Habitat volunteer finds meaning through house building

Iram Nazir, from Clinton, Miss., didn’t let the early morning start time or the threat of rain in Jackson, Miss., discourage her from lending a hand to help build houses with families affected by the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.

“I wanted to help out,” she says.

Volunteering with Habitat’s Operation Home Delivery has given Nazir an opportunity to make meaning out of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation and to respond to a tragedy that has affected her personally—she knows a family in Gulfport, Miss.

“You know you’re building houses to help someone else,” she says.

Although Nazir had not worked with Habitat before this week, she jumped at the chance to get involved through Operation Home Delivery. When asked if she would encourage other first-timers to join in Habitat’s work, Nazir doesn’t hesitate to respond: “Come and do it. Everybody’s really nice.”