|
|
Women Build House - and Character - through Habitat for Humanity
Monday, June 12, 2006
More than 400 women, including 17 University of
Findlay and Winebrenner Theological Seminary (WTS) female faculty,
staff and students dominated the construction site at 4351 N. Main St.,
Findlay, to participate in the city of Findlay’s first Habitat for
Humanity Women Build June 3 - June 18.
The UF/WTS volunteers spent their afternoon working together on June 7
to help construct a house that will be given to a single mom raising
her two young children.
|
|
Cindy Bormuth, Deb VanAtta, Linda Fielder, Penny Gerdeman and Heather Martin hang dry wall for Habitat for Humanity.
|
The Women Build is a very educational experience, says Crystal Jones,
AmeriCorps VISTA campus and community collaboration leader for Campus
Compact and UF Habitat for Humanity adviser. “It is a great way to
teach women construction skills and home maintenance skills in a
non-threatening environment.”
Volunteer and UF executive administrative assistant to the president's
office, Meg Flemion, agrees and explains, “I always thought that the
Women Build would be something fun to do and challenge me to stretch my
abilities.”
Meg Flemion rolls cable for Habitat for Humanity.
|
“Although the volunteers are physically building a house for the
partner family, they are also building a strong home full of love,
strength and community,” adds Jones.
In the end, the build will have taught women some new things about
construction, notes Flemion, but more importantly, with hundreds of
women working together for a single goal, she says she was able to
learn a lot about herself and the special opportunity the Women Build
provides for everyone involved.
Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build provides opportunities for women to
learn and grow on Habitat job sites and collects information for
Habitat for Humanity International regarding the strengths and
challenges of its female partners and their supporters across the
globe. The event encourages women to tackle all aspects of the
male-dominated field of construction to quickly become skilled and
engaged volunteers.
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing
ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from
the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and
action.
For more information visit www.habitat.org. |
|
|
|
|
