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.
