A sea of bright pink t-shirts greeted me last week as the crew from Best Buy wrapped up their lunch break and got back to the job at hand: painting! Buckets, brushes, and rollers – wrapped, labeled “white” and lined up in a row – filled the living room, and the air was heavy with the unmistakable scent. The volunteers chatted away as they covered the walls with a gentle cream color, just one more step in transforming the house into a real home for Basra and her family.
Speaking of Basra, she’s making progress of her own. Because she recently started a new job, she’s been fulfilling her sweat equity requirements on Saturdays alongside other home buyers (so many Habitat home buyers put in their sweat equity hours on top of one, or two, or even three jobs). As of a few weeks ago, she has completed more than half of her sweat equity hours and 10 of the 11 required home buyer training classes, which she said have been “very helpful”. On July 25, Basra got to work on her own house. Justine Murphy, a TCHFH AmeriCorps Construction Volunteer Facilitator, has worked with Basra many times and had this to say about her:
“Basra is such a great person to work alongside of. She is very determined, motivated, and driven. When she claims she cannot do or complete a certain task I assure her that she can do it. She keeps trying until she finishes the job she is working on. She is really detail orientated and that means a lot. When she saw 10 other homebuyers working on her home she was ecstatic. She kept saying ‘Thank you so much!!’ to every home buyer. When I first worked with Basra she was very intimidated to use power tools. Once I showed her how to use them she told me that she was a professional! When she said that, I realized that is why I volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.”
Special thanks go out to our Week 9 Team Leaders who also provided lunch to their hungry volunteers: Gwen Leifeld with Valspar, Ceace Haagensen with Xcel Energy, and Janet Blackstad with Best Buy. And gratitude as well for Alison Tasler and Scott from the Corner Table for providing lunch on two days with individual volunteers.
And thanks for your continued support of Women Build. Never before have I been in contact with such a caring, supportive, strong, and compassionate group of women. It’s simply a pleasure getting to meet (and take pictures of) all of you!
Be well,
Andrea
Andrea Cole
Women Build 2009 Committee Member
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity
matt haugen
matt haugen : 10:50 AM on July 5, 2009
