Women build for Sisters Habitat

"OK ladies, let's get ready to raise this wall," Sisters Habitat for Humanity construction manager Shawn O'Hern called out.

Dozens of willing hands stepped forward, and up it went. That was the way things rolled at Sisters Habitat's two-day Women Build event last Thursday and Friday. More than 40 women in a series of shifts helped build homes with the Purkey and Sandecki families at the corner of Greenridge and Tamarack in recognition of National Women Build Week.

Despite threatening weather and occasional showers, the crew was having a good time.

"We're rockin'!" said Leanne Smith as the wall was erected and braced.

Jeannie Sandecki was hard at work on her neighbor's house.

"I like construction," she said with relish. She noted that she has put in 700 hours of volunteer time, and is "going for that 1,000-hour mark."

The purpose of National Women Build Week goes beyond the work itself. Women who may not have any experience learn the basics of construction and how to use power tools. For Wendy Vermillion, there's value in putting crews to work with a high level of visibility in the community.

"I just think it's important," she said. "It's fun to work with women. It's important to remind people that women are capable."

And that they are. Considerable progress was made on Habitat's latest homes.

Lowe's, a major sponsor of the event nationwide, awarded Sisters Habitat $5,000 to help purchase building materials for the event.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941