My Day as Unskilled Labor

It is 10:00 PM PST.  I woke up after a two hour nap after dinner; tired from a day of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity that started at 8:30am and ended at 4:00pm.

What is Habitat for Humanity?  It is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing GREEN and affordable homes to the 30%-60% income bracket of the population.  HFH doesn’t give homes away, but builds eco-responsible homes with volunteer labor, finds deserving families that have problems buying homes for themselves, and gives them an opportunity to purchase a home with a 30 year zero percent interest loan.

Why volunteer at HFH?  I believe that I should do more than complain about personal or social injustices of the world. I also believe that actions speak louder than words; however, performing deeds that mainly benefits me personally such as practicing conservation or being an active voting citizen is not enough.  I hope to make charitable deeds part of my everyday life, and I wish this is an aspect of moral and social responsibility that I can impart Anders as he grows up.

My good friend Peter was a good sport and joined me today in the City of Alameda work site.  There were 8 townhomes being built simultaneously, and we joined 15 other volunteers from Bank of the West headquarters.  Peter and I were assigned to Rob, our purple spiky-haired team leader, who instructed us on the proper way to install baseboards.  Pretty quickly, Peter and I were cutting baseboards on the table saw, fitting the boards into the room, and nailing the boards in with a nail gun.  I think our work quality was quite good, and we had a great time.

An aspect of HFH homes that impressed me was that they took building Green homes seriously.  Some of the various ways they incorporated green design:

• Solar panels on every rooftop
• Energy efficient argon-gas low-E double pane windows
• Tankless water heaters
• Low VOC paint
• Compact flourescent lighting as a standard
• Low water-consumption toilets
• Wood is reused from other sites

The floor plan was comfortable, and the bedroom sizes were generous.  I would be proud to live one of these homes, and best of all, these homes are constructed as a labor of love by many people in the community around me.