Affordable Housing 2019

March 9^th

Thursday morning, we helped with the finishing touches of a house that is going to be dedicated March 10, 2019. This will be a celebration before the homeowner moves in.  Thursday afternoon, we spent our time digging and clearing the area around pipework and electrical work on a different house. It was great to see how teamwork with effective communication allowed for faster progression of the exterior housework.

This teamwork and effective communication helped us with the demolition of another house on Friday. The delegation of tasks allowed us to smoothly start the process of tearing down the house. The process was done manually without any heavy machinery. It was interesting to see how this method, using hand tools and manual labor, reduces the cost of construction and therefore makes the house more affordable for the future home owner. Connecting the work we did on site with the knowledge gained from the panel has allowed for us to better understand the idea of affordable housing.

Reflecting on our experience as a group, we understand that the charity work that Habitat for Humanity does is one of the ways to combat the housing crisis. However, that left us with more questions about the social justice work that can be done to further combat the crisis. Looking forward, as group and individually, we hope to actively reflect on the issues of affordable housing in general and specifically in our Portland community.     

Saron Mekonnen and Giovanna Gutierrez

Today was our first day working on a Habitat for Humanity home. We were told that this house would soon be the home of a veteran. Beckoning back to the panel when the Habitat for Humanity Director of Operations discussed how Habitat must build more compact homes, the size of the lot appeared to be really big for the home. It was only a single story, one bedroom house; however, the lot was 5000 square feet. In the past Habitat has been known for building multiple homes, with several bedrooms on a lot that size. I know that they probably have reasoning for doing so, (maybe because of accessibility needs), but why would they build in such a manner? This deserves to be looked further into tomorrow with more questions asked.

 

Our recent sunny days in Tacoma quickly turned south as the snow began to fall. It went in phases, falling heavier during a few moments throughout the day. Slowly, it collected on our faces. We kept hard at work, splitting up in several groups. A group of us devoted our time to digging a swale. Others shoveled away at a magnificent pile of dirt, redistributing it to other parts of the landscape.

         

A swale is a shallow channel with gently sloping sides. We learned this as Guy, one of the foremen on the site, showed us how difficult it can be to make dirt flat. Compared to last year it felt right. I am now much more familiar with the organization and just how welcoming all of the people can be. It was also great visiting the block where our University of Portland Collegiate Challenge group had worked last year, now completed and with residents moved in.

  

Grant Mathias

March 5th

I don’t think there was a better way to start our second day in the Tacoma lovely sunny day than hiking at Point Defiance. Our group of 11 people were so energized by the extra hour of sleep from last night, and so we decided to go hiking on a 4.6 miles trail. It was a really cold but beautiful morning in Tacoma, but I think everyone was so lost in the beauty of the nature and the amazing view of the clear beach. We started off the trail at around 9:30 am and finished it around noon. We then found a space with benches on the grass to eat our packed sandwiches with some carrots and hummus. After our stomachs were full, we decided to go on a trip to downtown Tacoma. We walked around downtown a little bit, tried the scooters that some of us were so excited to see because we don’t have it in Portland, went to a cute little shop to get stickers and postcards near the University of Washington-Tacoma, and then some of us went to get Boba and coffee before heading back to the church. Since the church planned to have the Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner, it was nice that we didn’t have to make the dinner. At around 6 pm, we joined the church members for the pancakes and ham, played some games with the church members and the ASU team.

It was a tiring but a wonderful team bonding day, and I am excited for the construction day tomorrow!

Rosie Ith

March 4^th

Today we went to one of Habitat for Humanity’s offices which was located next to their store called the ReStore. They explained it as a Goodwill/Home Depot. When I get a house, I may shop there, they had a huge selection of supplies for homes! When we first got there, we learned a great deal about all the amazing things Habitat for Humanity does and the great service the volunteers provide to the organization. It’s crazy to think about how Habitat for Humanity builds thousands of homes a year and we will be helping to build one of them!

Afterwards we volunteered in the ReStore for a couple hours. At first, It was a little confusing what we should be doing but it was fun to figure it alongside everyone and see the end product of our amazing organizational skills.

Once we were done volunteering in the store, we got to hangout as we ate lunch as we waited for the Tacoma affordable housing panel to arrive. It was interesting to discover how many variables play into the effort of affordable housing. I remember Daniel Murillo, the City of Tacoma housing division manager, making note of how there isn’t just one solution to affordable housing but it requires a great deal of collaboration. I’m excited for the following days especially for when we go on site and begin working on the house.

Well, it’s off to eat some fantastic burritos with Jesuit Volunteers for dinner.

  

Austin Carlisle