Today, we're pleased to share the truly inspiring story of Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps member Regina Best.

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Regina Best was recently homeless and became so passionate about service that she spent months building homes for others before finding one for herself. Now in her own apartment and back in school, Best is determined to keep serving well beyond her AmeriCorps term.

While in Washington, DC, for Habitat for Humanity's veterans build-a-thon on the National Mall, Best spoke to WTOP and told her story:

WASHINGTON - It's just before noon on an overcast and humid Sunday on the National Mall. Regina Best is down on her right knee, a screwdriver firm in her right hand, the nose held steady by her left. As she's done countless times in the past couple of hours, she gives a strong squeeze of the trigger to drill another screw into the frame of what soon will become a home for a family without one.

Best is dressed properly for the occasion, with her short, petite frame swallowed up by a baggy gray T-shirt. She wears equally baggy gray shorts that hide her knees, casual black shoes, white socks that conceal her ankles and a left wrist full of trendy plastic bands that, together, are the color of a rainbow.

Read the full story.

So, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and florists will be scrambling to fill orders and chocolate consumption is expected to rise by maybe a jillion percent. Suppose we take this day dedicated to love and use it to show that we have big hearts by serving or giving to others?
 

As an AmeriCorps VISTA at Habitat for Humanity International, I spend most of my days planning for events, attending meetings for upcoming projects, and supporting the wonderful and exciting things my fellow Habitaters (coworkers) are doing. Recently, I had an opportunity to see the impact Habitat makes firsthand as we led a project to help homeowners affected by Hurricane Sandy.
 

The Hurricane Sandy recovery continues with more than 1,660 national service participants deployed in response to the storm and 715 currently serving on the ground and working with the storm’s victims. At this time 407 members of FEMA Corps, an AmeriCorps NCCC unit, have deployed or are being re-routed to New York and New Jersey to support FEMA Emergency Response operations in those areas.
 

In the spring of 2011, a Marine stood on the porch steps of his new home in Annapolis, MD. He was not thinking about the beautiful row house that he would now share with his wife and four children, but was looking down at the porch that he helped build with his own hands. He was contemplating his spirit of service with a renewed vigor and hope.
 

For Tina Kiehn, an AmeriCorps NCCC member in Aurora, IL, the morning of September 11, 2001, started out as a day like any other. She was at her service site, helping a class of first graders adjust to the new school year. With summer just behind them, Kiehn and her team expected a normal daily schedule: classes, recess, homework help.