The superstition surrounding Number 13 was given no credence November 14, 2009, as Wimberley Valley Habitat for Humanity gathered at the future home site of Martha Dietz and her sons Taylor and Parker. Fifty-five volunteers, of all ages and talents, joined hands and hammers to erect the walls of Habitat House #13, located at 8 Lomas Verde Trail. The framing was finished by noon, following a well-orchestrated process, using building leaders and teams of varying sizes to first construct and erect outside walls. The interior walls were framed and erected using the same process. It is an amazing sight to see—a full sized house and garage framed in less than three hours. Facilitating this happening in such a seamless manner was two days of pre-build activity in which every wall was planned, measured, cut and marked by skilled Habitat volunteer builders under the leadership of John Strobel and Jim McMeans, who Co-Chair the Building Committee.
As has been their habit on Big Build Saturday, the Church of Christ provided lunch for the volunteer builders. Sylvia Dinsmore, a church member who initiated volunteering this service, plans with the women of her church for a wonderful spread of sandwiches, chips, homemade desserts, and all of the trimmings, which they have served at the last three of our Big Builds. Pastor Tim Moore and other recruited men help with the heavy lifting as the women serve the large volunteer group.
Lunch was followed by more construction activity. The frame of the house was trued up—plumbed and squared to ensure that subsequent work will be true as well. Then crews began putting up sheathing on the exterior of the house. The workday was completed by 4:00 p.m.
We are so grateful for all of the volunteers who came out to make the Big Build day successful, and for the Church of Christ volunteers who fed us so well. Martha Dietz, our Partner Family, is responsible for earning 300 hours of Sweat Equity to qualify her for home ownership. Friends and Family may contribute 100 of those hours. She was fortunate to have friends sign up to share their hours with her on Saturday. Please consider contributing your hours to her when you come to help during the construction of her home.
Habitat will now begin a regular weekly schedule of work every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with breaks at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. The workday begins at 9 am and ends around 3:30 pm. If anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Liz Wayland at ewayland.wvhh@gmail.com.
