Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Pam Kennedy and Linda Beall of Warsaw Housing Opportunities spent their vacations working.
The women participated in a house-building "blitz" during the 22nd annual Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity International.
"They built 20 houses in one week," Kennedy, WHO's executive director said of the Benton Harbor, Mich., project.
Volunteers apply for the opportunity to work with Habitat during a Carter Work Project. Kennedy and Beall were selected as office assistants. That work ended in a couple of days. They found themselves serving a meal to more than 2,000 people one day and pounding nails into siding panels the next.
Kennedy marveled at the preparation and organization that goes into each house. Foundations had been set and the buildings were framed with 2-by-4s when work crews arrived.
Semi trailers with material for each house were parked in front of each foundation.
"Each piece of the house is inventoried, from interior walls down to the last nail. Each item was checked out," she said. "If a board was cut wrong and had to be replaced, it was checked off as damaged. Someone would hop in a golf cart and go get a new one. There was a lumber yard on site."
Habitat for Humanity International's goal is to build simple, decent and affordable houses for low-income families around the world.
Prospective homeowners provide "sweat" equity. They work on each aspect of the house.
The Benton Harbor homes would have cost $105,000 to $110,000 to build. With volunteer labor the two- and four-bedroom houses cost $50,000. Homeowners pay for materials by taking out an interest-free loan.
The June 19-24 event was sponsored by the Whirlpool Corp.
"Whirlpool brought in employees from all over the world," Kennedy said. "They were given journals and sent a report and photographs back to their departments every day."
Whirlpool also sponsored six homes. The Carter family sponsored another. Other organizations hosted the other houses.
"Some teams have worked together for years. Crew members take vacation days and pay $600 to be part of the project.
"We were with the Willow Creek Church. They were the only church team I saw. They let the homeowner pick out her own colors to paint the walls. In other homes, the walls were just white."
Signs in front of each house announced the sponsoring agency and team members.
"Here we 'hide' who gets help," Kennedy said. "There, they had family portraits on the house signs. The local newspaper took pictures of everyone and had a short story about them. They wear t-shirts with 'homeowner' on the back. All that was really different."
The homeowner Kennedy and Beall worked with was a single mother with four children. She had never had her own home.
During the week, all children attend a Bible School. No youngsters were allowed on the hard-hat-only construction site.
New volunteers eventually find their niche, Kennedy said.
"Lin and I were installing siding and thought we were doing pretty well. Someone had us rip it all off because it wasn't right."
At night, professional construction workers come in and "fix" mistakes. If a team was behind schedule, these workers caught everything up, making sure all the teams start at the same point the next day.
"Michigan has stricter building codes than Indiana. All the electrical and plumbing work was done by professionals.
"Crews got very competitive near the end. Volunteers would spend their own money for extra things like flower boxes and plants."
On the last day, former President Carter goes to each home and presents a Bible. The children see their new house for the first time, bringing along a bird house they made during the week.
The Boy Scouts install a U.S. Flag. A laundry basket of groceries is provided. The family's first meal was prepared by a catering company.
During the ceremony, crew members and the new homeowners pray together.
"We all put our hands on the floor and wrote a Bible verse. This shows that not only were we there to help for the week, but we'd always be there as her foundation, forever.
"The final presentation is the key, which makes the house a home."
Habitat for Humanity International alternates projects, going overseas one year and returning to the U.S. the next.
Kennedy would like to be assigned to a house crew during the next United States blitz.
"I was invited to Arizona, where there is always a Habitat home under construction."
Of course, she figures a three- or four-house building blitz would be possible here.
"We have the organization, we have the workers, we have the corporations to sponsor it ... so, we'll see."
