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• Blitz on in bid to build 3 new houses in 12 days
• Stepping up to help out
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• Students team up to build Habitat house

Blitz on in bid to build 3 new houses in 12 days

Article published Thursday, June 15, 2006
By VANESSA WINANS
BLADE STAFF WRITER

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MONROE - Not everyone would tackle building three houses in 12 days, but some folks in Monroe County are trying.

The county's Habitat for Humanity chapter began its building-blitz Saturday with a mostly-female crew building the first of three new homes in the city. By the end of the year, the chapter hopes to complete five, for a total of 31 since its founding in 1995, said Dana Brown, director of volunteer relations.

The work takes about 20 people per house per day to get the job done, she said. Getting volunteers isn't difficult, she added. "Right now, we're definitely at our capacity for volunteers."

At least half have worked with Habitat before, she said. Mary Kapp and Julie Ravary are among them.

Ms. Kapp, commander of the Michigan State Police's Monroe post, is heading the "women build" the house with the all-female crew. This marks her third year as a volunteer and second as "house leader" on a build.

"Basically, I coordinate all the construction activities during the blitz-build on one house," she explained. "The biggest challenge for me is making sure things are getting done that male crew. This marks her third year as a volunteer and second as "house leader" on a build.

"Basically, I coordinate all the construction activities during the blitz-build on one house," she explained. "The biggest challenge for me is making sure things are getting done thatneed to get done, making sure the volunteers have an assigned job to do. I like to make sure everybody has a good experience too. I need to make sure they're doing the job right and having fun."

That's seldom a problem for her. "It is a lot of fun," she said. "Everyone gets a lot of self-satisfaction helping someone build a house. You take a step back and say: We built this house."

She gets a kick out of watching the workers learn new skills.

"I love seeing the volunteers come out and do things they've never done before, do a job they never thought they could do, or never dreamed they can do," she said.

Working with the families, who must put in hours building their homes, is a pleasure as well.

"I enjoy working with the family. Tthat's always a good experience," Ms. Kapp said. "Watching their house go up - it's always exciting."

For Ms. Ravary, also in her third year as a Habitat volunteer, the building projects give her colleagues and her a constructive way to spend part of their summers off from teaching. And she loves the camaraderie that comes from teamwork.

"I was in awe of the types of people that became involved in this project," Ms. Ravary said, recalling her first year. "The first day, you don't know a lot of people. I met some nuns from the Monroe Mother house for retired nuns. So next to me working is a retired nun with a sledgehammer. Then there's myself, then an 18-year old girl who volunteered, then a prisoner on a work-release program. Where else in the world would that group of people work together? You normally wouldn't, but you're all there for the same cause."

She has been looking forward to seeing friends again and making new memories.

"We do a lot of laughing," she said. Putting up "the walls is always exciting too. There's nothing there. Then it looks like a home."