), or with her nose in a book.

Bio coming soon!

Julie has been with Habitat since the McHenry ReStore opened. The previous President and CEO of the then Habitat for Humanity of McHenry County, Jerry Monica connected her to the organization and she became one of the first volunteers in the store. After about a year, she began working part-time in the office, helping with the bookkeeping.

Julie has been in a unique position to watch Habitat grow exponentially. From building one house a year to building many, along with all the repair work done within the programs. What Julie appreciates most about working for Habitat, is the help they do for the most vulnerable people.

Although her work in finance does not directly affect those we’re helping, she feels pride in knowing that she works for a non-profit that does truly make a difference in the lives of those who are struggling.

Like everyone at the affiliate, she is an important cog in the mission, and we are so thankful for her dedication.

She can’t wait to see what successes the merger with Lake County will do to replicate and expand upon growth she has witnessed over the years. She’s so happy to be a part of it and hopes to be for many years to come.

As our east office Assistant Director of Finance, Jennifer helps to oversee financial planning, budgeting, and reporting to ensure the organization’s fiscal health and support its mission. She is passionate about helping her community (North Chicago) build generational wealth.

She is an animal lover and enjoys spending time with and walking her dogs. She’s also an avid jigsaw puzzler and has completed, glued, and framed over 10 puzzles, with more on the way!

She is a graduate of the College of Lake County with an associate degree in accounting. She has recently Graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Kathy began her career with Habitat in 2010 doing a variety of jobs back when the office was comprised of just 3 people! She has found this to be her passion as McHenry County has been her home for her whole life. Realizing just how many families are in need of housing and so much more saddens her but through their partnership with Habitat, she enjoys the rewards when a family receives their keys on dedication day. Kathy hopes is that this affiliate goes on forever assisting the families in our community to have healthier and happier lives, especially the children that now have stable homes to flourish in for many years to come.

Vinnie is responsible for treat quality control. You will find him in office making frequent rounds supervising staff and shamelessly flashing his puppy dog eyes for snacks. We are thankful for his continued service raising spirits, offering a head for pats, and keeping the spots of sunlight warm. He hopes to welcome even more homeowners, volunteers, and staff as our affiliate continues to grow. He knows the value of community – after all, more people means more treats!

Bill Kashul is Lake-McHenry Habitat’s Major Gifts Officer and has served in a fundraising role at Habitat for over 5 years. Bill has a strong record of service with non-profits. His passion to understand and act on housing issues of the underserved fits well with Habitat’s mission. Outside of work, Bill likes to spend time with his family.

With over 35 years working in Human Services, Eunice has worked 9 1/2  years with Lake-McHenry Habitat for Humanity.

Eunice’s passion is to provide all families the opportunity to achieve successful homeownership because everyone deserves a safe decent affordable place to live. In 2018, Eunice patented the phrase, “Count yourself in, not out.”

In her spare time, Eunice loves to write and has self-published 2 books, Building Bridges, Changing Lives, (2012) and A Grandspring Time (2018). Eunice enjoys spending time with husband, children, and grandchildren. Vacations, a must.

Yasmine has always been deeply passionate about affordable housing and nonprofit work, which led her to Habitat. She’s driven by the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than herself and loves connecting with the amazing volunteers who bring so much energy and enthusiasm to our mission. The most rewarding aspect of her work is learning the stories of the families we help, knowing that together we are creating lasting change. Yasmine is committed to growing Habitat’s impact and can’t wait to help even more families find the stability and hope they deserve.

Ginger chose to work with Habitat as an AmeriCorps VISTA to help engage the community with our mission and extend the help we can bring to folks. She feels it’s crucial for everyone to have a safe, stable place to live where they truly feel at home. It brings her great joy to hear about Habitat partner families moving into their new home or receiving needed repairs, and the relief, hope and new opportunity it can bring. During her VISTA year, she hopes to connect the community with ways to give and help one another. As a result she looks forward to learning more about increasing safe, affordable housing within the state and resources to help the local community. 

Dorian has been growing with the affiliate since 2021. Experiencing different positions within her time, she has had an intimate view of the inner workings of Habitat and her admiration for the mission continues to develop as opportunities grow and our reach expands. As a born and raised McHenry County native it means a great deal to know that she is part of enriching the community she grew up in. She enjoys how collaborative her work is, connecting changemakers all around her with the work that Habitat does. She hopes to increase awareness and make Habitat a household name keeping our build sites full of wonderful volunteers, our community engaged in our work,  and our house build and home repair projects funded and growing year over year.

Nick is the Community Engagement Specialist for Lake-McHenry Habitat, having started in the summer of 2023.  For most of his career, Nick has served and worked in church youth ministries for junior high and high school students.  With a deep appreciation for the home and upbringing he had, his hope is for families to experience that same kind of love, hope, and positive impact in their new homes.  Outside of working with Habitat, Nick is an avid concert junkie and loves to capture pictures and videos of lifelong memories.  He currently lives in Lake County with his wife, son, and animated pet dog.

The mission of Habitat for Humanity providing families with opportunities to have safe housing is what makes David get up every morning and come to work. David believes each family should have a proper place to live. The ReStore provides families with what they need to be able to enjoy life. David is all about family and loves spending time with close relatives. On his days off, he enjoys using his grill for every single meal of the day. David loves food!

Allison began working with Habitat in 2020. She believes that affordable housing is the foundation for successful communities. A home provides families a safe place to empower themselves and their children on the journey through life and build generational wealth. Allison loves seeing the comradery between volunteers, staff and Habitat homeowners as we work together toward another home dedication. There is no better feeling than seeing pride on their faces. She hopes that we can continue to impact families, and advocate for affordable housing and build up our communities!

