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

Support Habitat for Humanity's Many Efforts

Thank you for volunteering for our Habitat Crazies Blitz Build Two Houses in Two Days! We are so excited for this event and can’t wait to see the outcome of the efforts extended by the Crazies and people like you!

There will be plenty of work for everyone but another goal is to meet and get to know the people working with the Crazies. There will also be times when we stop to transition or plan a next step or solve a problem. If you want to see how you fit, find a “Crazy” in an orange shirt.

Here are details you need to ensure a safe and wonderful day(s)!

Schedule: (Rain or Shine!)

Saturday

7:30 to 8:00 Set up site with tools and cords

8:00 to 8:10 Welcome/devotion/safety

8:10 to 12:00 Set walls, doors windows, trusses, start siding

12:00 to 1:00 Box lunch provided by Subway

12:30 to 5:00 Sheath roof, shingle, continue siding, rough wiring/plumbing heat

Sunday

7:30 to 8:00 Set up site with tools and cords

8:00 to 8:10 Welcome/devotion/safety

8:10 to 9:30 Continue siding/roofing and finish all rough –ins

9:30 to 12:00 Begin hanging drywall

12:00 to 1:00 Lunch provided by Moore’s BBQ

12:30 to 5:00 Continue with drywall, finish siding and roofs, landscaping, misc.

What to Wear:

• Closed toe shoes
• Comfortable apparel
• Hard hat and safety glasses available or bring if you have

What to Bring:

• Hat or cap
• Suntan lotion
• Personal items
• Water bottle—Kinetico will be on site with the Blue Green Water Machine !
• If you have any of the following and want to bring:
• Hammer
• Tape measure
• Nail apron
• Shovel
• Rake
• Garden tools

Where to Come:

Riverstation Community—881 and 888 Cool Street.Exit 417 off Route 70 towards New Bern, turn right on Queen Street. Follow across Broad Street. Go across George Street. Past the cemetery and before the train station, turn left on Pasteur—plenty of parking!

Registered?

If you haven’t visited our web-site and registered, please do so before the event—your name badge will be ready! Please visit www.newbernhabitat.org At the bottom of site, put cursor over “Get Involved” and then put cursor over “volunteer” and then select “Blitz Build”.