This week, I had the pleasure of working alongside over 100 of my fellow Habitat AmeriCorps in Longmont, Colorado for the Habitat for Humanity Annual Build- A- Thon. The Build-A-Thon is a week where Habitat AmeriCorps and alumni to travel to different cities across the country to help local affiliates provide decent and affordable housing for families in their communities. For this year’s Build-A-Thon, I supported a project with Habitat for Humanity St. Vrain Valley. With the help of my fellow AmeriCorps and the staff at Habitat for Humanity St. Vrain Valley, we were able to completely build and cover a duplex home for Modesta and her three sons. 

We arrived bright and early Monday morning to find that the first floor of the home had already been framed. We spent the day framing the second floor of the duplex. This was extremely exciting for me as I had never before done any construction work of this nature. The learning curve was steep, but I was able to keep up. I learned how to build walls and install windows, the difference between the size of nails and their importance, how to use a nail gun, and the importance of hard hats very quickly! By the end of the day we had completely framed the second floor of the homes and even began sheathing, or covering the outside with plywood. Tuesday and Wednesday were mostly spent sheathingthe homes in preparation for the inspection and installing the upper roof trusses. On Thursday I worked to mount and sheath the lower roof trusses while the other AmeriCorps on site worked on wrapping the homes and applying blue board. Friday was spent mostly applying siding, building out the garages, applying ice and water shield to the roof, installing the exterior windows and doors, and other minor but important tasks. By lunch time on Friday we were all exhausted and ready to get out of the hot Colorado sun, but we were determined to finish our tasks.
By the end of the week I felt very accomplished and proud of the work my fellow AmeriCorps had done.

The entire week was full of both hard work and fun. From socializing with the other AmeriCorps at several Colorado breweries and in downtown Boulder, to working with the homeowners and several representatives from Habitat for Humanity International, the Colorado Build-A-Thon was incredibly enjoyable. I am extremely grateful to Habitat for Humanity for allowing me to work and learn from such an amazing group of people and I am extremely proud to call myself an AmeriCorps and to continue working with Habitat for Humanity to empower communities across the country through shelter.

If you’re interested in joining Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps or learning more about the program, go to habitat.org/americorps.