Women Builde 2009 week 4 update

I was really excited to get to the site this week to see the progress the volunteers has made, especially after being out of town for a couple of weeks. And I wasn’t disappointed – there the house stood, both floors, all wrapped and roofed and surrounded by bright yellow scaffolding. I found Site Supervisor Betsy around the back of the house with crew leader Britta Wangstad, talking about how to level the scaffolding that was still being set up on the front of the house. A short time later I tracked down Betsy and her right-hand gal Jaclyn to get an update on the work that had been done that week: the housewrap had been wrapped up (pun intended), the roofing had been completed, and the windows and doors had been installed, meaning the house was completely “dried-in”. The volunteers were working on the soffit and fascia under the eaves, and major headway was being made on the siding – a new composite wood product that’s easy for volunteers to install. In addition to all that activity, the subcontractors were on site roughing in the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC components of the house.

Everyone was happily working away – measuring, cutting, nailing, hauling supplies to the top level of scaffolding via a roped bucket. But I did get a chance to talk to that day’s Team Leader, Dawn Puroway, a veteran (8 years, since college) volunteer who also serves on TCHFH’s Family Selection Committee. For the second year in a row, she’d gathered a group of friends and family, even drawing in her sister-in-law from New Jersey, to help out a family in need. It’s a chance “to get people together for a good cause and spend time with people that I really like,” she said before getting back to her crew, who were measuring and cutting the siding for other teams to install. I felt lazy just walking around the site and watching everyone else work away, but then I remembered that my camera was a tool, too – a tool that I use to capture the story of yet another home built by strong, caring women for another exceptional woman, Basra, and her family.

I can’t forget to thank last week’s superstars (although everyone who shows up is a superstar, really): Jane Bolton, Pepe Wonosikou and the crew from Dunwoody, Team Leaders Kate Loe and Dawn Puroway, and Lunch Providers Allyson Rudy, Bonnie Serio, Shirley Bennet, Katie Husband and Eliza Appert..

This message will be sent to everyone on our Women Build mailing list and every person that has signed up through VolunteerHub. When you get a chance, head over to the Women Build website to see more pictures and read past updates, and thanks for being a part of this year’s build!

Andrea Cole
2009 Women Build Committee Member
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity