On Tuesday, October 25, 2016, students signed up for the Habitat for Humanity field trip in Port Orchard, Washington, left Henderson Bay around 7:45 in the morning. Eleven students and two staff members went on the trip for the school day. Upon arriving in Port Orchard and signing in on a volunteer form, students plus Peter and Robin received a short orientation in addition to a briefing and were then separated into groups depending on what students wanted to participate and work on for the day. The different areas of work that were completed included painting, grouting, tiling and working with electric tools. There were two houses that were worked on for the duration of the day. Workers with the Habitat organization are aiming to have both houses built by Thanksgiving of this year, which lands on Thursday, November 24, 2016, for two families.
Currently, nine families live in the project development. The community is beginning to thrive as workers and volunteers, including the ones from our high school assist in building houses. That day, I noticed that although there are still houses being built around the nine families, there is a sense of community being ceated. Neighbors already have Halloween decorations posted on their doors and in their yards. In my opinion, the neighbors are building a sense of hope for a better life. America is not always the “promised land” that other countries make us out to seem. Of course we aren’t a third world country, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t families that go without homes, food, water and the basic necessities to survive. Imagine living in a neighborhood where strangers are constantly working to build homes? I realized the day when my father, Everet, asked me if I wanted to go with him to work on a housing development for Habitat for Humanity. I immediately said, "No". These many months later my parents, brother and I were seated at our dining table and, although my father didn’t say anything, he was proud of me for tacking on something new and branching out to do something out of the norm. ~Bre |
Photos courtesy of Chantel
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