After searching for weeks to find the perfect organization to volunteer with I finally decided on Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. When I first signed up with the organization I expected it to be fairly small. In my mind I would help the organization build a house over the course of a couple of months. I expected to work hard with a small team to build structures as quickly as we could. I couldn't have been more wrong about Watauga Habitat for Humanity and how they run their organization.
Watauga Habitat for Humanity starts early, 8 O’clock to be exact. Saturday morning myself and a dozen other Appalachian State Students loaded ourselves into a shuttle where we were greeted with doughnuts provided by the Habitat for Humanity team. As we drove up to the job site I noticed many cars and brand new houses dotting the ridgeline. When we finally arrived at the job site I was astonished to see almost one hundred and fifty people scattered around piles of lumber and the level foundation for the new house. I had arrived on a very special day, Habitat for Humanity Crazies Build Weekend. Volunteer construction workers from the entire east coast were present to build the house that Saturday. One of my misconceptions, that it Watauga Habitat for Humanity was a small organization, was proven untrue as soon as I reached the job site.
They split the large group of volunteers up into three teams. Team one was in charge of painting the siding that would be put on the house after the walls were built. Team two encased the whole job site in scaffolding to make it easier to complete the house. Team three, my personal team, was in charge of hammering nails and erecting walls. Before working with Watauga Habitat for Humanity I expected it would take at least a few weeks to build a house. Thanks to all the help from over a hundred volunteers we were able to build almost the entire house in one weekend! I am amazed at the work that Watauga County Habitat for Humanity does for the community. I am proud that I was able to be a part of such a worthwhile organization
I am equally amazed with the work that Habitat is doing. I know they still have that “small town” organization feeling with some projects and I imagine after this build you’ll be able to get a taste of that. I also wanted to say that I’ve really been enjoying your posts. You always have something new to talk about and clearly have passion for enjoying the world around you.
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