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One Hard Hat in Pink, Please

By
Real Estate Agent with Century 21 Zwygart Real Estate

Can you swing a hammer?  Turn a screwdiver?  Building a home may be easier than you think!  Consider volunteering at a Women Build event for Habitat for Humanity.  Sponsored by Lowe's, this Habitat for Humanity program empowers women while helping provide housing for people who may not otherwise be able to obtain the dream of home ownership.

As a child, I spent entertaining hours pounding nails into my father's workbench with his hammer, much to his annoyance when he would later come in to find fifteen bent nails sticking out of the top of the bench.  However, my construction skills never passed that stage.  I reached adulthood without knowing much about how easy most building projects can be.  All it took was someone, my ever patient husband, to show me how easy most building projects can be.  Now, I am still content to let him mud and tape drywall when we build a new wall in our home, but it is satisfying to decide to rearrange my kitchen cabinets or lay tile in our mudroom and know that I have the skills to do it myself.

If you are a woman who feels inept with tools and household projects, I would strongly encourage you to look for a Women Build event near you.  You will be welcomed warmly, and you can learn a new skill.  Take a step out of your comfort zone to come out, learn something new, meet some new people and help build a home for someone in your community.

If you already know your way around a drill driver and air nailer, Habitat for Humanity can certainly use your help.  Come to a Women Build event to help other women learn these skills and put your talent to good use.

Women are always welcome at any Habitat for Humanity build, but if you are feeling like a fish out of water at a construction site, a Women Build event can be a good place start.

Visit Habitat for Humanity's Women Build page for more information and a directory of events near you.

Posted by

 

Brenda Carus
Towne Square Realty
Certified EcoBroker, Re/Max Green Agent
Monroe Area Real Estate

Looking for a place to live a real life? Know your neighbors, eat local, abandon your commute, be part of a community - come to Green County. Whatever your preference is, we have it all from surprisingly urban to truly rural and everything in between.

Comments (3)

Tiffany Wilson
eReal Estate Corp - Redondo Beach, CA
SFR, First Time Home Buyers & Investors

I LOL'd when I read the part about the bent nails sticking out of your dad's workbench!  Brings back memories...  My sister and I "built" our tree house when we were kids.  Well, we tried - until our dad saw that we were determined and would have hurt ourselves if he didn't step in.  When my parents moved from the home that I grew up in, they took a picture of the tree house.  I'll have to dig it up and share it with everyone.

May 04, 2008 01:53 AM
Michelle Pimentel
Empire Home Staging Solutions - Upland, CA
ASP, IAHSP Empire Home Staging

Brenda,

This is a very nice blog and really gives us women ideas on how to help others in our own communities.  Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful organization!  What a great idea to have a womens build, I think all of us gals should try to participate in a build at least once a year! There is no greater reward than that of helping those in need! Thanks for sharing this information. 

May 16, 2008 06:50 PM
Debbie Summers
Charles Rutenberg Realty - New Smyrna Beach, FL

I had a great time volunteering at Habitat here in Central Florida.  I worked as a project manager for a builder for 12 years and feel at home on a construction site.  I had a great time building interior walls... It's fun when you can do something better than the boys can.  I was the teacher's pet that day!

May 18, 2008 01:30 PM