Volunteers from all over Chatham County participated in a three-day Women Build last week sponsored by Chatham Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s Home Improvement.
Hosted once every year, National Women Build Week challenges women to devote a day to the effort to eliminate poverty housing. Developed through the partnership between Lowe’s and Habitat for Humanity, the event is an initiative which brings women together from all walks of life to learn construction skills and use those skills to build simple, decent, affordable homes in Chatham County and nationwide.
Volunteers came together on the days of May 6, May 7, and May 9 to work on three houses located in Bear Creek and Siler City. Two of the houses were completely new construction houses requiring volunteers to help with the framing of each house and lay the foundation down for both of them. The third house was a renovation requiring volunteers to help reconstruct and restore the interior and exterior of the house.
Volunteers completed a variety of tasks that included roofing, flooring, framing, painting and other forms of construction and renovation. Our staff members assisted volunteers in using tools and taught them various construction techniques and skills over the span of three days.
Candida Cruickshank, a long-time volunteer for Chatham Habitat for Humanity, helped at the Women Build and loved the way the event made her feel.
“One thing that I think is wonderful is that we can show people that we can do it. I love to have the women coming because men usually think that we can’t do it and we show them that we can,” Cruickshank said. “When we do this, we help ourselves. We feel great.”
Mechelle Thompson, Volunteer and Church Partnership Manager, coordinated the event and participated in the build all three days.
“There was just an overflow of women that decided to come out this year at the last minute,” Thompson said. “It just blew us away. We weren’t expecting that many replies.”
Our volunteers selflessly gave up their time and efforts to make a difference in the lives of people in their community, regardless if they knew them or not, living out the mission our nonprofit stands for. Our mission combines partnership with God and people to create self-help opportunities for families to own affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. The ideals of our mission were thoroughly lived out and exemplified during the Women Build through acts of fellowship, dedication and sacrifice.
“The women seemed to enjoy every minute of it,” Thompson said. “A lot of women met and had a chance to network and give back to the community.”