FMCA Chapter: Habitat for Humanity®
Tucson Affiliate / Tucson, AZ
February 25 – March 8, 2003

Build Report
Submitted by Team Leaders
Jerry and Alice Langenfeld

Twenty volunteers from FMCA Chapter: Habitat for Humanity® worked primarily on a total of three houses from Feb 25th thru Mar 8, 2003. The team consisted of: Jerry and Alice Langenfeld(Build leaders), Barry and Rosemary Amor(Asst leaders), Corbett and Connie Pool, Mac and Shirley McKee, Gary and Pat Krumweide(first week only), Jim and Marilyn Marble, Art and Linda Gercken(first time builders), Ken and Joy Fehrenz(first time building with the chapter), Dave and Nancy Jo Fridline, and Dale and Mille Johnson. All are members in good standing with FMCA and the Habitat for Humanity® Chapter of FMCA.

The Tucson Affiliate is a very large affiliate with 15 – 20 houses under construction at any given time. They had started 11 homes on a cul-de-sac on Sept 11,2002 and when we made our pre-visit we were told we would primarily be helping to finish some of these homes. As the time for our build came closer the affiliate asked if we could concentrate on one home(let’s call it the Park St home) that had been sitting since last May and also assist on a couple of other homes( the 28th St home and the 31st St home) in the area, therefore we did not participate on the 11 homes previously in the plans. Actually, they were over-staffed at the 11 home sites with as many as 40 volunteers showing up some days.

Most of the first week was primarily focused on the Park St home with inside trim and painting and outside rework of the Stucco prep that had deteriorated due to the length of time the house had sat. Late in the week a crew was sent to the 31st St homes to sheetrock for one day and then to the 28th St home to sheetrock the balance of the week.

The second week saw us continuing where we left off from the first week for the first couple of days, after which concrete had been poured allowing us the start on a free standing carport and a laundry room/porch. We worked on these two projects for the rest of the week, but were not able to complete them.

Supervision was assigned to us, but the supervisor was stretched so thin(he had several other houses he was responsible for), we did have some down time because he wasn’t always available to get more materials, answer questions, etc. This is not a reflection on the supervisor but on the workload he had while we were there. If future builds are done with this affiliate, this issue needs to be addressed. With 20 people doing mainly finish type work, constant direction/question answering is needed.

The affiliate did host a welcome luncheon, at which time all team members met the affiliate contacts, Lisa Giannini, the volunteer director, and Matt Brode, the construction supervisor. After each of us gave them a short introduction of ourselves, Lisa gave us an overview of the affiliate and the current projects they had going. Matt gave us a preview of what our projects would be for the next two weeks. One of the future homeowners also furnished lunch one day. Because of the number of volunteers they have on any given day, lunch and breaks were up to us except on the two Saturdays when the affiliate furnished donuts.

The affiliate had committed to parking space for 7 of our coaches and that was the limiting factor until 2 members(the Pools and Fridlines) offered to park off site to allow 2 others to join our build. The Fehrenzes also commuted as they winter in Tucson. A point should be made that the affiliate says they have 14 spots in their RV yard, but in reality, it will only hold 10 when the rigs are like the ones most of our chapter members have.

In summary: We had a safe build with only one scratch reported. We worked a total of 1162 hours. Weather could have been warmer the first week and cooler the second week. All teams members reported they had a good build.

Jerry and Alice

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