Troy Hannigan: Project Manager

Name: Troy Hannigan

Age: 25

College: Philadelphia University, Architecture major

From: York, Pennsylvania

Time At Habitat: 3 Years

Troy Hannigan is one of the many do-it-all staffers at the Habitat Philly branch.  As Project Coordinator, Troy is the guy behind the scenes making the arrangements that eventually make construction possible. “We mostly handle property acquisition.  We get most of our property through some city agency or donated property and we are constantly looking at that, and thinking of strategies for upcoming projects” said Hannigan.   Some of his tasks include property acquisition, funding management, and even working on the construction site, just to name a few.  “It’s a constant juggling act between getting what’s now so it’s a lot of planning for the future.  We always have to be 5 steps ahead.   We have a vision of building more homes per year.  Right now were at about 8 homes per year but down the road we are looking to build about 20-30 per year” said Hannigan. 

How Did you Get Started With Habitat?

I started [at Habitat] as an AmeriCorps member which is a year of service. It is a federal program contracted through the corporation of national community service.  There are thousands of AmeriCorps members across the nation.  Just in Habitat there are about 600 hundred each year.  Their typical job is construction, so they’re like the leaders on site leading the volunteers directly.  When I started my role was similar to my role now in the project planning dept, doing land acquisition and development.

I did two years in AmeriCorps one in project planning and then one in construction and then found an opportunity to get hired full time with Habitat.

What is the Most Rewarding Aspect of Working for Habitat?

“The dedications that we have.  They’re why were all here, is that point.  We’re actually having three in May. That’s the end of the process and it’s really great to see the family move in.  Especially because these are the first families I‘ve seen throughout the entire process so to finally see them get their own home is really, really exciting.”

“Working on site with volunteer and partner families throughout the building process is really what we’re all about.  Focused on the volunteers the overall knowledge and experience with the people we are working and sharing the need for affordable housing.”

What is the Most Challenging Aspect of Being Project Coordinator?

Making sure everything lines up on time so that construction can get under way.  We are working with agencies, architects, engineers; there’s a huge amount of players were working with and we have to get them on the same page at the same time.