Derrill Bazzy walked around the Vanderhoop Homestead in Aquinnah on a recent spring afternoon, unable to conceal his enormous pride in the place that he had a hand in saving. As the wind howled off the Atlantic in this outpost setting at the extreme western end of the Vineyard, Mr. Bazzy took out the keys.

“This has always been one of my favorite houses on the Island,” he said, giving the door a nudge with his shoulder. “It would have been a treasure lost if we hadn’t just happened to hear about the sale.”

Inside, he sat at the kitchen table in the 1880s home that now serves as a cultural center for the town and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), pointing to 200-year-old floorboards that were recovered from a Chilmark home and installed during the renovation. The town and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank jointly bought the property eight years ago and Mr. Bazzy was deeply involved in the project.

It was just one of many projects he has been involved in through the years in Aquinnah, where among other things he has served as chairman of the town community preservation and affordable housing committees. The Vanderhoop Homestead project, he said was a kind of turning point.

“This was a point where town residents, both tribal and nontribal came together and really got excited about this house and really shared in this together,” he said. “We broke bread together, the whole thing. The more we can do that in town the healthier it’ll be for all of us.”

Mr. Bazzy, who works for the South Mountain Co. in West Tisbury, has worn many hats through the years, including in his work life.

In the 1980s he was a photographer living in Guatemala, where he documented human rights violations against indigenous tribes. The work was later put into a book.

“It was an education tool for the next generation to learn about what happened, that’s why I took the photographs so people could have a record,” he said. “I can’t begin to say how terrible it was there . . . those photographs belong to them [the Guatemalan people] and having them as an archive is a wonderful opportunity.”

Following his stint as a photographer, Mr. Bazzy returned to carpentry, a skill he had picked up as a summer job in college. He was hired as a carpenter for South Mountain and he and his wife, JoAnn Eccher, moved to Aquinnah in the early 1990s.

Documenting human rights abuses in Guatemala. — unspecified

It was a natural fit, he said.

“Most people move here because it has amazing beaches; I moved here because it’s an amazing culture with the tribe and its values and the process it has been pursuing over the last 20 years of really reclaiming its culture and its traditions,” said Mr. Bazzy. “So for us it’s been an exciting place to be because we feel quite at home. We feel we can be supportive of those values.”

He recalls the thrill of once finding a pair of Native American headstones during a walk in the woods.

But the town is about more than history; he said his neighbors keep him going every day, and his work on the affordable housing committee has been most satisfying.

“In affordable housing, I have the skills to look at a piece of property and know how it could work and whether it’d be a viable piece for housing. I also know it [the need for more affordable housing] to be an absolute priority in town and Islandwide,” he said. “When a piece of property barely buildable in the back of the woods costs half a million, no one growing up here can afford to stay. I’m very fortunate to have the skills that fit with my interests and be able to use them, and it’s fun for me.”

Now Mr. Bazzy is changing hats again; he decided to step down as the affordable housing committee chairman this year to spend more time with his son Jacob, 10, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.

Jacob is enrolled in the Son-Rise Program, an autism program that emphasizes a strict healthy diet combined with activities that bring parents of autistic children into their world by sharing in their activities. Mr. Bazzy and his wife adopted Jacob as a baby. Jacob does not speak but after working in the Son-Rise program for the past year and a half, Mr. Bazzy said they already have seen incredible changes in Jacob’s behaviors — and in their own.

“Autism is really tough on parents, I mean it’s really tough and we’ve been pretty fortunate. It creates incredible financial stresses on people and we’ve been able to have a lot of community support,” Mr. Bazzy said. He and his wife recently sent out a letter seeking financial help and got twice as much as they had hoped for. Health insurance does not cover Jacob’s special therapy and nutritional supplements.

“This program is great because it really stresses the parents and works to help us be clear about why we’re doing what we’re doing and who our kids are,” he said. “It’s so respectful of the child — we love you for who you are and we’re going to go there with you, and hopefully you’ll want to come here with us.”

He continued: “He’s an amazing kid, and clearly understands everything we’re saying. He’s way smarter than any of us and sees things we can’t see, hears things we can’t hear. It just becomes an issue of communication and connection to the world around him.

“We’re doing everything we can to see his maximum potential for him to be everything he can be. We really feel that he came to our family for a reason. He worked hard to get us and we worked hard to get him and this is all for a reason.”

Mr. Bazzy said every day is a learning experience for his family.

“I’m not a churchgoing person now, but I was raised to be a churchgoing person. One of the verses I take with me basically says, to whom much is given much will be required,” he said, referencing Luke 12:48.

“Jacob is a gift to us, we’re not sad he’s autistic. We’re here for our kid and we’re so happy we can be here, but at the same time we understand we’re learning something that’s incredibly valuable and we are becoming a resource to others. Everyone who comes in the house is greeted with a kiss, how many kids do that? We’re blessed.”

Mr. Bazzy and Ms. Eccher are looking for volunteers to help with Jacob’s Son-Rise program. Anyone who is interested may call 508-645-3245 or e-mail jeccher@earthlink.net.