Habitat for Humanity - Women Build

When I first came to Bloomington, my boss invited me to a Habitat for Humanity breakfast, and I was instantly intrigued by the organization, what they do, and the impact it has on its homeowners.

This year, I was invited by my boss to be a part of what I consider to be the ultimate DIY - her Women Build team!  Habitat for Humanity has Women Build Week all over the country, but I have heard from many women that Bloomington has a very strong group of women who represent well!  There were many teams of women who were on the build site for the whole week and I got to be a part of the group that framed the walls!

I don't shy away from building or working with tools - in fact, if we buy a piece of furniture that has to be put together, I am always the one to jump at the opportunity... maybe that's why I like IKEA so much  :)

This experience, though, was by far one of the greatest of my life!  There were probably 30 women at the build and we worked on two houses - putting all the walls together and getting a few of the exterior walls raised!  The homeowners were also there, which made this experience even more special because we got to know them, and got to spend the day with them, and to feel their excitement and appreciation was so great!

There were some people who were in charge of measuring and cutting and putting pieces of wood together to make the components of the walls.  I spent the entire day putting the actual walls together, and it was amazing to feel more and more confident as the day went along.  I even built a few walls totally by myself once I got the hang of it!  So - here's what we worked on!!

Our first few interior walls

Our first BIG interior wall

My first completed door way!!

I didn't take a ton of pictures because we were working really hard to get these done.  The house I was working on was a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house so it was larger than what is normally done in the Women Build week...

A big shout out goes to all of those friends and family who supported me - in order to be on the team, you have to raise at least $250.  I was close to $400 thanks to so many people who love Habitat and who also love me  :)  SO, here's to them...

We drove by the house a few days later (at the end of the week) and here's what we found!!!

I hope to be able to go back for the dedication of the house next week - I hope it's a place where the Mosiers enjoy raising their three children and where they really feel settled and connected to their community!