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photo credit Steffan Hacker

Information about the Women Build

The Women Build project continues to move forward. A six week training session began on February 19th and finished on March 26th at the Door County Economic Development Corporation where we built the storage shed and ice shanty earlier this year. Classes were taught by Dave Link and Paul Stangel, two of our regular volunteers who are also retired Tech Ed teachers and Jeff Lau, a construction coordinator employed by Portside Builders. The Women Build Committee will also be traveling to an additional training session at Lowe’s in early April. We hope that women will be able to participate in the construction of the first two houses this year and that with this combination of training and practical experience, they will be able to work on their own for at least five days on the third home.

(above) Women Build ran a booth at the Baileys Harbor 4th of July Celebration. The event was a successful fundraiser selling BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, muffins, cookies and drinks.

Door County Interiors & Design will be planting pumpkins next to their store near Egg Harbor. The Women Build project will use those pumpkins both for publicity and fundraising.

The Women Build Committee and the training participants are enthusiastic about the progress of the project.

More information is coming soon. Make sure you sign up on our email list to get upcoming information about the Door Habitat Women Build.

photo: Nancy Prange installing Water & Ice Sealant around window opening

photo: Front Row, left to right: Geri Norman, Nancy Prange, Sue VanKirk, Amy Gilmore, Rosina Moore / Back Row, left to right: Grace Rossman, Patty Medeiros, Julie Stratton, Katy Moore, Cathy Royce, Theresa Schmelzer, Dustin Bass, Brooke Baralement, Jill Cavanaugh, Paige Funkhouser, Sue Bracy, Karen Sandstrom

Habitat Taps a New Resource
By Paige Funkhouser
This article originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse and on the Web at www.ppulse.com
(published May 01, 2009)

When Door County Habitat for Humanity (DCHFH) embarked on an effort to build more homes each year in the spring of 2008, they realized they would need to expand their volunteer base. The organization turned to a previously underutilized resource – women.

DCHFH started the wheels turning on a Women's Build project in spring 2008.

"We held an informational meeting at Bay View Lutheran Church last fall, and had about 20 to 30 women come," Habitat Director Rick Nelson said. "We decided that if we could get that many people interested in coming to a meeting, we would go ahead and organize a Women's Build."

A small group of women began meeting monthly to get the project off the ground. They decided early on that training was needed to entice women into the project and give participants a level of comfort in using the tools necessary to construct a house. Weekly training sessions commenced in February and an average of 25 women and a few men showed up to the Door County Economic Development Center ready to learn the basics of building a house.

"I've always been interested in carpentry, but never had the opportunity to learn from anybody," said Suzi Hass, who attended the Women's Build training sessions. "I was reading books to decide if I could tackle remodeling my basement on my own when a friend told me about the Women's Build. The instructors taught us about correct measuring and terminology, so that if we're on the job site and someone sends us to fetch something, we know what to get.

"This is something I can do that doesn't interfere with my job as a photographer," Hass said, "and I feel like I'm helping the community."

The time has now arrived for the women to put their training into practice. May 2 was designated as the Door County Habitat for Humanity's Women Build day, and the week is dedicated as Women Build week.

"We want women to come that day to contribute to the construction of that house," Nelson said. "We need 75 percent of the work crew that day to be women. On a national level, the goal of Women Build is to build a complete home with primarily women involved. We're a small community, and it's a new venture, so we don't think we're ready to build a complete home."

The cost to Habitat to build an entire house is $80,000 to $90,000. Door County Habitat has been building three homes each year, Nelson said. The Women Build group will raise funds through various activities to support the third Habitat home in 2009.

Bending Nails and Shooting Them
By Paige Funkhouser
This article originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse and on the Web at www.ppulse.com
(published May 01, 2009)

Admittedly, my motivations for participating in the newly formed Door County Habitat for Humanity Women’s Build project are self-serving. I want to learn how to hammer a nail without blackening my thumb, how to cut holes into drywall that I don’t have to fill in with putty afterwards. Helping a family in the community find affordable, well-built housing was second on the list.

Last fall, the Habitat for Humanity Women’s Build project jumped off the newsprint and caught my eye. Intrigued by the idea of expanding my skills with a hammer and learning how to use a nail gun, I went to an informational meeting at Bay View Lutheran Church and di

scovered a group of women who were as excited as I about power tools and their possibilities.
That informational meeting segued into my participation on the Women’s Build organizing committee. As a group we realized our excitement was not going to translate into a beautifully built three-bedroom home for a family: we needed a little training. OK, a lot of training, especially in safety. Such words of wisdom as “Don’t leave your finger on the trigger of the nail gun when you look up to talk to someone,” or “Safety glasses keep the splinters out of your eyes,” are especially useful.

The Women’s Build committee worked with the guru of Door County Habitat for Humanity, Rick Nelson, and his witty assistant Katy Moore, whose enthusiasm for the project is fantastic to watch. With their guidance, the committee organized training sessions and roped in, I mean persuaded, two repeat Habitat volunteers, Paul Stangel and Dave Link, both former teachers, and Portside Builders’ Jeff Lau.

For five weeks these three dedicated men patiently shared their in-depth knowledge of basic construction techniques and commonly used tools, and answered more “Whys” than they likely have in decades. We learned the importance of keeping chords out of the path of a Skil saw. That a nail gun doesn’t discern between a foot and a board. Construction jargon is also regionally influenced, we were instructed; so, even though our Wisconsinite teachers told us that King, Queen and Jack studs mean one thing in the north, those terms might not mean anything in Alabama.

Basic construction training classes held in a bay of the Door County Economic Development Center were comprised of groups of 20 – 30 women between the ages of 25 to 75 and were an interesting study in female interaction. A few trainees were Habitat regulars and already knew the ropes. Others had a basic skill set and were eager to learn more. The third set were those women who had never pounded a nail in their life and either squealed with delight after firing a round with the nail gun, or shrieked in fear and walked away wide-eyed, vowing to never again pick up a power tool.

During each session, Stangel, Link or Lau would give a brief lecture and then turn us loose in small groups with tools and scrap wood. Here’s the sociology lesson: some women would divide the tasks up equally and each person would take her turn; some of the more experienced would show the others again in her version of the technique and then each would give it a go. And then there were the hoarders, of both tools and tasks to be completed. Groups with these female pirates generally fell silent while others chatted and joked about smashing fingers or sawing through table saws. I believe our male instructors enjoyed watching the interactions, as much as they did the “Oops” and “I bent it.” Especially fascinating was watching the instructors “fix” our mistakes. We learned from Lau that if a wall wasn’t cut perfectly straight, a little twist here and knee nudge there and a few more nails could make it so.

The women who have been through this training, as well as any others who don’t mind a little perspiration, will put these newfound skills into practice May 2, at the Door County Habitat for Humanity’s first, and hopefully annual, Women’s Build day. If you see us out there in our pink shirts and hats, stop by, and you might just learn something about building a house, from a girl.