Hazel first heard about Habitat for Humanity and started volunteering in 2005. She did all of the filing after her initial job of keeping the tiny storage room organized. She then added taking pictures of all Habitat events and pictures of Habitat houses under construction in 2006. Hazel took charge over creating beautiful scrapbooks that hold each year's memories through photos and newspaper clippings. Hazel is a skilled historian and has taken charge of archiving Habitat's history, volunteer records and keeping fantastic record of all events - both big and small. "I suppose volunteering at Habitat so long has become a habit," said Hazel. "I like what I do. I enjoy doing the “library” books, and I enjoy filing for NaCole because I like to organize “stuff.”  Also, I have taken pictures of the construction guys so long I feel like they are long-time friends.  I have been taking pictures of Don Rollens, Chuck Haney, Danny Britt for 10 years, and for the others as long as they have been volunteering on construction," said Hazel.

Hazel is now retired, but she worked in the sales department of a steel foundry in Shreveport, LA over 32 years. She then worked for a real estate attorney about 12 years. While working for the attorney, she had a Notary Public license, which allowed her to close real estate transactions  A Notary can do that in Louisiana because you have to earn a license by passing some very extensive tests.

Hazel loves to travel and has had many adventures to other states and countries. "After retiring several times (the attorney kept calling me back), I moved to O’ahu (Hawaii) because my daughter and her husband had moved there where she was teaching school and he was a nurse in O’ahu," said Hazel. "I had a wonderful 2-years vacation there before they decided to go to Dhaka, Bangladesh where my daughter taught in the American International School and her husband was the school nurse."

Hazel is an extremely active and hardworking at Habitat for Humanity, and she also spends her time volunteering at other places. She volunteers at First Baptist Church wherever she is needed, and she also completes special projects for one of her Sunday School class leaders. "Dale McClure, Ginger Shaffer, Brian Silkett (all HFH volunteers) and another friend and I furnish dinner at the Emergency Shelter once a month. She has recruited a Habitat staff member and his wife who also help by preparing a large dish every month that they serve at the shelter.

We cannot say how grateful we are to volunteers like Hazel Spain. Hazel has been a giving of her time and talents to Habitat for many years, and we would not be able to grow and accomplish our mission without her contribution and the contributions of many other volunteers.