Women Build 2008
Female volunteers put construction skills to workBy Marcelle Hanemann
St. Tammany News
Published on Friday, March 14, 2008 9:08 AM CDT
Most of the volunteers' T-shirts were pink, and a rather high-pitched whoop seemed to spontaneously erupt periodically from one quarter or another as work got under way on the latest batch of Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West homes.
Upon closer inspection, the explanation became apparent. The two residences, located on Rose Street outside of Abita Springs, are being constructed as part of Women Build 2008. The wall-raising ceremony took place Monday.
The Women Build program, underwritten in this case by a $25,000 grant from Lowe's, unites women from all walks of life to learn and then use construction skills "as part of the solution to poverty housing."
On Monday, scores of female volunteers with newfound construction skills not only put up some walls, they hammered floors and more. Lowe's representatives and members of the two families that will inhabit the homes joined the ladies in their labors.
"This is so wonderful," said Hasina Javery, who will share a home with her husband, Nick, his mother and his 15 year-old sister. "My husband and I are really overwhelmed. It's more the experience than the actual house. There are so many people who care and who ask for nothing in return. It makes it even that much more special."
The second home will be owned by Mary McDonald, her son, Lachon, and grandson, Andre.
On Monday, the front wall on the McDonald house was the first to go up. About an hour later, dozens of pink-clad volunteers hoisted the back wall with a little help from Lowe's. Meanwhile, the sounds of hammering resounded from the residence under construction just up the block.
Mary Catherine Regan, a local Habitat board member, sat in front of the Javery house.
"This is the very first Mary Catherine Regan house," she said, smiling.
Regan and four other women who "have been integral to the success of Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West" were honored on site during the wall-raising ceremonies. Each has one of five new house plans, designed by local architect Shiloh Moates, named in her honor. Besides Regan, the design namesakes are Emily Diamond, Marilyn Wenzel, Barbara Bahlinger and Phyllis Gremillion.
"Just as women today are building these houses, we are honoring the women who dedicated themselves to building our affiliate," said Maureen Clary, president and CEO of the local Habitat, which Diamond helped initiate in 1981.
It was the 10th Habitat affiliate in the United States and the first in Louisiana.
The St. Tammany West affiliate has since completed more than 100 repairs, 17 major home renovations and 140 new construction projects, and sold the residences with no-profit, zero-interest mortgages to partner families.
The Javerys and McDonalds are next in line, and their homes are getting a gentle yet guided touch.
Lowe's will sponsor on-site "how to" clinics for the volunteers throughout the two-week construction project.
"Through Lowe's ongoing commitment to Habitat, we see first-hand the impact Habitat makes on people's lives," said Tim Richmer, Covington store manager. "While Lowe's grants for the McDonald's and Javery's homes enable us to help address the issue of affordable housing in our community, my colleagues and I find the opportunity to offer our construction know-how and volunteer on the build site to be an equally worthwhile investment - an investment of our time and energy."
To get involved or for additional information on Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West, call 893-3172 or visit www.habitatstw.org.
Modular Houses Help to Scale-up Hurricane Rebuilding
http://www.habitat.org/gulfrecoveryeffort/progress/03_09_2007_modular_houses.aspx
COVINGTON, La. (March 9, 2007)
Habitat for Humanity in Covington, La., put two homes on foundations today in a fast-track move to provide permanent homes in partnership with families affected by Hurricane Katrina. In an event that highlighted modular construction techniques, Habitat affiliates from as far away as Dallas and North Carolina joined the St. Tammany West affiliate to watch two homes being lifted in place by a crane and to tour some of the 24 modular-built houses in a subdivision between Abita Springs and Covington. At the same time, volunteers, family members and staff installed flooring in modular homes that had been delivered earlier.
"We'll complete these 24 homes in four months—and that's amazing," said Maureen Clary, executive director of Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West. "At the same time, we're able to keep up a busy schedule of stick-built homes."
Before the hurricane, the affiliate had planned an aggressive push to build 20 to 30 homes a year, starting in 2007. Since October 2005, the affiliate has 49 homes completed or under construction, with plans to complete 100 homes within two years of the hurricane.
The three- and four-bedroom modular homes, all with front porches, were designed by Covington architect Shiloh Moates. The modular homes are the same high quality as the rest of the local Habitat homes.
"These homes were factory-built to our standards, including 130-mile an hour wind-load. With the rain we've had, we wouldn't be nearly as far along if we had been building them all on site," said Clary.
"Modular housing is just another tool we are encouraging affiliates to use to scale-up building for hurricane-affected families," said Veronica Taylor, senior director of Operation Home Delivery, Habitat's hurricane-recovery program.
Seeing the homes arrive over the past few weeks has helped to ease first-time homeowner Shawn Schexnayder's mind about the future for her and her daughter Hayley.
"We were supposed to move out of the trailer by March 1st, but we got an extension," Schexnayder said. "I'm just so relieved to be able to buy this house, because rent has gotten so high around here."
Tommy and Angie Mulligan will reunite their family when they move into their home at the corner of Success and Pansy streets. Since the hurricane, the couple and their one-year-old son Aidan have shared a room in his grandmother's house. Angie's daughters, ages seven and six, are staying with relatives until the house is finished. So is Tommy's 14-year-old daughter, Christina.
"It means a lot to me to provide a good home for my family," said Mulligan. "We have worked and saved for this. I want our house to be the place where all the relatives come for Easter and Thanksgiving."