Weatherization

This week we had our weatherization training. This entailed suiting up in head to toe protective gear and descending into the crawl space beneath a house to remove all the debris and laydown plastic. Then we sealed the plastic sheeting and sealed any ducts that were leaking air. After learning how to do that on Friday I led a volunteer to weatherize Vanessa’s house (the house we started last weekend) on Saturday. The space under the house was so tight in the far dark corner I was really the only person who would fit there, and it was so dark I could hardly see. The space could only be navigated by crawling belly down, and in the tightest spaces I was belly down and could nearly feel the house on my back! I’m now covered with bruised from two days of crawling over rocks and hard ground. We managed to lay down and seal the plastic sheeting very quickly. We also grouted two of the three walls around the tub which I had tiled the day before.

When we started I was told that we’ll not have very many volunteers in Critical Home Repair but I’m glad that we’ve had a few. I love working with volunteers and hearing their stories and working alongside them. We do have one regular volunteer, Bob, who comes with our team nearly every day. Bob is 84 years old and has been volunteering with Habitat since he retired. He pretty much only works with T.A. but also puts in some time at the warehouse. Last week we had trouble getting into a good rhythm, but this week Bob and I rocked the teamwork as we tiled the bathroom. All this week Sean led volunteers and ripped up the kitchen floor, replaced all the rotted wood and then retiled it. Tuesday he’ll finish building a concrete support in the crawl space fixing the sagging kitchen!

Friday after finishing working at our house we went right over to one of the new construction sites to help out Alex and Kim’s teams who were framing a new house with a bunch of volunteers. About the time we got there the volunteers were leaving so we were able to help them finishing the day’s framing and cleanup before going back home. I love that our team finishes our day early enough to
show up at another site to help out. That day left me feeling incredibly energized and happy and I was glad to be able to work on a new site in addition to the home repair work I’ve been doing. I feel like I’m learning so much already and I love being an Americorps member again!

Full PPE

Under the House!

Crawl space: Weatherized!

Getting Started!

Last week we started working with our supervisors. Our team spent the week working on one project, and then started a new house. This week I learned how to tile and grout a bathroom, which turned out awesome! Sean worked on building a new footer in the crawl space. This involved hours of mixing concrete under the house and working in the cramped space.We did a couple of other small repairs and should finish that house later this week.

Saturday we started working on a new house. We began the day with a small dedication prayer circle with staff, our volunteers, and the homeowner. We had four volunteers for the day: future homeowners who were working off their sweat equity hours. We spent the morning taking apart a rotting porch and pressure washing the exterior of the house, then the afternoon moving cinder blocks and cleaning up the site of the 30 hour build house, which we’ll be building at the end of the month as part of the affiliates 30^th anniversary 30-30-30 events. (30 projects, in 30 days, with 30 partners). Currently there are 42 projects lined up, with over 80 community partners in 30 days (not including Sundays)!

First Week in Charlotte

This was my first week of service with Habitat Charlotte as an Americorps member. It was four days of training including purchasing tools, a build day and getting our team assignments. We also toured the Habitat for Humanity offices, warehouse, and Restores. The main restore also has a used bookstore/coffeeshop attached that serves coffee and baked goods and all the proceeds go to fund Habitat houses! Although one of my goals for this year is no not acquire any books (or other treasure that seems to accumulate) it’s going to be challenging being so close! Most of the week was spent with training and orientation, and we have another week of training before we settle into our routine.

Thursday we had a big group build day with all the Americorps and the site supervisors (about 30 people total). We built a subfloor for a house and spent the day rotating teams, experiencing different supervisors and working with different Americorps members. At the end of the day we learned our team assignments. Sean and I will be on TA’s team doing critical home repair. The critical home repair program provides urgent major home repairs to low income primarily elderly homeowners. We’ll also get to build on the 30 hour house (a house we’ll build over 30 straight hours of building) and the 7 day build.

Saturday we had off for the holiday weekend, so I was able to attend the Hands on Charlotte new volunteer orientation and learn about different volunteer opportunities in the community and meet some other new volunteers. There seems to be a lot of different opportunities to volunteer, but not necessarily on my days off, so I may look into volunteering after work some days. Then I went to my first yoga class at Okra. It was a heated vinyasa class, which was a new experience for me. I like the studio, its clean and really cool to practice in. There are tree branches decorating the walls and some really unique lighting fixtures to set the mood. However belonging to a yoga studio might be too expensive this year, and a membership to the YMCA really is a better option. The YMCA offers not only yoga classes, but spin, other group exercise, a pool and general workout equipment.

