Ay Family Watches Habitat Blitz Build Their New Home

Hundreds of volunteers blitzed two homes from foundation to roof in two days in New Bern’s Riverstation neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday, October 17th-18th.  Over 400 ready, able and willing construction artists arrived on Saturday while Sunday brought in over 300 craftsmen in spite of extra cool temperatures and high winds.  Crews were led by Habitat Road Trip Crazies traveling to New Bern from many locations along the east coast.  Tom Gerdy, a building contractor from Lynchburg, VA has been involved with Blitz Builds since their inception ten years ago, “A few of us decided we needed to go out and help other communities because so many people had come through Lynchburg and helped us.  About twenty of us went out the first year and after we did it we realized this is a heck of a lot of fun.”  No tools or skills are necessary for this construction work.  Just a big heart with an able and willing body will more than get the many jobs done on this construction site including transporting materials, sawing, hammering, drilling, plumbing, wiring, sheathing, siding and roofing.

A two bedroom home was constructed for Samantha and Marshall Belcher.  A larger home was built for Abu and Alay, originally from Burma and parents of six children with ages ranging from six months to sixteen years.  A Habitat Homes comes with a 25-year, interest free mortgage.  Habitat’s local mission is to eliminate poverty housing in Craven County, one house at a time.  Two Habitat families will be moving into their new homes in New Bern in the near future, thanks to the kindness and generosity of hundreds of volunteers, both working on the job site and quietly in the background.

The next time you run into Patti and Dick Peebles in Carolina Colours, please give them a big Habitat hug and thank them for their many leadership efforts helping to make the New Bern Habitat Blitz Build not only possible, but also extremely successful.  Thanks to the many other Carolina Colours families who also pitched in to help two very special families  have their own very special place to call “HOME”.

Habitat Volunteers Begin Roofing New Home