In June of last year I ventured onto the foundation of my first Habitat for Humanity project. Without going into ridiculous amounts of detail or telling stories that span the last nine months of my life, I'm going to tell you what has happened.
I mean, shit. I could have had a baby. . .
Since June 2008, I've been working along side some of the most selfless women (and a handful of men) I know. I've made some incredible, life-long friends. And I built a freaking house. Like, I literally raised framing walls, installed hurricane straps, stood on scaffolding and raised entire sheets of plywood up to the second story exterior walls, hung drywall, installed insulation, you name it, I did it. I built a house.
And I kept saying that -- I kept calling it a house, day in and day out. Until the day I realized (and this was a ridiculous story) that one of the friends I'd made and had been working side-by-side with was actually the recipient of the house I was building! Knowing her, knowing her story, and knowing how great of a person she is, made me realize I wasn't building a house -- I was building a HOME!
It was after I realized the home was hers that it really became a project of heart. This was something that was going to change her life -- the lives of her three beautiful kids -- forever. And I had a hand in it! TWO hands!
Here are some of the photos:
After a celebratory lunch with some of the ladies who helped build Angelica's home.
Back row: Jane, Angelica, her son Corey, Elizabeth, Maria V, Barb, and Maryann
Front row: Jo, John, Christina, and me.
This is the house. What do you think?
Angelica, her kids, her pastor, and the director of Habitat. =]
I mean, shit. I could have had a baby. . .
Since June 2008, I've been working along side some of the most selfless women (and a handful of men) I know. I've made some incredible, life-long friends. And I built a freaking house. Like, I literally raised framing walls, installed hurricane straps, stood on scaffolding and raised entire sheets of plywood up to the second story exterior walls, hung drywall, installed insulation, you name it, I did it. I built a house.
And I kept saying that -- I kept calling it a house, day in and day out. Until the day I realized (and this was a ridiculous story) that one of the friends I'd made and had been working side-by-side with was actually the recipient of the house I was building! Knowing her, knowing her story, and knowing how great of a person she is, made me realize I wasn't building a house -- I was building a HOME!
It was after I realized the home was hers that it really became a project of heart. This was something that was going to change her life -- the lives of her three beautiful kids -- forever. And I had a hand in it! TWO hands!
Here are some of the photos:
After a celebratory lunch with some of the ladies who helped build Angelica's home.Back row: Jane, Angelica, her son Corey, Elizabeth, Maria V, Barb, and Maryann
Front row: Jo, John, Christina, and me.
This is the house. What do you think?
Angelica, her kids, her pastor, and the director of Habitat. =]
Comments