Rozi chose to work at Habitat for Humanity because its mission deeply resonates with her. Her family has long supported Habitat through donations, admiring its efforts in providing affordable housing and repairs to low-income families. Volunteering with Habitat in the past sparked her passion for helping others and supporting the environment. For Rozi, this job is a privilege, not just a position, as she contributes to a larger cause. She hopes to increase her impact this year by raising awareness, bringing in volunteers, and helping more families in need, ultimately growing Habitat’s reach and community impact.

Bill started as a volunteer in 2011, on House #20. His proven dedication to the Habitat mission and build standard led him to be hired to manage construction projects starting with House #26 in 2014. He loves the work that Habitat does, working alongside good-hearted volunteers, and the joy and hope seen in our Partner Families when they realize this dream can actually come true. Bill has goals to make a name for Habitat in McHenry and Lake counties alike D.R. Horton and Lennar. He sees a future in which we build 15-20 homes a year, our builds are training platforms for high school trade students and union apprentices to learn their skills, and every mayor is soliciting us to come build in their town.

Brian knows Habitat better than anyone. His history with the organization goes back to 2006 when he began as a volunteer. At that time Habitat McHenry County was a separate, small grassroots affiliate that built one house per year. His desire to help grew into a fondness and loyalty for being a part of the build site crew. He was hired as the construction supervisor in 2014 and has been supporting our construction team at the homes and during our critical home repairs ever since. He hopes to see Habitat houses throughout both counties as the affiliate continues to grow from its humble beginnings into a household name.

Julie began working with Habitat in 2021. Her relationship with Habitat began some years ago volunteering on a build site in North Carolina. That formative experience stuck with her little did she know as time passed that she would end up as the Project Manager for an affiliate elsewhere in the country. Julie works hard to bring her skills and expertise to her projects and is always there to lend a helping hand when you need it. Her dedication to the mission to empower homeowners through shelter is infectious. She hopes to add many more builds to her tool belt as Habitat flourishes and serves the community in even bigger ways in the future.

Mario began with Habitat in 2024, and has hit the ground running with our west construction team. After 12 years of experience working in construction, while the work was satisfying, he was looking to use his trade skills to contribute to something bigger than himself. He loves that Habitat not only provides a hand up to homeowners that we partner with, but that the quality of the homes we build is just as important as the opportunity we provide. He enjoys time spent teaching volunteers, especially knowledge he has gained from our Blue Hat corps. Mario hopes that our affiliate programming continues to grow and dreams of completing a home BLITZ where local organizations come together to build an entire house in a week! He believes the sky is the limit for what we are capable of achieving and looks forward to being an integral part of those milestones.

Clay is the Construction Manager for the east team at Lake-McHenry Habitat, having started in the Fall of 2022.  His career has been engineering.  The opportunity to join Habitat for Humanity and be involved with making a meaningful impact on my neighboring communities is important to me.  Outside of working at Habitat, Clay enjoys long distance bicycling on local club rides.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Kal began his journey with Habitat as a volunteer in 2019. His passion for the mission that Habitat leads is to simply make a difference. Both as a volunteer, and now on staff, Kal especially enjoys his time working one on one with homeowners, and volunteers. He finds it gratifying to watch them build relationships over time as they make an even bigger impact on their communities. He hopes to continue to see the growth within our affiliate and build a Critical Home Repair program that truly makes a significant impact on the communities we serve. Kal hopes to see CHR become a nationwide staple, helping keep families in the homes they work hard to own.

Christian Perez is the Critical Home Repair Program Coordinator at Lake-McHenry Habitat for Humanity where he channels his passion for service into improving the lives of others. Since childhood, Christian has harbored a deep-seated love for being capable, useful, and helpful to those around him. This drive to make a positive impact on his community led him to pursue a career in nonprofit work, where he could turn his innate desire to assist others into meaningful action.

Christian approaches his work in the Critical Home Repair Program with unwavering dedication and compassion. He works tirelessly to ensure that families in need receive the support and resources necessary to make critical repairs to their homes, fostering safer and more stable living environments for those who need it most.
Christian’s commitment to service extends to his personal life as well where he is a loving husband and father of two young children. Christian’s family-oriented values drive him to work even harder to create a better future for not only his own family but also for families throughout Lake and McHenry County.

Wendy started her journey with Habitat in 2021 working at the Woodstock ReStore alongside her husband Joe. Wendy loves this organization. Working with the customers and families that come in fulfills her, as leadership and service are second nature to her. She believes in what Habitat does. In her position she hopes to grow the stores and presence in the community. She wishes to dispel misconceptions of what we do so that more people understand the relationship between the ReStores, the organization, and what the profits go toward. Her mission is to help the public see the impact of their patronage and donations.

Bio coming soon!

Stephanie began as a volunteer with Habitat and with time became staff. She enjoys knowing her job allows her to help people, and hopes to have many more homeowners benefit from the hard work that the ReStores do to assist in the mission to make affordable homeownership possible.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

To schedule a pick up from our ReStore truck contact [email protected] with photos of your items, and your location.

Taco is in charge of ReStore morale. He provides invaluable companionship, tender chirps, and if you’re lucky, a soft head to scratch. He is thrilled to know that his very hard and important work nibbling timothy hay, and gobbling various vegetables and greens is a direct catalyst toward making affordable homeownership solutions possible in Lake and McHenry counties. When he isn’t napping or scurrying around his guinea-mansion he enjoys listening to all of the happy ReStore customers score wonderful deals on their treasures found in store.