If It's Red, It's Lead!

Ready to Rock the Block!

Well folks, it's a wrap on state 7! The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind, as I have officially started my criminal justice career, woohoo! Now that I'm starting to find my footing at a new job it's nice to finally get back to business on this whole Habitat journey of mine. That's where we pick this up, in Des Moines, Iowa!

I tried an Airbnb for the first time-it's a four hour drive from the Twin Cities to Des Moines. I was a little nervous to try the site out since I'd be staying at a stranger's home, but I must say it went smoothly and I spent a third of what I would have spent on a hotel. After spending the night at the Airbnb I drove on over to the Habitat site for the day, where I worked with others to revitalize a pre-existing home under their Rock the Block program. 

Working with Rock the Block was different than the builds I have been a part of previously, because we are not building a new home. Instead, this program works to improve

homes which already exist by helping homeowners fund and/or complete renovations. The Greater Des Moines chapter was preparing homes in the area for a massive Rock the Block event they were having the following week, where they would complete 21 projects on 15 homes in one long weekend. My team and I were charged with stripping lead paint off the soffit, fascia, and window frames of a woman's home. 

Team effort to get the job done

Our site leaders started off the day briefing us on safety precautions we needed to take, specifically regarding the health hazards involved with removing lead paint. If the paint on the home was indeed lead based, we would need to cordon off the site with caution tape and place signs notifying passersby of the potential health risks. We would also need to cover the yard with plastic tarp to catch any fragments of paint we would chip off throughout the day. Absolutely no food or beverages would be allowed within the taped off area, and protective masks, eye protection, and hard hats would have to be worn at all times. 

After our briefing the leaders tested the paint of the home; if the test strip turned red, it would indicate the paint was lead based. Sure enough, the strip immediately turned a bright fire engine red! With that, we all suited up, prepared our site, and got down to business. Scraping paint does not seem like a difficult job. However, it can get tricky when you are scraping a surface about 15 feet off the ground and in an area that is difficult to reach. It took a lot of teamwork to make sure we were all safe. Some individuals were harnessed to the top of the roof so they could work, while those of us working with the ladders had a spotter to ensure our ladders were secure. 

Scraping paint of the fascia

We used a variety of scrapers to scrape the paint off the home. Some were handheld devices, while at times we had to use scrapers with long extension handles to reach more difficult places. Some of us became discouraged at first because no matter how hard we scraped we could not get paint to come off! After a time one of the site leaders came to us and told us not to worry, if a person can run the scraper over the paint without it chipping, it was okay to leave any remaining paint on the home. Honestly, that was music to our ears; otherwise we would have been there for days attempting to completely strip the paint away. We were all cautious to be careful to cover our eyes, nose, and mouths to the best of our ability, but it was still uncomfortable knowing we at times had to scrape paint off directly over our heads to get it off. Nothing like scraping toxic material all over you to make you feel healthy! Don’t worry, this crew followed OSHA guidelines perfectly and we knew that we were safe!

Panhellenic sisters serving

together!

All in all it was a great day and I really enjoyed building with the Des Moines crew. Many of the workers were college aged, and I even met a few Panhellenic sisters from Kappa Kappa Gamma at nearby Drake University! I love meeting new people, and especially fellow Greek members who love philanthropy and serving others as much as I do. We worked hard and were able to finish all of the prep work needed so that the crew the following weekend could start painting right away without worrying about dealing with loose lead paint and the health hazards that would have come with that. We also had near perfect weather for the entire day; sunny and in the high 60's/low 70's, it was neither too hot or too cold and we felt refreshed the entire day. 

After we wrapped up for the day, I made the long drive back home to Minnesota. I was exhausted, but felt confident that the Rock the Block crew would be able successfully complete their projects the next weekend. I am so glad I was able to join the Greater Des Moines chapter to help revitalize their community. I can't wait to see where I end up next!

Until next time!

Some of the Des Moines crew

Lisa

My Skills Are Few, But My Heart Is Willing

Most of my Twin Cities team!

Sometimes life gets in the way of plans, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't continue striving to reach your goals. I got a late start on my second year of Habitat building-grad school will do that to you. But as they say, better late than never right? Well, to get the ball rolling this summer I was more than happy to build with the Twin Cities Habitat affiliate in the state closest to my heart: Minnesota!

Coming along nicely!

The Twin Cities affiliate is somewhat unique in that it builds across seven counties, depending on where there are needs and funds to build. The build site I chose today is located in Hugo, which is only fifteen minutes from my house. It's refreshing and rewarding to have an opportunity to build in a neighboring community. It feels like I've come full circle since participating in the cleanup effort from Hugo's devastating EF3 tornado in 2008.

View of the living room

The site supervisor told us that the entire lot was donated, and Anderson Windows donated all of the windows for the 33 homes that will be built on the lot. To put that in perspective, that generous donation alone will allow the Twin Cities Habitat to build an additional two homes. The affiliate is building multiple multi-unit homes throughout this space, and the ones they have finished thus far are really quite nice. For anyone unsure of the quality of Habitat homes let me say this: they may not be mansions, but every Habitat home is a quality

space and is a place homeowners can be proud to call their own.

Trying my hand at sheetrocking

Today we put up sheetrock throughout most of the upper level of the home. The previous volunteers had done a lot of work already, but there was enough for us to have a full day of work. Sheetrock is actually quite easy to put up. You simply measure the boards, measure and cut out any holes needed to go around outlets, vents, and sprinkler systems, and then screw the boards into the walls with a drill. We had a fun team today of men and women from around the Twin Cities area, and we worked really well as a team.

Around lunch time we also had the "luxury" of unloading a shipment of sheetrock and ten pallets of insulation into the row of homes that were currently being built (we were only working on one of the homes today, but they are townhome-style and are built at the same time). As you can see, we got right to work creating an assembly line and going to town sorting the materials into each of the units. It was tiring, especially in the heat, but there were plenty of laughs to go around.

Unloading insulation

I must say, I really enjoyed working on this site today. Of course I may be biased because I'm back in my home state, in my general community. However, I really did notice that everyone was especially kind and happy to work together on whatever our tasks were throughout the day. I'm telling all my non-Minnesota friends, Minnesota Nice is really a thing! I also really appreciated the help I received throughout the day from Joe, the Americorp worker who helped manage the site most of the day. Bless his heart, he had his work cut out for him monitoring me all day. I swear, he had a radar that knew when I was doing something wrong. I may not be all that skilled at what we do, and sometimes I make minor mistakes. But each time I build I am reminded more and more that it's all part of the learning process, and I get a little better at not beating myself up for not being perfect (or let's be more realistic, decent at all).

Dan & Butch, my teammates-

bless their hearts

One of the guys I got to work with, Butch, summed up my feelings perfectly today when he said, "my skills are few, but my heart is willing". Honestly, that's what Habitat for Humanity is all about. Homes are built with both experienced and amateur hands, by people both young and old. But no matter how diverse our team is, we all have equally big hearts.

Until Next Time,

Lisa