Gainesville, GA Habitat

Once I left Beaufort, I headed back towards Atlanta with a build in Gainesville, GA coming up.  My lovely, but non-domesticated friend Kelley allowed me to destroy her kitchen while preparing my first cooked meal in a long time.  I love cooking, but I realize my cooking isn’t for everyone because I don’t cook with meat and I typically don’t cook with any fish.  I enjoy appreciating the taste of everything on my plate.  Thankfully Kelley doesn’t cook much, so when I put together a healthier version of eggplant parm over rice noodles and served it with zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms, she made me feel as if I should try out for Top Chef or just go ahead and replace Rachel Ray.  One of my favorite people on this planet Joe also joined, showing up with a lovely bottle of wine and some bread.  With all of the recent traveling, it was just the relaxing night with great company I was looking for.

The next two nights I stayed in Marietta with Kelley’s mom.  Marietta was closer to the build site in Gainesville than it would have been staying in Atlanta, especially with the traffic.  As I wrote in my Thanksgiving post, this woman is such an inspiration to me.  I’m always honored to be in her presence and it’s always fun reuniting with my favorite dogs Brooklyn and Riley.  We shared some laughs and an emotional elimination night of the X Factor before heading off to bed.

I was also lucky enough to get to spend time with another favorite family of mine, the Cooks, who's constant selflessness very much brushed off on to me during my years in college. One minute with them and it feels like your part of their family, which was extremely encouraging when I wasn't able to see my own family much.  Believe me when I say, I was truly blessed with the incredible families I was lucky enough to be a part of throughout my years in college.  It is quite humbling to recognize when you surround yourself with good people.  Marietta was always that constant for me during some very important years in my life, and for that I am grateful.

Riley & Brooklyn

The Gainesville build was a slight last minute addition to my trip, as it wasn't on the original list of builds when I began my research.  The commute from Marietta to Gainesville was about an hour.  Dee Ann was my initial contact and she was so kind.  Unlike Baton Rouge, Sarasota and Beaufort, this was the only house being built in the location.  The land wasn't nearly as spread out as Wilkesboro, where they too were building only one home in the specific location, rather it was being built in a small development off the main road in Gainesville.

All I can say is I am thrilled that I was able to add two days at this build site to my schedule.  Each build I participated in prior were all different from one another, some in good ways and some in not so good ways. What made Gainesville stand out above all others was the tenacity and overall knowledge of the women running this site.  Both Baton Rouge and Sarasota had a great group of women on site participating and running the build, but with a lot of men or contractors there to help (which I am not bashing at all!). Gainesville was different.  Dee Ann was in charge, she was authoritative, she gave clear concise directions and responsibilities.  This wasn't time for rest, it was time to work and work hard.  I respected her and all of the ladies on site immensely.  There were two young boys on site helping with the roof, but beyond that it was a group of maybe seven or eight women doing the work.  

I spent most of the first day working side by side with Judy, who was great. I was also lucky enough to get to enjoy some conversation with Ann, who spent most of the day on scaffolding putting up the roof siding.  I seemed to be the only one on site who wasn't experienced with climbing up and down a ladder at mock speed, so needless to say these ladies impressed me big time. You could really just sense the feeling of mutual respect amongst all of these women who were dedicated to building this house.

Being that it was a Saturday, there were a lot more volunteers the second day on site.  Again, everyone was given direction and the day ran so smoothly.  I bid my farewells to the group around lunchtime to hit the road back to PA.

Exterior of the House

Dee Ann is the only one not on a ladder.
Judy is in the pink hardhat on the middle ladder

Putting up the roof

Women putting up the roof siding

Knowing that this would be the last Habitat build I would participate in for a little while, I was thrilled it was spent in Gainesville, GA.  I want to thank Dee Ann for letting me jump on board last minute, and the rest of the women for warmly welcoming me for two days.  It was quite empowering watching this particular group work together.

Throughout the month of November I was blessed to see the hard work and dedication of many amazingly strong, intelligent and independent women. The image of selfless humanity will stick with me forever.  To Baton Rouge, Sarasota, Wilkesboro, Beaufort, Gainesville and the entire Habitat Community ... I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Can't wait to get started up again in 2012 on the west coast.

Love from the road,
Erin