6 years, 60 homes

I've been volunteering with Portland Habitat for Humanity since early January of 2002, since it is now early January; I took a look back at my time with Habitat.

I was curious about the number of homes I had helped build (every time I counted in my head, I got a different number) so I made a google map on the locations in approximately the order they were built. It turns out this past weekend I worked on my 59th and 60th homes (a duplex).

6 years is a long time to be volunteering with one organization, all of the staff that I interact with have not been around the entire time that I have (one did leave and come back).

Some approximate numbers:
--1700 hours
--4500 miles driven
--175-200 children housed
--15,000 nails driven
--100 cuts and scrapes
--1 electrocution
And
--2 trips to the ER (more on that later)

For those of you that don't know, Habitat doesn't give away homes, the families buy the homes. Here is some more information. Also Here.

I didn't start volunteering with Habitat for the best of reasons. In July of 2001 I was at the beach with a friend and we (well I) caused a large beach grass fire. We got arrested.

I hired a lawyer who got me a deal where I paid restitution, and had to do 80 hours of community service. I asked if it would be possible to do the service with Habitat since I didn't really like the idea of raking leaves in the park or the other stuff I would have had to do with the Corrections Department. He said that was fine, if they could verify hours (which they can).

After I had completed the 80 required hours, a letter was sent to my lawyer who passed in on the court, and the charges were dropped. I was having so much fun that I continued to come out every Saturday to work with Habitat. Sure getting up early on my Saturdays’ wasn't that much fun, and working in the rain isn't really that much fun, but it just felt good.

I've had my share, and probably more, of injuries (as I mentioned above), most due to my own clumsiness.

The first and by far most severe was when I slipped and fell off a second floor roof. It was November, so naturally it was raining (it is Portland after all). The framing had been almost completed, the roof had just a few more pieces of sheeting to put on, and then it had to be covered in tar paper so the inside would begin to dry. I climbed right up onto the roof to help with the work. I had to make one cut of a sheet of plywood and to do so squatted down. About half way through the cut I started to slip, the lace of traction from the well worn soled of my boot, the fact that I was squatting so I only had the balls of my feet on the roof, the rain and the pressure I was exerting to cut the wood was just too much, and I slipped. You sometimes hear stores about people who say they fell in slow-motion and they saw it all happen. This wasn't the case with me. I vaguely remember seeing the edge of the roof in front of my face, but other than that from the time I started to slip to when people were holding me down on the ground (as I was trying to move) the only thing I remember thinking was "Oh, shit." The ironic (and funny in hindsight) part was that the other volunteers were in the middle of the safety talk for the day when I went flying by the window. I don't think the people doing the talk thought to say "Please don't do that."

As I lay on the ground waiting for the ambulance to arrive I started trying to figure out where I was hurt. I know enough first said to know what I should have hurt. I started by tapping my finger to my hips, I could feel that so I knew I wasn't paralyzed, then I wiggled my toes, and gently rotated my ankles, and moved my hips a little bit. All this time there was just one place the hurt: my lower back. I was pretty sure I was going to be ok. I was strapped to a backboard and whisked away to the ER. I lifeguarded for 2 summers in high school so I have practiced putting people on a backboard. I was amazed at how much I moved on the backboard, it really doesn't stabilize your spine that much. As they were cutting off all my clothes at the ER (which is a really uncomfortable feeling, by the way) a nurse (or something) leaned over me and said she wanted to introduce me to someone. She introduced the Hospital Chaplain. Yes, the guy that would read you your last rites if you were about to die. I had a few seconds of panic as I'm thinking "Am I that badly hurt?" He just wanted to say "I think Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful organization, and I'm sorry you got hurt working with them."

My other trip to the ER was far less exciting, but it did result in a fun picture. I got staples in my scalp!

I had taken a week off work to take part in a Blitz build of 4 duplexes, it was about the third day and we had put most of the second floor deck on, and were getting ready to start building walls. I had been on the second floor, so I hadn't bothered to put on a hard hat, but after lunch I was explaining how to go about building the back porch, when I suddenly got dizzy and my neck hurt. I stumbled forward a few steps and then realized my head hurt. I took off the baseball hat I had on and rubbed my head, only to discover I had blood on my hand. Around this time I head the people on the second floor asking if I was ok. A piece of sub floor about 2 feet square had been knocked off and the corner had hit me on the top of the head. My neck hurt from the compressing. I tired for about 30 minutes to get to bleeding to stop, but it wouldn't, so off to the ER.

Since i wasn't dying they sent me to the Urgent Care part where I waited about 30 more minutes. Eventually I went into a room, and they shot up the spot with novacane, and left me along to let it work. After the nurse came back, they started to put the staples in, it feels really weird. Yes, I know, I shouldn’t have been able to feet the staples, but they had left me alone too long, so the novacaine had worn off. I felt the prongs of the staple going through my scalp, and pulling the sides of the cut together. I got back to site about 2pm, put on a hard hat (I may be an idiot, but I'm not dumb), and proceeded to continue working until about 7pm as the sun was setting, I worked the rest of the week, from 7am to 7 pm, and we got 4 large duplex completely framed, and the siding started on several of them.

All in all, working with Habitat for Humanity is an amazing, rewarding experience. I have since organized 4 Timbers Army days working with Habitat for Humanity.

There are several ways that you can make a difference in people's lives through Habitat.
--You can donate cash or stock
--You can work on site
--You can donate to, or work at the Re-Store