The Last Day

The Rhinos were a little tired, achy, stiff and a few had souvenir bruises, cuts and scrapes.  Saturday started out cool and breezy but by noon the sun was bright and hotter than any day this week.  The highlight of the day was lunch from Crabby Jacks.  The sandwiches were packed and overflowing with whatever filling had been ordered--catfish, shrimp, oysters seemed to be favorite choices.
The work of the day was a little bit of everything.  The college group from Baltimore was already on their way home, so the work site was a little less crowded.  We met more future homeowners and a couple of local weekend volunteers.  The Tybek was put on up to the roofline; siding was begun, roofing work continued.
Here are a few more pictures from the week.

Hammering out Justice

How Firm a Foundation

Lean on Me

 

It Is Well With My Soul

















We are thankful to the Presbytery of West Virginia, RHINO, our friends and families and all who supported our trip and efforts this week.  We pray knowing that God will bless our small gifts and multiple them into the blessings of safe homes were families can grow and love and enrich this community.


We also celebrated this week with those who will soon make big changes in their lives.  Brenda will be retiring in 3 weeks and in April,  Marie and Cam will be married.  God's best to all each of you in these new chapters of your lives.

Can You Say Facsia?

Fascia is a term which generally describes any horizontal surface which spans across the top of columns or across the top of a wall^[1]. From the Latin word, meaning "band" or "doorframe"; in architecture. The word is pronounced with the "long-a" sound, /ˈfeɪʃə/, rhyming with the Japanese word geisha. (From Wikipedia)

Being on a build site, one is exposed to the language of construction.  Today (Friday) many of the guys were up on ladders preparing the facsia.   The trusses were finished with the sheathing on front and back.  Chalk lines marked the studs so that work could begin on cutting and nailing the siding.  Windows were installed.

One of the HFH homeowners working with us today was Pam.  Pam has an adult son in school and a teenage daughter.  Her daughter is having difficulty finishing high school due to mental health problems.  Pam is working on her hours for home ownership on top of holding down a full time job.  Her family lost their home and most of their possessions in Katrina.  They had moved to Arizona, but Pam wanted to bring her family home.  Throughout the day Pam was willing to do any job on the site, joking that when she first started with Habitat she was afraid of the ladder.  Now with her experience on the construction sites she is excited to soon be able to take care of her own home.  Every home owner has their own story of their journey to their new home.  

Lunch was provided for us by the Loaves and Fishes ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church. http://www.trinitynola.com/page.aspx?pid=224  They have a food truck and travel from work site to site, providing sandwich lunches to volunteers and residents who are doing work to rebuild New Orleans.

Thanks today to Brenda for providing today's pictures.