Week 2 at Habitat

Cold and rainy weather dominated week two at Habitat, but it didn't stop us from working.

At the Women Build house, the retaining wall and porch railing were finished.

While volunteers were working on the porch railing, I assisted at another house raking out dirt clods, preparing the soil for seeding and hay.

I'm learning that so much of construction is preparation. Get and load the right tools, build walkways to cover the clay mud so that workers can access the house without falling down, have some experts who can direct and teach the unskilled, and have a plan B if the weather prevents work. We did all of that last week. The plan B included cleaning up the outside of the Habitat Headquarters in preparation for the 30th birthday celebration on Saturday.

On one of the clear days, we built and raised "down walls" at the 37th St. Terrace house. There are more picture here. From the photos you can see that most of the volunteers are men. I don't mind being one of the few women on the site. I'm learning a lot from the skilled guys. They are great about offering their building tips: how to pull out a nail, make a cut without the wood binding, and using a Sawzall. I don't get treated any differently than the guys and I don't hesitate to ask when I don't know how to do something.

On Friday, despite the cold and muddy conditions we proceeded with work on the 37th Terrace house. We added sill plates, bolted down the front wall, put in the supports for the beam, squared and plumbed the walls, and set several of the floor joists, but ran out of time to install them.  About midday, a ceremony was held to dedicate the house to the homeowner. At lunch we enjoyed barbecue and then we continued our work on the "guts" of the house. I'm learning how important it is to get them right so that the next steps can be done correctly. Make things level and square. When you make mistake, and you will, catch them and fix them before you move on.

Saturday was the 30th Anniversary celebration. I volunteered at the "decorate you own cupcake" table. Unfortunately, the weather was windy and near freezing, so fewer people showed up than were expected, but it did not dampen the celebratory spirits. Habitat KC has been "building houses, building hope and changing lives" for 30 years and they continue to do so. I feel privileged to be a small part of that progress.