FMCA: HFH - Ocala FL Build Report

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Ocala, Inc. an Affiliate
February 12 - 23, 2001

BUILD REPORT
Submitted by Team Leaders
Dale and Millie Johnson

On Sunday, February 11th, all 22 FMCA volunteers met at the KOA Campgrounds Kitchen meeting room in Ocala, Florida for an orientation regarding the up coming two-week build. The Affiliate had arranged for us to stay at the KOA for a price of about half of the going rate for a KOA in that area. Each person introduced themselves to the group, and gave their "real home location" (full timers).

Directions to the build site, a Habitat subdivision, were given. Volunteers for the daily devotion were selected. After about 30 minutes, we were joined by the Director of the Ocala Affiliate, Mary K. Williams, the Administrative coordinator (our contact) , Heather Thrall and Mr George Edwards, a member of the Affiliate Board of Directors. The Affiliate personnel brought along with them submarine sandwiches, drinks, condiments and chips, for all, which were furnished by the local Publix grocery store.

Mary Williams addressed our volunteers, telling of the history of the Ocala Affiliate and its successes to date and emphasized the fact that they are growing each year, expecting to complete at least 10 houses during 2001.

On Monday morning February 12, we car pooled and departed the campground at 7:30 AM, driving to the build site on Old Blichton Road about 5 miles from the campgrounds. We were greeted by the Affiliate Construction Supervisor, Bob Whitney and George Edwards of the Affiliate Board. Mr Edwards is the owner of a large construction company and the head fund raiser for the Affiliate. Bob Whitney was with us every day, all day long during this build.

Monday was spent doing a number of projects on houses already in various stages of construction. Some began to put up the siding on one house, others began installing electrical outlets, switches, cover plates, light fixtures, ceiling fans, etc. in a second house. Others, who specifically volunteered for the job, began digging footers for a new house. Still others began installing pre-hung doors throughout another house.

Millie and I were invited to attend the Board of Directors meeting on Monday evening and to make a presentation regarding our Chapter, its members and how we are different than the care-a-vanners. After our presentation, Mr. Edwards, who was at the build site all day, working with those volunteers digging the footers, remarked about the work ethic of our people. He was the first of many Affiliate members that requested us to come back next year, if we could.

Tuesday we continued our assignments, and a shipment of kitchen cabinets arrived which required assembly. Four of our people began assembling the cabinets for installation in one of the houses. It was discovered that all but two of the cabinets were ordered wrong, and had to be sent back to Home Depot.

Wednesday the assignments continued, and by early afternoon it was evident that we had run out of work and materials. Bob Whitney advised us of this situation and said that we could take the next couple of days off or we could move to another site, much further away, and "build a house". Our people unanimously replied that "we came to build" and so on the following day, we moved to a new site at Silver Springs Shores, about 13 miles from our campground. Bob advised that there was no shade or shelter at this site. Bill and Rosemary McLaughlin , assistant build leaders, volunteered to bring their Class C coach to the site each day. We used their awning with dining flys attached to it for shelter during the breaks and at lunch.

We started with a fresh slab and as Bob Whitney had told us, we began to "build the house". By Friday afternoon, we had the exterior walls up and had begun sheeting them. Things were moving right along. Friday's lunch was Pizza, furnished by Papa John's, through the Affiliate.

Friday evening, we had a pot-luck Birthday Party at the campsite. Feb. 15th was the birthday of two of our volunteers, Bob Page and Dale Johnson, Feb 16th was the birthday of Ken Shipe. The party was complete with cake and ice cream for dessert.

Our people were told at the beginning that "Saturday work is optional". Everyone declined to work on Saturday, which was no problem for the Affiliate, since they have local volunteers that report to the subdivision site each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

On Monday of the second week, our crew had shrunk by two people, since the Heinz's had a previous commitment and were only scheduled to stay for the first week.

Monday's lunch of submarine sandwiches were again furnished by Publix Grocery store through the Affiliate, Thursday's lunch was furnished by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Friday's lunch of Pizza, the second week, was again furnished by Papa John's. The Pizzas were picked up by the Affiliate coordinator, Heather, and delivered to us at the "Shores" site. The delivery tags on the Pizza boxes stated that they were for "Habitat for Animals". Heather took a label back to the office with her to use for follow up with Papa Johns. Each day, while at the "Shores", Board member Bob Murray would visit us and brought home baked cookies for our break. Everyone waited to see what Bob had baked for us the night before. Bob, who is physically challenged with MS was an inspiration to us all.

As the second week progressed, also the house progressed very quickly. By Thursday afternoon, all exterior walls were up and sheeted, the trusses were all raised, and the roof was beginning to be covered with sheeting.

The interior walls were started on Friday, with a crew of mostly women. Don Johnson led the crew and they progressed very quickly with the wall project. Meanwhile, the roof was really taking shape. They use hip roofs on Habitat Houses due mainly to the winds, which come up frequently. This house is only the second one with a carport (A recent zoning requirement)

And was the first one that Bob Whitney, our construction supervisor, had built, so the roof went rather slowly. By Friday afternoon, three quarters of the roof was sheeted and under cover of roll roofing. Two of our volunteers decided to come back on Saturday, Feb. 24th to see if they could get the remainder of the roof done. Our report from them is that with the help of two local volunteers, they were able to get the rest of the sheeting done on Saturday however, no additional roll roofing was installed. Fortunately the weather has been very favorable, so there is no doubt that they got it completely covered before any rain could get to the wood.

Friday evening we had a farewell dinner at the Golden Coral restaurant. We were joined by the President of the Affiliate Board, Jim Cune, who spoke to us and expressed his thanks for our coming and for the exemplary fashion in which we conducted our build. He was extremely impressed by our Christian attitude and the fact that we had devotions daily at the site before beginning work. He was amazed at the amount of work which was accomplished during our two week stay. Golden Hammers provided by the Affiliate, were given to each of the volunteers. Heather Thrall and Bob Murray of the Affiliate were also on hand at the dinner.

We were able to announce, at this time, that FMCA Chapter volunteers would be returning to Ocala in 2002 in conjunction with the Southeast Area Rally at Brooksville.

The following is a listing of those who participated in the build. Our thanks go out to them for a superb job. Our assistants, the McLaughlins, have graduated to "Build Leader" status and will be leading the 2002 Ocala build.

Three of the volunteer couples are new members of our Chapter. One heard of our build through the Care-a-vanner newsletter, One was recruited by Ray and Karen Nellis at the Brooksvile Rally, and one found out about us at Brunswick, Me.

This group of volunteers instantly gelled into a wonderful team from the very beginning. Their help and cooperation made it very easy for the build leaders to do their job well. We appreciated them all.

Special thanks to Ken and Dottie Shipe, who took lots of pictures with their digital camera and provided copies on disks to all who wanted them. You'll see many of these photos on our website: www.fmca-hfh.com shortly.

Millie and Dale Johnson
FMCA Chapter: Habitat for Humanity ®
Ocala Build Team Leaders