Last week all the Habitat Americorps travelled to one of three sites for a week of Blitz building. All the Habitat Charlotte Americorps travelled to Raleigh to build with the Wake County Habitat for Humanity. We spent the week building 5 new homes (3 from start to finish, 2 from drywall to finish), and 8-10 repair/Brush with kindness projects. I worked on the Brush with Kindness projects. My crew spent the first 3 days ripping off an old roof and replacing it. Because we usually subcontract out our roof repairs in Charlotte, it was interesting to see how you would do that with volunteers. We only tore one half of the house off at a time, papering and begining to shingle the first side before starting to demolish the other half of the roof. This allowed the family to remain in their home during the repairs. We had a great crew and stayed busy all three days. We also used harnesses to rope ourselves onto the roof. They were often in our way and we spent alot of time untangling ourselves. We spent the remainder of the week repairing decks, installing handrails, painting ad planting flowers to make families' homes safer and to beautify the neighborhood.
In the evenings we returned to the NC State campus where we were staying in one of the dorms. It was alot of fun getting to meet other people serving in different affiliates and hear about their experiences!
Friday after the home dedications and closing ceremony we drove back to Charlotte to prepare to build with the Bike and Build team riding through. Saturday we hung drywall and siding with this years' NC2SD riders. They were a fantastic bunch, energetic and passionate about the amazing summer they were embarking on! After work we had a barbeque for them where we mixed and mingled, and tried to convince them to continue in service by considering joining Americorps.
After a glorious Sunday full of yoga, runnng, reflection, and relaxation, Sean and I worked on the Veterans Build. This year we are building a house for a retired Navy Vet and his family in the Reid Park neighborhood. We had alot of media attention and alot of great volunteers who gave up their long weekend to kick off the build! With a condensed build schedule, that house is scheduled to be complete for the fourth of July.
Its been a great couple weeks of building and playing, reflecting and enjoying my time as an Americorps. And as of yesterday its official: I'm coming back to Charlotte to serve another term!
Natalie and Tom halfway through the roof repair!
Gary and his family standing in front of their newly framed house!
