Just Another Day on the Job

Our daily schedule for the week looked something like this:

8:00am – 12:00pm           Morning Habitat construction work

1:00pm – 3:30/4:00pm   Afternoon Habitat construction work

4:00pm – 6:00pm             Showering/Dinner prep

6:00pm – 7:00pm             Group reflection

7:00pm – 11:00pm           Group bonding/Beach trips/Games

We got up early, stretched our sore muscles, and began the early day with Habitat. In the morning, I worked with a girl from NC State on the lattices on the foundation of the house. We had to measure the pieces of wood and use power drills to screw the lattices in place. It was pretty thrilling to finally use power tools!  In the afternoon, the group worked on covering the outer walls with Styrofoam sheets and plastic covering to act as a protectorate from water damage. Today, I also go to get to know our two Habitat leaders a little better. The volunteer coordinator, Jacqueline, and construction manager, Kate, were both young women fresh out of AmeriCorp who just couldn’t bear to leave East Cooper Habitat, and decided to stay on full-time. They were both extremely motivating and encouraging and seemed to give off the most positive attitudes.

Lunchtime on the Job - We packed lunch everyday and ate on the site.

When we had group discussion tonight, we discussed how a house and a neighborhood can bring so much more than shelter for a family. It provides security, investment, and stability. Just thinking about the support Habitat provides to families, it is simply remarkable. We discussed the role of Habitat within the issue of affordable housing. It supplies houses for qualified families with a willingness to dedicate time to Habitat to earn their house and pass their rigorous selection process. It is for families that have a stable income, but are just getting by. Sustainability is a huge aspect of Habitat because they are not merely giving homes away, but rather training people in homeownership, savings and investment. We also discussed the drawbacks of Habitat. Someone mentioned that despite the good work the organization does, they cannot end the issue of affordable housing by simply building everyone a house. The only way to truly end this problem is to tackle it legally. By forming some sort of lobbying or legal research aspect to Habitat, maybe they can end the lack of affordable housing. 

Part of the team cutting out the hole for the window