Work on Habitat for Humanity house progresses
Volunteers sought to help complete homeWORTHINGTON — Habitat for Humanity volunteer Don Basche stood on a newly laid piece of roof sheeting and watched as Dan Wagner worked the nail gun Monday afternoon on Worthington’s newest Habitat for Humanity house.
By: Julie Buntjer, Worthington Daily Globe
- Views of progress
- Habitat volunteers
WORTHINGTON — Habitat for Humanity volunteer Don Basche stood on a newly laid piece of roof sheeting and watched as Dan Wagner worked the nail gun Monday afternoon on Worthington’s newest Habitat for Humanity house.
Work on the project began in earnest in early June, with Schmidt Excavating digging the footings. After that, Groninga Construction poured the cement flooring, Nau Construction did the framing and set the rafters, Lloyd Robertson and Curt Pietz helped with the interior walls and Jeff Rogers, Rolf Mahlberg and Doug Anton helped get half the roof in place. On Saturday, Bob Westphal and Dave Everding came in and started shingling.
Wagner, owner of Dan Wagner Construction of Worthington, is the lead contractor for the project. He volunteered his services during the groundbreaking ceremony held at the site in early May because he knows the family that is to get the new home.
Amber Nordby splits her time working between Habilitative Services Inc., and District 518, where she is a part-time paraprofessional during the school year and a part-time janitor during the summer months. She’s also the mother of two girls, Samara, 6, and Kiana, 2, and they are all looking forward to their new home.
Nordby and her children visit the site daily to check the progress and take care of any cleaning that needs to be done. The girls, she said, like to play in the yard. They don’t have that kind of freedom with apartment living.
The house is expected to be completed by late August.
“July 4 it was a cement slab, now it’s becoming a house,” said Nordby. “We go there every day and take pictures just to get (the girls) excited.”
As required of Habitat for Humanity home recipients, Nordby, her friends and family will need to log 300 hours of sweat equity toward the project. With all of her family living in Michigan, Nordby said she’s having difficulty finding people she knows who can help her meet her goal. A foster brother was working on her behalf twice in the last week, and Nordby said she will put in a lot of her hours doing painting and other small jobs once the interior is ready to be worked on.
Having to find people to help her with the sweat equity hours, Nordby is even more appreciative of the volunteers that step up to help make her dream of home ownership come true.
“I’m very grateful. I appreciate all the hard work going into it,” she said, adding that she also appreciates the work Dan Wagner is doing to oversee the construction.
“I appreciate all of the time and effort he’s put into my place,” Nordby said. “A big thank you all around”
Sharon Johnson of Worthington is the volunteer coordinator on this summer’s Habitat for Humanity building project. It has been her job to line up the volunteers to take care of certain projects with the home. Now that the basic frame is up and the roof is on, more of those volunteers will be needed to get the work completed on time.
“Every time that I’ve called, it’s been wonderful,” said Basche, who is helping Johnson this week to coordinate volunteers. “The community has been very, very supportive. The professional people have been very supportive.”
The last time a Habitat house was built in Worthington, Basche said the non-profit group utilized more than 200 volunteers and 21 professional contractors to get the work completed. He would like to see that many step forward and volunteer again this time.
“I’ve had guys just call me up and say, ‘If you need anybody to help, don’t be afraid to call,’” said Wagner of other contractors in the area. “It’s a matter of the time (when the work needs to be done). That’s the important thing.”
Wagner understands the timing issue — he’s in the process of building four other homes in addition to serving as the lead contractor on the Habitat house this summer.
“It’s difficult for someone to take over a project like Dan is doing because it takes a commitment of time,” said Basche.
He doesn’t want time commitment to impact the number of people who volunteer, however.
“We don’t want people to think that once they volunteer we’re going to continue to call them back,” said Basche. “We tried last time to get them to come one time, unless it’s their own desire to come back (more often).”
That said, Basche has a project ready for a handful of volunteers if anyone is looking for something to do.
“What we really need is a group of people … to do the staining and varnishing (of the door and window trim),” he said. “We need five or six people or more that will come forward to do that.”
Once the house gets further along, volunteers will be needed to help put up siding, insulation, sheetrock and poly paper, he added. There will also be outdoor work, including painting and landscaping.
“People get a personal, self-satisfaction out of doing this,” Basche said, adding that volunteers of any age are welcome.
To help with the project, call Basche this week at 376-5647.
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