Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
The walls and roofs have been finished for awhile, but the Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity houses in Durbin are still in need of some finishing touches before the new owners can move in.
Although the initial builds each took a week, it has been an arduous task to finish up the insides.
AHHH Pocahontas County Volunteer Coordinator Judy Fuller has organized six work session days in hopes of getting volunteers to come out and complete the work.
“We have a construction supervisor who’s there to guide you and to make sure you’re doing it right and everything,” Fuller said. “We’re just leveling cabinets. We would kind of show you how to set the first cabinet and then turn you loose with it. You level them and then you screw them together.”
Along with kitchen cabinets, the houses also need countertops, appliances installed, lighting and a few touch-ups here and there.
“The countertops might be a little more tricky but then again we have people to guide you, and they will help you through that,” Fuller said. “We need to lay the carpet. It is on a concrete floor so it is a little different and we’re really having to stretch it.”
For those who aren’t very handy, the houses also need cleaning.
“It would be great for the families to move in and have the sweeping done and the windows washed,” Fuller said.
For the special work days, Fuller has enlisted the help of Joyce Varner to provide lunch and snacks.
If the work days are successful, family coordinator Danielle Findley said the families should be able to move into the houses the first week of the new year, if not sooner.
The work days are Thursday through Saturday, December 19-21 and 26-28. If the houses still need finishing touches, work days will continue Tuesday, December 31; Thursday through Saturday, January 2-4 and then Tuesday through Saturday until Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Then work will continue Mondays through Fridays with special workdays on Saturdays.
The first set of workdays are perfect for local students that may get bored during Christmas vacation.
“We’ve got college kids on break and the high school will soon be on break. We tell them to break up the monotony or boredom of being on break,” Fuller said laughing.
To volunteer time or to provide food for meals, contact Fuller at 304-456-5210 or email her at jfuller@almostheavenhabitat.org
Suzanne Stewart may be contacted at sastewart@pocahontastimes.com