Volunteer of the Month! Merle “the Closer” Kovtun

By far, the most rewarding part of my job is the personal connections we get to make, with our volunteers as well as clients, sponsors and community partners. And oooh boy! Our volunteers really know how to have a good time – our projects, events and celebrations always have a lot of joking around, good natured teasing and general snarky-ness. Apparently this is fairly common among trades guys & gals and as one Construction Captain said it best, “to be in this field (trades), you need a sense of humor.”

This makes sense, as a tradesperson works very long days doing extremely physical tasks, not to mention the constant problem solving – so the ideal personality would be a snarky problem solver, who works hard but never loses their sense of humor. Well, I have the poster boy for Snarky Problem Solver – if you haven’t already, please meet our longtime volunteer Merle Kovtun, also known by RTSF staff as “the Closer.”

Merle first volunteered with Rebuilding Together San Francisco in 1999, when his wife, Sandy, was the Volunteer Captain for her company and then sponsor, the Jewish Family & Children’s Services and “shamed” him into volunteering. Well, thank goodness she did, because Merle came back the next year and was a Construction Captain for over 6 years, working mainly with homeowners because of it requires more of a personal touch. About 7 years ago, Merle was ready for another change and supports our year round program, Home Safety, as well as supporting other Rebuilding Day Construction Captains’ by being a skilled ‘floater’ – hence the nick-name “the Closer.”

On a fairly regular basis, we give Merle 1-3 home repair tasks, such as installing a deadbolt, fixing a sink leak or hooking up a gas line for a new dryer, often situations that we have been unable to fix or solve, and sure enough, Merle closes the case. Once again, the Closer to the rescue and another sweet older lady, that much safer in her home. We have a great need for flexible handy folks to volunteer with our year round Home Safety program (which supports over 200 clients’ age safely in their home a year) and Merle’s support has been invaluable. He’s fearless about tackling just about any home repair and his dedication is amazing – a couple years ago, he was on a project (also with 2 other volunteers & myself) until 11pm because a plumbing situation had turned ugly (or, when I learned the term “can of worms”). Because it was the family’s only bathroom, the entire team refused to leave until they had a working toilet again.

I asked Merle what he enjoys about volunteering with RTSF and he said, “Jobs that can deliver the most impact for a homeowner and can be delivered with workers of all skill levels.” Agreed! And while he enjoys taking leadership around projects & being a mentor, he also finds it “really gratifying when young captains are taking over the reins, which makes for a healthy organization. The youth are stepping up!” *hi-five* I really couldn’t have said it better.

Merle also enjoys our annual skill build, where we coordinate a one day build project (either a house, garage demo or planter box building) specifically for our trades gals and guys to work together on a technical intensive project. He loved “how amazing it was to work with highly skilled guys from all sorts of trades with each highly skilled builder bringing their own experience to the projects.”

When asked what he would say to people that are considering volunteering, he replied “For anyone who’s considering this type of work, they’ll find it to be gratifying as well as addictive – it just feels like the right thing to do. I’ve always been really pleased with everything that RTSF has done.”

Thank YOU, Merle “the Closer” Kovtun, for over 12 years of dedicated service, fierce problem solving and endless teasing!