Alaskan youth help out Habitat

Sitka students atop the Habitat House

One of them had never driven a nail before. Another really liked the idea of getting out of Alaska for spring break.

All seven young ladies visiting Sisters from Sitka, Alaska, agreed on one thing: working with Habitat for Humanity is a great way to provide community service and learn new skills.

The five high school students with their two college-age leaders arrived in Sisters on Sunday, March 18.

They started work on the two-story, three-bedroom duplex on Monday.

"They are all sleeping at the Lutheran church in town," said Sharlene Weed, director of the Sisters Habitat for Humanity. "The only problem with that is they have to take showers over at the middle school. I guess you could say they are 'roughing it' a bit."

Weed said, "these students, are here as a part of the Collegiate Challenge program. They picked Sisters as the place they wanted to come volunteer. I just think it's awesome that they come all this way to help when they could be doing anything during spring break."

Next week, a group of students from Stanford, California, are coming to help.

In the past, kids from Santa Clara University, Lewis and Clark College, and a variety of other places have come to offer their assistance in building affordable housing.

"What's fun about the students coming is that the whole community comes together to help," said Weed. "Lunches are donated for two weeks by local businesses, and every morning, a local pastor prays with the kids before they get going."

Natalie Weber, co-leader of the Sitka group, is also impressed by the community involvement.

"This place is amazing," she stated. "I've done different Habitat projects before, but I've never seen so many people from the community volunteering their help."

One of the students, Mary Marx, said that she'd been wanting to do a community service project for some time.

"Construction appealed to me -- I like being outdoors," Marx explained.

"And it's not just construction stuff I'm learning," she added. "There's lots of other skills, like living with other people and learning to get along."

The girls' work day starts at 8:30 a.m. and usually ends around 3:30 p.m.

They've been able to see some sights.

"We got to go swimming at Black Butte (Ranch) yesterday," said student Adrienne Williams. "The best part about that was we got to take warm showers out there!"

The current Habitat house is being built at the corner of Washington and Cedar streets behind Sisters Pumphouse.

Until this year, the residence had been the home of David Gerardo and his family.

"My family was worried about me living alone in that old house," said Gerardo recently. "Habitat bought the lot, the Fire Department came and burned it down for practice.

"That was hard on me," he admitted. "I've lived in that house since I was four years old. But I'm glad that a new house is going up in it's place."

Gerardo is now living in a residential care home near Terrebonne.

Kristin Gibeau, the construction supervisor, has been pleased and surprised by the amount of volunteer help she's had at her disposal.

"Bob Martin and students from the high school came out and helped last week," said Gibeau. "They were awesome to work with, very optimistic, got right into it.

"In fact," she said, "some of the guys worked so fast I had to slow them down. I really had to encourage the girls to ask questions and not be afraid to give input."

Gibeau, who has been in the construction business for 14 years, didn't know much about Habitat when she applied for the job of supervisor.

"But it's such a great program, I would have been excited about what they were doing whether I got hired or not," she said.

The finish date of the Habitat House is sometime in June. Volunteers are always needed and welcome. For more information, call Sharlene Weed at 549-1193.