We Build Good Will, Better Friendships, and a House

September 27, 2024

On two unseasonably warm September days, nearly 40 Global Travelers participated in a Habitat for Humanity build in Alexandria, Minnesota. The Douglas County Habitat group has been around for 27 years, built 92 homes and helped 179 families. They are building 5 houses this year. Our team was a small but mighty part of the effort to build this particular home. In our two days of work, we framed inside and out and installed the base for the roof. We “wrapped” the house to protect it from the elements and even installed one window. Many of us had only met via Zoom until this shared service experience. We had a great time and felt good making a difference in the lives of the mom and 3 school-age kids who will move into this home.

The finished home will be about 1200 square feet, with three bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, living room, and laundry room. It features energy efficient hot water heating.

On the Monday before we arrived, the site basically had a concrete slab. The “professionals” (a few paid, many volunteers) spent Monday and Tuesday getting things ready for us. Seeing the house go from slab to framed and covered, thanks to our enthusiastic labor, was very rewarding.

We arrived with varying levels of skill and willingness to climb on the roof. They told us we didn’t need skill or experience, just a good attitude, flexibility, closed-toe shoes, and perhaps our own work gloves. Habitat would provide the training and all the tools. And they did! The construction professionals had everything planned out when we arrived and showed us what to do, always with patience and a smile. We all contributed to the effort to the best of our ability and felt great about what our whole team accomplished. We would all recommend participating in a Habitat build and hope to do it again together in the future.

In addition to the “builders,” many of our fellow Rotarians worked behind the scenes.

Barb Brown was chief planner and organizer, coordinating with Habitat, the local Rotary club, and other organizations to feed and entertain us.
Nancy & Steve Laible secured a grant from Thrivent for one of our lunches.
The First Congregational Church of Alexandria provided us with space and hosted one of our lunches.
The local Alexandria Rotary club hosted a dinner.
Several of our members have either permanent or summer homes in the area and housed all the out-of-towners.

This was truly a team effort.