Workday for new Habitat for Humanity home slated Saturday
Volunteers work on the last Habitat for Humanity home in January. Now, the organization is gearing up for the next home in Marble Falls.
By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Less than two months after completion of its last home in Marble Falls, the Highland Lakes chapter of Habitat for Humanity is gearing up for the next one.
Saturday, April 11 is the first workday for the third of a cluster of four homes on Avenue M in Marble Falls. It will be the 18th Habitat for Humanity home in the region.
Work is from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., but folks are welcome to volunteer for as long as they like, said Trish Moncus, Habitat for Humanity board secretary, Tuesday, April 7.
“The first stage is framing the house and usually the day we get our biggest turnout of volunteers,” Moncus said. It is usually a mix of first-time volunteers and Habitat veterans.
Maintaining that volunteer momentum is “a challenge,” Moncus said. “We try to hit a sweet spot with the number of volunteers where everyone is busy.”
The initial rush of workers fits with the homebuilding strategy.
She said it is easier to keep 25 people busy framing a house than in later stages of interior work like painting and caulking.
Moncus said Habitat homeowners often make good neighbors.
“We always emphasize this is a help up not a hand out, because they are buying a house,” she said.
Usually, partner families make a $500 down payment and contribute 300-500 hours of “sweat equity” on a Habitat home. Mortgage payments are affordable because of donations, according to Habitat for Humanity.
Partner families “are motivated people trying to get into their first house, which is what makes them good neighbors, maintaining their house and yard,” Moncus said. “This is what turns neighborhoods around.”
She added partner families tend to be well-informed because of classes in financial education and home maintenance.
“Because they’re hands-on building their house, they know what’s going on inside it,” Moncus said.
The newest future homeowners are a young couple from the region.
“All partner families have to get 150 hours of sweat equity before we start on their house, and they’re way over that [amount],” Moncus said.
She said they’re excited and have mustered family members to help on the project.
The new home is located at 304 Avenue M.
For insurance liability reasons, volunteers must be at least 17 years old and dressed to work on an active construction site (closed-toed shoes, work clothes and gloves). Tools are provided, but people can bring their personal tools also. Habitat for Humanity provides water and nearby St. Frederick Baptist Church provides lunch for the crew, as they have in the past.
Work days are Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Communication with volunteers, and potential volunteers, is primarily through email: hlhabitat@gmail.com. Updates are posted on the Habitat for Humanity, Highland Lakes, website at www.hlhabitat.com and Facebook page, Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity. For questions, email or call 830-693-0700.
