Making a Difference: Building Up Other Women
Tammy Kato is making a difference, one nail at a time.
As operator qualification program manager at Hawaiʻi Gas, Kato is also part of Wahine Build, Honolulu’s Habitat for Humanity program that brings together women volunteers to build homes for underserved populations.
Last year, Kato helped lead a team of women to build a home for a widow with children, foundation on up. Habitat provided the initial training, and Kato, who has experience in restoration and mechanics, soon found herself training other women and men on the job. Together, she and other volunteers worked on framing, cutting wood, ensuring walls were aligned correctly, roofing, painting and setting up a garage.
The overall feeling on the site? Empowerment, says Kato. “Women are pretty underrepresented in a lot of areas,” she says. “I try to be self-sufficient, so when it comes to volunteering, I want to pass on those skills. Then there’s the camaraderie and satisfaction of knowing you’re helping someone else.”
In her job, Kato says she serves people every day by ensuring personnel who perform safety-sensitive field tasks are properly qualified and compliant with federal and state regulations. But that desire to help goes well beyond her day job. Kato is known throughout Hawaiʻi Gas as someone always willing to help. Along with Habitat for Humanity, she volunteers for Special Olympics, running Hawaiʻi Gas’ employee volunteer effort and its related youth athlete event. She’s also gotten her feet wet in volunteering to rebuild and repair the Waikalua Loko l’a fishpond, a local treasure, restoring its rock wall to protect it against rising sea levels and pulling invasive mangrove.
“A lot of people when they [need volunteer help], they immediately come to me. They know I’m going to say yes. I always engage in what they’re doing no matter how tired I am,” she said with a laugh. “But I enjoy it.”
For Kato, who used to work with children and families at the local YMCA’s afterschool and summer programs, volunteering feeds her love of supporting her community. “I have daughters who are also following my footsteps. They come out with me to these events, and they love to help. They like seeing people happy and making people smile, too.”
During the most recent Wahine Build home, Kato saw the impact of her and her team’s work firsthand. “The owner of the house was also working on the house with us,” she said. “Just to see her face, the elation that she was getting out of all this, was just rewarding itself.”
She added, “I’m always going to be looking for something to do. Sometimes you forget what you have. The things you go through aren’t necessarily as extravagant, although it seems like it. Other people may have something they’re going through that’s way worse than what you have. [Volunteering] helps you stay grounded.”