Last Saturday we started house number 42 of homes built by volunteers in Tuscaloosa since the April 11, 2011 tornado. Having just passed the three year anniversary of this event, I am amazed daily the we still have groups of out of towners travelling from far and wide to help us. Local response is growing too, though, and the number 42 house (like in Nascar, the number 20 car) is being built by members of 15 area churches. The project is called the Faith Build. All of the churches together are raising the funds necessary for the materials and subcontractors and are also providing the hands and feet with vounteers from their congregations. It's God's love in action.
     Northport Baptist Church has worked with us before and is taking a strong leadership role in the building of the home . Byron, one of the leaders, is a contractor during the day and knows quite a bit about house building and also leading and showing others the various steps required.
     The house started about a week ago and is now under roof, with windows and doors installed, half of the metal roof installed (courtesy of our Mennonite friends) and the Hardi siding started. Not exactly a Blitz build but still they got a lot done in the first week. The time necessary to complete this one will depend heavily on the amount of volunteers that will show up over the next few weeks.
     On Thursday of last week, Brandon, Joey, John, Alex and the Mennonites took the day off and ran up to Birmingham (about an hours drive from Tuscaloosa) to help the Habitat affiliate there work on blitz building 11 homes that week. That left Nancy McDaniel and I back watching the store that day. We were both working on preparing for a another home, the number 43 house, which is the Women Build house.   We were being helped by the group from Michigan and Florida (same group)
and we got the safe room done prior to start of the framing, which is easier and less tedious than trying to work around the walls . Got a nice picture of one technique for getting the 4 1/2" long self tapping B.A.S.'s (big screws) to go through the two layers of 3/4" plywood and one layer of 1/8" thick plate steel.
     Speaking of Nancy McDaniel, she was the house captain on the Women's build, which started yesterday. The weeks prebuild efforts paid off. Nancy said to me earlier in the week was the problem that she had was that she didn't know what she does'nt know. Brandon and i helpled her with that. Whowed how to make the list of parts to pre cut, how to layout the top and bottom plates of the interior and exterior walls and how to label them and stack them up to getr ready for the start.
    At the end of the day yesterday, we had all of the walls up and top plated, lined and braced, porch beam installed ( almost dropped it going up when the temp braces started to pull away- that would have made a bad impression on the volunteers. Set scaffold three planks wide on 2 1/2 sides of the house.
     Most of the 50 or so women that come out to help were local . I knew in the morning when I saw one lady walking up to the site with her own Paslode framing nail gun, that we would be in good shape. told Nancy not to worry, these things always have a way of working out.
     Again, were a little thin on the staff department with Stephen Scott gone to Colorado. Also, fellow house leader Joey Crimmins gone this week to his sister's wedding. Three new starts and another to complete as well as Joe Chastine's leading the major rehab. As Brandon likes to say- It's all you can eat in the way of no lack of work to do. Anyway, like I like to say, Steady pressure and don't panic and you can get anything accomplished.
     In other news, my son Alex, who is working with us here through Americorp national, has moved from my couch at the Lion's Den, to his very own room (formerly Stephen Scott's room) in the little house I bought when I first came here 3 years ago. Nancy and Joey Crimmins are his room mates. I'm not going to embarass him in telling the story about the cap to the tooth paste.
     Glorious spring weather lately, except for the tornado warnings last Monday.
      Ya'll come on back and hep us again, heah? that's all for this week. Love you all. Peter