Habitat for Humanity Int'l

Three Communities Accept the Challenge

The 21st Century Challenge

Meet the Simmons Family

Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003


Mere framework on Saturday, houses on Jimmy Carter Drive in Valdosta had assumed the familiar appearance of a neighborhood by Tuesday afternoon.

Work staying on schedule
As crews wrapped up work Tuesday afternoon at the three Jimmy Carter Work Project sites, overall project coordinator Kevin Campbell was pleased with the construction progress. "It's looking good for on-time completion on Friday afternoon at all three sites," he said.

A recap of the day’s events:

Anniston, Ala.—Tuesday in Anniston was filled with men and women in hardhats and tool belts crawling across rooflines and others installing front porch awnings and railings as building continued at a rapid pace. Crews also began to install the vinyl siding on the houses; many houses had the benefit of professional expertise from volunteers from the Vinyl Siding Institute.

Just before noon, the call went out over the intercom: “We have only an hour to get the houses ready for the drywall crew!” Crews already at lunch quickly returned to their houses, and crews still working committed not to eat until their houses were ready and waiting for the Sheetrock.

As professional crews hung drywall inside, the volunteers braved the hot sun, working to stay on track as they near the midway point of the week.



		Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, spent Tuesday afternoon installing vinyl siding in LaGrange.

LaGrange, Ga.—A visit from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalynn, and Habitat for Humanity International co-founders Millard and Linda Fuller added extra excitement to a busy Tuesday of building in LaGrange.

From a construction standpoint, the houses proceeded on schedule, with many houses completing the roof and siding installation. Volunteers and homeowners gathered in front of their houses for photos but quickly jumped back to work.

At a press conference after lunch, Carter commented on the depth of pride created by the effort of building a Habitat house: “We have never seen a Habitat house, even one 20 years old, with a broken window or the lawn grown up in weeds.”

Valdosta, Ga.—As Day 4 broke on the Valdosta site, siding hugged the walls on a few of the houses. The rest had their own vinyl sweaters by day’s end.

Affiliate executive director Ralph Jackson said construction was maybe a few hours behind by late afternoon Tuesday but that, with the help of Tuesday evening’s “elf crew,” construction would be entirely on schedule when full volunteer crews returned Wednesday morning.

Volunteers should be ready to start painting today and will carry on with cabinets and countertop work.

Staggering
statistics:

What does it take to build 92 houses?
Aside from a lot of hard work, building the 92 houses in Anniston, LaGrange and Valdosta this week will take:

3,852,680 nails
55,200 pieces of lumber
2,576 roofing trusses
2,760 tubes of caulk
736 rolls of roofing felt
194,672 square feet of insulation
920 windows
1,104 doors
644 sets of mini-blinds
9,568 sheets of drywall
94,576 square feet of floor tile and/or carpeting
4,600 gallons of paint
767 Whirlpool appliances
140,000 hours donated by volunteers
38,916 sweat-equity hours completed by homeowners