The other day Zoe invited me to do a century ride in 3 weeks with a group of recent Bike and Build Alums. I haven’t ridden 100 mile ride since 2008. So I don’t know how far I’m actually going to get, but I’m going to attempt the “Hilly Hellacious Hundred” ride. I’m excited! So far it seems that a lot of the Americorps members who are from the area spend most of the weekends with the boyfriend/girlfriend/families so there’s not too much going on in our apartments on the weekends. Friday we did have our first “Family Diner.” This potluck was themes “food that begin with the letter P.” I brought potatoes, but we also had popcorn, pico (and chips), phajitas, and peaches. We also played Cards Against Humanity (politically incorrect Apples to Apples) and had the chance to hang out as a group after a great first week!

Professional Volunteer

For the past two weeks I’ve been volunteering at Birch Camp as a camp counselor. I had such a blast getting to play with kids, help them learn about the world around them, and meet some really cool volunteers. My first week I was an activity counselor for Nature. I spent a lot of time hiking around with groups, collecting frogs, and facilitating camp-outs/campfires. The camp had campers of all ages babies through adults because it was a camp for families and we also provided activities for the campers including nature hikes, “rock climbing,” fishing, and more toddler specific activities like a scavenger hunt through pine needles, and making leaf rubbings. It was  a fun week. I stayed in the cabin with the 6-8 year old girl campers and their counselors and had a lot of fun getting to know them and sharing their camp experience. The second week I was a counselor for the toddler group. We were in charge of 6 boys and girls ages 4-5. Luckily at that age the campers still stayed in cabins with their parents, but we took care of them from about 8a, until 9 or 10pm when their parents came back to the cabins. It took a lot of energy to chase around that many kids all day, but I did have a ton of fun. The kids were so adorable, and while the days were exhausting and eating meals with them was crazy I had a phenomenal time singing, dancing and playing with the campers. I hope it works out in my life schedule for next year that I can go back and volunteer. The “Birch Camp Family” was such a welcoming bunch; many were volunteers who return year after year to make the magic of camp happen and their so passionate about what they do its fabulously energizing to be around.

Yesterday I arrived in Charlotte for my new term of Americorps service with Habitat for Humanity. The affiliate threw us a welcome potluck with staff, supervisors and local Americorps Alum.  It was awesome to experience the community they have created here and everyone is very welcoming. There is a strong presence of NCCC alums and I also met some Bike and Build alums as well. Two of my new Americorps coworkers just finished their Bike and Build trips! There are also a couple people who love running so we’re planning on running together. Last night I fell asleep on the couch in the common room as my new friends watched movies and played trivia, so this morning I woke up early and managed to have a very productive day. I was able to walk to the nearest library branch (about 3.5 miles away) and get a library card. I also found a yoga studio a few blocks away from there that seems pretty cool, so I’m going to check out their classes and hopefully find a cool yoga community to belong to. Later in the day a couple of us went to uptown Charlotte to explore/celebrate Alex’s birthday. We walked around “the Green” which was an awesome park area with cool statues and fountains, then continued walking around seeing what the city had to offer. The city was surprisingly deserted, it’s certainly not a hopping metropolis, but there should be some cool events and festivals this year to enjoy!

Book Statue on the Green

Charlotte signs!

Some new friends!

7 Days Left in Denver

7 Days until I go home! I’m very excited to have a mini vacation before my world jump starts again. The last month has been absolutely fabulous! Its been full of packing and cleaning, but also enjoying Colorado. Last weekend Adam and I spent the weekend in Estes Park. We did some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park and walked around the town ducking into all the little tourist shops, and just enjoying the days together.

Last week Liz and I went to Red Rocks for the move ion the Rocks. They packed the auditorium and played the Hunger Games up on the stage. It was such as epic way to experience the movie, and the group energy from the crowd was awesome. Everyone was shouting out the quotable lines, and clapping at the victories.

Before that I went to Irish Fest. It was a beautiful day (until the torrential downpour) and I got to see a few bands, including my old supervisor Kevin’s band. It was great to sit in the front row of his show and cheer him on. 

I'm now sitting in the ReCyclery. Its a coffee/bike shop and super cool. Even the tables are made out of bicycles! I've known about this place for a while, but now I wish I'd checked it out before. It's not too far from my apartment, and I tonight I felt like I needed to get out and see something knew. I'm getting a little restless.

As I look forward to the next chapter of my life I’m starting to create a vision of goals. There’s so much I would like to experience and accomplish in this next year. I’m looking forward to all the new opportunities that a change of scenery will bring!