Habitat For Humanity Women Build Nashville 2017
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
What did you do for Mother’s Day this year? Maybe like me you did something other than the normal Mom’s day activities.
I volunteered to work on the Habitat For Humanity Women Build project home in Nashville. What an awesome experience.
The Montgomery County/Clarksville area where I live hasn’t had a Women’s Build home since 2012. Nashville isn’t all that far from me so I signed up for a build day there.
There were several Mother/Daughter volunteer teams and one Mother/Son team on the build site for Mother’s Day.
Ronza, the soon-to-be homeowner, worked right along side us. You can read her story by clicking here.
Women Build, Habitat For Humanity
A look at the outside of the home. Items on the agenda the day I worked were, interior painting, floor molding, kitchen cabinets, and misc. things. I worked on the team putting up the molding and the kitchen cabinets.
We had a safety briefing before getting started.
The day was pretty warm and I was glad I wasn’t on one of the ladders putting up outside trim. I’m also scared of heights.
I really enjoyed helping put up the floor baseboards/trim/molding. I learned how to measure for the corner cuts…inside, outside,etc. And I learned how to use the blocks as spacers. My favorite part was working the nail gun. Our nail gun at home isn’t nearly this big or powerful. Women with power tools (insert Kathy smiley face).
After lunch we worked on the kitchen cabinets. I helped out with opening boxes and odds and ends but didn’t get to actually use the drill to attach the cabinets to the wall. There were a lot of volunteers in the kitchen and only so many places to work. I did learn the process for putting up cabinets! I got a lot more out of the build experience than Habitat got out of me.
Installing the top cabinets is the hardest part. Those things are heavy and have to be held in place just right….all level and straight.
We had to board the van to take us back to our cars before the cabinets were completely finished. We left our cars in an assigned parking lot and were transported by van to and from the build site. I would have stayed on site until the cabinets were finished but the build day is 7:30 to 3:30.
Breakfast and lunch were provided by Habitat for Humanity partners. I got to know my fellow volunteers a little better during our breaks. They were a great group.
A last look at the build site from the inside of the house out.
I’m already looking forward to the build next year and signing up for the max number of days to help. What did you do for Mother’s Day? Have you worked on a Habitat build? Leave a comment below please.
Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow or the next day. Thursday is Furniture Fixer Upper day. Yippee!
Author: Kathy Owen
Kathy Owen is the founder of the home decor blog Petticoat Junktion where she shares tutorials on painting furniture and upcycling thrifty finds into unique home décor. Her DIY projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I often wondered if I could help although I don’t have “skills”. Finally, found a way to help through our local Master Gardener program. We plan and install plants for the new homeowner. It often requires tilling and soil improvement, stepping stones, gravel, watering, plus, giving the homeowner information about the care of the plants. Many plants come from our own gardens. Usually there are foundation plants and sometimes plants for slopes to prevent runoff.
That was very generous of you to donate your Mother’s Day to helping build a Habitat house. And it sounds like you had fun, too. I’ve never heard of that type of thing happening around here. I mean Habitat builds houses here, but a special day for women I’ve not been aware of . A great idea. I would love to learn to use a nail gun!
Wow what an great opportunity and blessing for Ronza. I’ve always wanted to do that… And to learn how to cut corners and use a nailgun! Thumbs up for that. Thank you for sharing.
How Awesome! I’ve always wanted to do that, and I have encouraged my husband to do it, since he’s a really good carpenter DIY type of guy. He can fix anything. On the other hand, he’s not always very patient or tolerant of someone (me) who doesn’t know what a “whatchamacallit” is and how to use it…. so maybe he isn’t the best person for the job. 🙂 Mother’s Day was spent in silent remembrance for both of us since I am not a mother and we have lost both of ours. Although, I’m the Pet Mommy, so that was mentioned a few times. I did enjoy taking a friend’s two children out shopping to find her the perfect gifts. And that was fun for me. Have a great week, Kathy!
What a great way to spend Mothers Day Kathy. Thanks for sharing, and great pictures. Very proud of you for working with that huge nail gun?❤️