Habitat for Humanity - Three Layers Thick!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The first day presented a challenge right away in the morning.  We were split into two groups; the first group worked in the morning and the second group worked in the afternoon.  I was a part of the first group; we arrived at the house, signed our waivers, and got to work right away!  The task was to rip off a roof that was covered in three rotten, peeling layers of shingles.  Underneath, we found many soft spots in the wood boards as well.  For being an older home, the roof contained many angles and dangles; it was more than just a two big sections; I would estimate 1200 square feet total!  I worked with the crew on the roof; after ripping off shingles for a while, we were instructed to tear down the chimney.  It extended about three feet above the roof; I worked with Travis Camp and Luke Wynsma to tear it down brick by brick!  However, what was even more incredible was the grounds crew!  Standing knee deep in shingles, they had everything cleaned up perfectly as fast as it was torn off!  By noon, we had almost the entire roof of shingles and the gutters ripped off and in the dumpster!  We began to clean the roof of loose nails and pieces of shingle.  The afternoon group took over at about 1:00 a.m..  They replaced rotten boards and added nails in loose boards.  They added a lot of nails to secure each board!  One area was totally stripped down to the rafters and replaced with a sheet of plywood!  Some of the students worked until 7:00 p.m. to finish tar paper on our section of the roof.  Many of us were full of blisters from a day of hard work.  With the exception of one small section in the back of the house, the roof was totally ready for shingles after our work!

Let me backtrack and emphasize that the need here was very apparent here!  In fact, what I saw when looking through the worst area in the roof was shocking!  The water damage had caused a huge section of the ceiling to collapse, exposing the attic to the living space below!  About the equivalent of a full sheet of drywall was totally open to the attic.  There were three women living in the house: Jackie, Dorothy and Mayme.  Can you imagine watching your home deteriorate, but not being able to fix the problem?  After searching for help over a period of several years, these women were losing hope of ever getting help on their home.  Being persistent in prayer, God hooked them up with the Fuller Center for Housing.  Only one week after getting the good news, work was being done for these women, and we we're the first to get it started!  The Fuller Center for Housing was founded by Millard & Linda Fullur, who also founded Habitat for Humanity.  We were privileged to meet Millard Fuller himself; he has impacted so many people!  After being finished with Habitat for Humanity, he started the Fuller Center for Housing in 2005.  In just three years, The Fuller Center for Housing has been expanding exponentially!

The Americus Times-Recorder published an article about the day:

http://www.fullercenter.org/site/DocServer/03232008.pdf?docID=2001

In summary, our first day was a huge success!  The teamwork was amazing; there was no complaining and everyone worked hard to contribute in their own way, seeing the project to completion!  Others contributed in many ways too!  There was a team that did an excellent job preparing pasta, meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and brownies for dinner.  All I can say is that I am looking forward to next week with much anticipation; it's going to be amazing!

--Joel Wyse