Transform Chattanooga

It was one of those moments when there is a lull in the action and a break in the pace of pushing to get the house further along. Director of Construction, Dennis Neal, our homeowner Alexia Taylor and I were walking through the house to discuss the next steps and tasks to be done. Alexia stopped in the doorway to one of the bedrooms and pointed up and asked, “What are those boxes for?” Dennis started explaining some of the details, “The lower electrical boxes are, of course, for the wall outlets. These, beside the doors, are light switches and the ones higher up are for the smoke detectors.”

Dennis went on to point out the boxes along the ceiling where the light fixtures would go. Light literally dawned! “You mean my hallway will have THREE lights, THREE lights?” Alexia squealed, her voice portraying her excitement. “I know real houses that don’t have three lights!” It was a moment to savor – where the reality of all that had been accomplished in the furry and flurry of work took Alexia from standing in a house to standing in her new home.

Volunteers from Bethel Bible Village volunteered on the house on Monday – here is a shot of their group painting trim for the house – this is the “calm before the storm” photo …

Check out WDEF News 12s web page for info and content on the Make A Difference Village opposite the Habitat house build at www.wdef.com/the_make_a_difference_village

The Village is an area of interactive and or informational booths that focus on how you can make a difference in the community – the Village is sponsored by WDEF News 12, the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga.

Here is a list of the activities at the Village this week:

Earthscapes – “Making A Difference in The Environment”

Featuring: planting grow socks.

Chattanooga’s Kids on the Block – “Making A Difference With Kids”

Featuring: puppet shows for kids/ puppetry how to

Habitat for Humanity – “Women Making A Difference”

Featuring: information about how women can help change our community.

La Paz de Dios Chattanooga – “Making A Difference In Culture”

Featuring: information about hispanic culture in Chattanooga

Rock Creek Outfitters – “Make A Difference In Wellness”

Featuring: nightly drawings for Rock Creek Gift Cards

The oak project – “Making A Difference In Families”

Featuring: information about helping homeless families in Chattanooga

Here is an image of what the build site looked like this morning – its a warm day for this kind of work, but the volunteers are on track to have the house under roof by tonight – this image was taken around 10 am this morning.

A faithful crew of volunteers from Rivermont Presbyterian Church was hard at work this morning when I rolled up to the jobsite – the side walls of the house were up, and they were about to raise the end, when we stopped for a bit for a press conference.

Here is an image of Charlie Belcher, just on of the dedicated folks from Rivermont Presbyterian who have partnered with Habitat for many years – thanks Charlie and everyone from the Rivermont Crew!

Here is a shot of Habitat construction staff and volunteers at work – the floor decking is down, and they are working on the exterior walls – the frames in the foreground are for interior walls.

Just came back from the Riverbend build site – its a nice sunny day, with a heat index of something like 97 degrees. Here is an image of the build site – these two hard working folks are Don and Diane Barnes – full time volunteers with Habitat for many years – at the moment they are attaching sheets of OSD to the outside of wall sections for the house.