Everyday Women Build… Every Day

Maddi, from Raven 1, reflects on the “Women Build” event with New Castle County Habitat for Humanity in Wilmington, Delaware.

Week two at New Castle County Habitat for Humanity and the greatly anticipated Lowe's National Women Build Week had arrived! The week was unique in that Lowe's donates funds to any Habitat that hosts a Women Build meeting specific criteria. Lowe’s is compelled to do this because such a large percentage of their customers are women. Raven 1 was assigned the prestigious task of leading groups of women volunteers, which totaled 236 over the five days.

I would be lying if I did not admit this assignment was accompanied by a small level of anxiety amongst our group; it was only our second week with Habitat. Many of us had little to no prior experience with construction or volunteer coordinating. However, our fears were quickly assuaged once the week was in full swing. The Habitat crew managed to be omnipresent on site; always available to lend support or instructions if our team members were in need, but also encouraging us to take the lead as often as possible. This was especially important for me because I have a tendency to take a back seat when learning new things, but with this new level of responsibility and trust, I became much more involved, actively listening to instructions and asking questions, knowing I would soon (within minutes) reteach the information.



 Keiper, Raven 1, Team Leader flexes with volunteers at the New Castle County Habitat for Humanity Women Build Day of Service



Our whole group excelled in their new roles. Ashley was able to convince even her most timid volunteers to go above and beyond their comfort zones, having one woman who was scared of power tools using a circular saw on the roof of a house by the end of the day. Keiper rallied volunteer morale by teaching her group different cheers to motivate and encourage one another. Overall the experience was a mixture of excitement and fun. Women of all ages came out, with all different backgrounds, stories and experiences. I was extremely impressed and inspired by how uninhibited my groups of volunteers were about the work. Not once did a woman pass one of her assignments because she did not know how, or because she was afraid. I even had a woman drilling in a guard rail on the edge of the second story of a house who was afraid of heights. "As long as I do not look down..." she assured the group, and she was the most efficient driller of the whole group!



--Maddi—

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance you must keep moving" -Albert Einstein

Raven 1 pictured with the First Lady of Delaware, left to right- Maddi, Emily, Andre, Skylar, First Lady Markell, Cassie, Ashley, Michael, Henry and Keiper