The sun was already blazing early Monday morning as people gathered by the new foundation on Deppe Street in West St. Paul for this summer’s Women Build Kick-off. As guests arrived and mingled, Site Supervisor Anna Morrison gave instructions to that day’s volunteer crew from Wells Fargo (one of Women Build’s major sponsor groups). When all was ready, TCHFH President Sue Haigh welcomed everyone, and the first build of the summer was underway!
As volunteers, neighbors, donors, and Habitat staff listened, Darlene Lewis, Councilperson Ward 3 for the City of West St. Paul, explained the history of the neighborhood, which is part of the “40 Acres” area of the city. Exclaiming how impressed she was when she heard that the house was being built by women, she compared today’s opportunities for women with the rather limited opportunities in the past.
Women Build Co-Chair Allyson Knudsen spoke of more opportunities – the opportunities that Habitat provides hard-working families – and said that being involved with Women Build is an “inspiring and humbling” experience. She spoke of Worki Seboka, the Deppe home’s recently selected homebuyer, who couldn’t be at the ceremony because of her work schedule. Worki, who has 3 children, daughter, Filagot is 15, daughter Root is 13, and son, Adam is 11 years old – had been saving money so that her husband could join them from their home country of Ethiopia. Tragically, he passed away before he could be reunited with them. Their Habitat home will enable them to move from their one bedroom apartment into a place with room for everyone.
Next, Anna stressed the importance of the foundation in the ground as a foundation for Worki and her children. She gave some brief instructions, and a team assembled to lift the first floor truss onto the foundation. And, with the sound of hammers hitting nails filling the air, our build had begun!
Check out the videos from CBS and KSTP who were on site for the event.
Special thanks go out to Week 1 Team Leaders: Allyson Knudsen and Wells Fargo, Andersen Corporation, and Cheryl Garrison leading the Pearson Team. Allyson sponsored lunch from Cecil’s Deli on the first day, and Becca Kvasnik provided lunch on not just one but FOUR days! Thanks, Becca!
To view photos of the kick-off and first week of the build, visit our Flickr photostream or our Facebook page. If you have photos you’d like to share, you can e-mail them to womenbuildphotos@gmail.com or use Streamfile to easily send multiple photos at once.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the summer!
Be well,
Andrea
2011 Women Build Committee
P.S. There are still plenty of opportunities this summer for women to sign up to help. Visit VolunteerHub to get involved.
matt haugen : 10:21 AM on May 20, 2011
matt haugen