|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, June 29, 2008 9:06 PM CDT
It's smooth sailing for Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Future homeowner Pat Shannon didn’t need a tool belt Saturday to help with the Coles County Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build.
“I’m retirement age and I’m not going to get up on a roof. But I do what I can do,” said the Navy veteran as she worked the drink stand while mostly younger volunteers nailed down wooden sheeting for her house as the effort wound down.
She has helped on three Habitat projects by painting and carrying materials or water to the builders. Habitat for Humanity has volunteers, including prospective home owners, build houses for affordable prices with no-interest loans.
“And I like greeting people, too,” she said with a smile.
Her home is part of a double-house development on E Street in Charleston. The interior work is under way in her future neighbor’s home, while the blitz served as a time to put up the walls and roof as well as a storage shed for her residence next door.
“It’ll take two more months to finish this out. It all depends on the help we get from now on. We just work on Saturdays,” said Charlie Smith, one of the site supervisors on the Blitz Build. “We had a great day and great people out here today.”
Mark Lawson, Habitat site manager, said members of six different churches joined in on the project Saturday. The only drawback was a brief downpour Saturday morning, but that just left some shoes and boots muddy as well as some of the wooden sheeting for the new house. Volunteers felt relieved when a check of weather radar via a cell phone confirmed the skies would clear up.
“We even built a little shed on the back side,” Lawson said.
The neighboring houses are similar in design, but far from cookie cutter creations, Shannon said.
Walking through the work site in her neighbor’s home, she pointed out how Habitat allows for individual design and colors to fit a new homeowner’s needs and preferences. The group also provides financial support for utilities and some home accessories.
“These can be our homes with our own tastes,” she said. “On the outside these two houses will look similar, but they are different.”
Habitat helps families realize the dream of home ownership, but it also provides homes for individuals like Shannon. In the military, she never had a chance to invest in her own home, she said. Today, she lives in a mobile home court north of her future residence.
“I thought you had to have kids to get a Habitat home. Then they told me I could apply.
“I moved around a lot in the Navy. This will be my first home and my last,” Shannon said.
“It is really wonderful what all these people do this for others,” she said as the hammers kept ringing and a saw was grinding through another piece of wood.
She plans to be in her new home in early fall. And she plans to bring tokens from her years in Florida.
“I have palm trees to remind me of Florida. And I will bring them here,” she said.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
