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