Music to our Ears.

A jubilant team and homeowner on the last day.

New Orleans, LA – The strains of Brooks & Dunn’s “Proud of the House we Built” breathed poignantly across the worksite as we approached the 4 p.m. deadline on our last day. It was both fitting and serendipitous.

Not to mention emotional.

As with all week, we had pushed hard throughout the day, installing tin flashing onto the cinder blocks to prevent termite damage, and both building and installing the subfloor. As we toe-nailed boards into place, heads popped up through the framework like a whack-a-mole game at the carnival. The rhythmic drumming of hammers on wood blended with strikes on flashing that was reminiscent of steel drums in the Caribbean. It was music to our ears.

Adrenaline and energy had begun to flag after a long week of steady days spent lifting, hammering, mixing concrete and digging in the heavy heat of N’awlins, but we still had our eyes on one last target that would help illustrate our progress.

Walls.

So, with the country tune in our ears, we hefted two of the exterior walls we had built earlier in the week onto the freshly built floor and nailed them into place – wearily raising our arms in victory. With that, the homeowner, Joyce, began to cry. Her home at 4768 Flake Street was very much becoming a reality.

At the end of the day, it was but a small step in helping rebuild the city, but to Joyce – and to our team – it remains a very significant feat indeed.

Magic.

Cementing a Reputation.

The new house is being built beside and abandoned one.

New Orleans, LA – As we raised pillars of cinder blocks – which came to be named ‘Cindy’ by many of our crew – the bubble in the level danced animatedly.

All the while, the incessant, high-pitched beep of the laser level chided us for having too much or too little mortar in our stacks of five blocks. After the first, third, fourth and fifth, we would beckon the measuring team – “Major Laser!” – who would carefully scrutinize our ability to spackle mortar between the heavy blocks.

Add or subtract, mix mortar and repeat. This house must be level.

After several days of heavy lifting and the repetitive motion of hammering, today was an exercise in precision for many. For others, there was still the thankless, but necessary, task of digging out the wooden framework that had been used to form the foundation.

While Habitat for Humanity has not traditionally built foundations themselves in this area – opting instead to hire contractors – they have begun to do so to save costs for homeowners and themselves. This, in turn, allows them to build yet more homes. At the end of the day, that is, of course, the whole point.

Despite having had a short day that ended at 2:30 p.m., we became the first group this chapter of Habitat has had complete all of the house’s pillars – which will hopefully minimize damage in the event of another flood – in one day.

Our reputation with the Habitat team was solid before, but really cemented with our effort today. *Groan*. (Yes, it has been a week of construction-related puns and jokes.)

A Strong Foundation.

Tyler makes the sparks fly, cutting rebar.

New Orleans, LA - Building, day two: More lumber, more lumbering across the lot with materials in hand. More hammering, more door frames, more excellent energy - paired with improved tool skills.

More cowbell.

But then, the day changed as the concrete truck arrived and unfurled like a praying mantis, breathing life into the house's foundation. Made smooth, we had built the base of not only a house, but someone's home and, hopefully, a small piece of a new New Orleans.

Building Progress.

Marta's a cut above (saw that one coming).

New Orleans, LA – Since Hurricane Katrina five years ago, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 400 homes in NOLA. While significant, that number is but a drop in the bucket – so to speak – when you consider more than 80,000 were destroyed by the storm.

It was with this sobering message we excitedly began our service-learning project today, pulling into an empty lot framed by abandoned homes that continue to shrug at the weight Katrina has imposed upon them. High-fives flew from fresh muscles, but only with a stark reminder of what has transpired here.

For nine hours, we created rebar frames to reinforce the foundation, lugged hundreds of pounds of lumber and materials, and hammered at nails that softened in the sweltering heat. We worked side-by-side with Margie, a homeowner at another location, and a pair of family members who were contributing to her sweat equity hours.

The Habitat program requires homeowners to contribute 350 hours of community service as a down payment – an effort that does not need to be directed toward their own home. This “hand-up, not a hand-out” approach also provides an interest-free mortgage on a house that is 80 per cent volunteer-built. While we remarked at how tired we were at the end of the day, we also thought of Margie, who still had an eight-hour shift to complete at her job when she had finished working with us.

Looking back at the sunburned team dwarfed by a tall stack of completed walls, I am convinced we will likely be one of those teams fortunate enough to actually see tangible progress at the end of our tenure here. Then again, this is a special team.

And a special city in which tangible progress is still very much in need.