Ferry Place

Nancy Wazenegger writes

I certainly am lucky that I am on a trip with such tech savvy people but this blogging thing is beyond me but here goes…

Today was the first day on the Habitat for Humanity sight, a road name Ferry Place. The church that is sharing their beautiful house with us has also raised funding for this street that has 15 lots. The first two houses will be dedicated at the end of the month and there are four houses that have also begun construction. So at 7:15 am the team met on the porch to venture to the site. We had energy and enthusiasm and were eager to get started. When we first arrived, we met Stevie (a female) and Hank, two Americorps volunteers who helped guide us through the day. We also met Seth who is the construction supervisor. I enjoyed their stories but Seth’s impressed me. He was working for FEMA when the storm hit but then made the change to Habitat because he felt that the move would be better for his relationship with God. He sensed a different kind of call than us seminarians but a call none the less.

We did get a lot accomplished today-painting, cleaning out houses after subcontractors have done their jobs, pulling nails out of salvageable wood, stapling mesh under insulation to keep the insulation in place under the houses (I think that I have finally mastered this one), and even some placement of siding. One of my favorite memories from the day was working alongside Mercedes. Mercedes lived in the lower 9^th ward with her daughter prior to Katrina. She evacuated to Houston and stayed there up until one year ago. When she returned, her house was gone. Mercedes was putting in her “sweat money” for her house and she was definitely one of those genuinely thankful people. She also worked hard out on the site and never quit. She works six days a week at a casino as a dealer and then puts in her time on the Habitat houses once a week.

By 2:30 we began cleaning up tools and materials and were eager to hit the showers. We were a very tired crew but I am sure that we will wake tomorrow eager once again. I look forward to learning a lot more about construction and my fellow teammates on the trip. This has been an experience I will not forget and am so glad that I have been able to meet some of the Richmond students. They have made us North Carolinians feel very welcome and hope to continue the relationships that we have built.