Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Week 14

Today was exciting as we finally got to meet one of the homeowners (Mirriam) as well as a brother (Alex) and her father (Rafael) who were there to help as they started working on the sweat equity.

They speak only Spanish so communications was a challenge but that’s part of the miracle. Monica managed to communicate with Alex (speaks just a smidge of English) and his father, mostly through demonstration and showing of examples, so they could get the holes cut in the stucco on the back of the house for 2 outlets by the deck.

Monica installed one smoke alarm (wired to house power) with Mirriam looking on and Mirriam completed the installation of the other 3 before she had to head to work at the lunch break. Deb Jorgenson was there in the morning and helped wire up electrical switches. Terry and Chuck patched a section of hardwood floor and installed the island which was quite a struggle with the uneven flooring. Rae and Bobbie headed back into the attic. They re-ran several electrical wire to the furnace and lights and switches.

It was a very cold day, but we managed to get the furnace working after Terry and Chuck worked some magic, oh what an improvement that was. It got downright toasty in the house after that. This was important since the flooring could not be installed with as cold as it was. The last thing we did before locking up was to bring the roll of flooring in and place it under the heater vent to warm it up.

This is our last work day till after the New Year. This site will be closed tomorrow to allow volunteers to attend the Edes dedication of 20 homes.

We’ll be starting up again here in Concord on Friday January 8th, 2010. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all. Meet us back here next year.

Photos from this past weekend are already posted in the online scrapbook (newest photos are always at the end, so scroll down). Check back here next week for another chapter in the Bonifacio Project Blog!

Leave a Comment

Name:
Email:

Comment:

Help prevent spam - enter security code above: