for betty teacher....

Indian Cafe and Coffee!
(but really you should drink the chai!)

Mocha _ Mumbai, India

Build On

A glimpse into the EKC Habitat affiliate, who we are building for, and what we are building! 

Build On! 

Building Seven is beginning! The first few walls are up, soon to be five more units of affordable housing~

This weeks project, building a fire room on the side of Building 5.  The 10 X 3 space will contain the working parts of the sprinkler system.  Three days took it from foundation to roof. Team members: Mike Hammerquist, Kip, and Jess ;) 

Build-A-Thon!

Next week marks the beginning of the East King County Build-A-Thon!!

The AmeriCorps are joining together to raise funds for the build.  Click the link below and sponsor the 2011-2012 group of Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps.  The funds will help in our building process in Renton and in Issaquah.  Help us reach our goal! :)

Habitat for Humanity EKC Build-A-Thon!

2011-2012 AmeriCorps and Habitat

New AmeriCorps Team at Habitat for Humanity EKC 

Both Issaquah and Renton are at the house wrap and window installation phase.  

....AND! the foundation and slab was just poured for the next five units in Renton, the lumber has been delivered and soon enough framing will begin!! 

Families were selected for the last two homes in the first building, and three for this new building! Go Habitat! ;) 

Hands + Hammers + Homes

A photo collection from the first year with Habitat for Humanity of East King County

18 AmeriCorps from around the States on our first day at Habitat EKC

An AmeriCorps scented trailor

   

Final build day in July at Issaquah with homeowners and four nearly finished units

Issaquah Homes

5 duplexes built in Issaquah Highlands where it's always a bit colder, but the views of Mt Baker and Seattle on clear days are worth it.  The first four families moved in October 2010, the next four received their keys the end of this summer season, and the final two units will have windows and roof trusses up within the next couple weeks.  

Renton Site

Six AmeriCorps, Mike and Kristina branched off in January 2011 to begin building at the new site in Renton.  Starting with six townhouses in the rainy, rainy winter we spent the winter and spring months framing and maintaining the wetlands. Each AmeriCorps focused on a unit, mine being the end unit with five bedrooms.  Four families were selected early in the year and have been joining us on site weekly earning their sweat equity hours and helping us build their homes.   

Site in January 2011

Final week of our AmeriCorps term, July 2011

{my, how she has grown!}

Smiling neighbors :) 

Framing partition walls with Rafael, homeowner of Unit #2 

Bank of America, Steve, comes out ever month for a Friday/Saturday build with other BoA volunteers~ always many laughs and lots of progress on site

building stairs! 

Tiling at the NewCastle buyback, preparing the home for Yesenia and her daughter

Women's Build event at Issaquah

AmeriCorps Build-a-thon in Renton.  80 AmeriCorps working with Habitat for Humanity on the West coast joined together for a week of building at our site.  During a weeks time we finished the subfloor and exterior walls on all six units, had impromptu dance parties, and shared success stories from different Habitat affiliates. 

Raising walls 

AmeriCorps Build-a-thon

Mike Hamerquist, an awesome teacher and nonverbal communicator 

 Renton! 

Unit Six

Good Job, Team!  

Creative Ways

Creative work has been filling in the gaps of time when I'm not on site building walls for Habitat for Humanity. Here is a collection of images of the pieces I've been creating lately, getting back to my studio roots of Syracuse through paper cutting, knitting, painting techniques, and graphic work. Dreams for a shop on Etsy or a stand at the market continue to grow in this antsy, dreaming mind of mine! ^.~

Graphic logo for created for our Women's Build event the first weekend in May. I designed the logo, Kristina made the screen and a crew of 5 ladies screen printed 80 shirts for the lovely women who participated in our Women's Build Event!

A Shamrock Sweets logo for my Aunt Lyn's new baking and cookie galore company. She's amazing, talented, and ships orders, YUM!

Shamrock Sweets

Knitted Neck Warmer

Knitted Mitts

Spray paint, nature, and creative play

99 Red BalloonsPaper Cut for Joel's Birthday May 18th 2011

"We Built This House" is a paper cut piece I made for the NorthWest Symposium. The exhibit was a collection of pieces made by NW AmeriCorps members reflecting on their year of service. Ranging from poetry to video to visual arts. Over one-hundred pieces were submitted and mine was one of the fourteen selected as Jury's Choice which gained me publication in the 2011 Symposium book, my co-worker Dave pretending to be me as he read my artist statement at the exhibit in Portland on my behalf, and a brilliant red ribbon screaming "WINNER" ;)

And some walls, which I've built is sizes ranging from two feet to forty feet over the past eight months with a variety of volunteers. Yea, Habitat! The Renton site has all the walls up, interior and exterior of six units ranging from three to six bedrooms.

Habitat for Humanity :: Construction Volunteer Lead

I've traded in my color pencils and flash cards as an English teacher in South Korea, and now gear up for the work day by lacing up my steel toe books, buckling on my tool belt and securing my hardhat in Seattle.

Friday was the start of the annual Habitat for Humanity Build-A-Thon. I lead my first group of volunteers, 4 ambitious computer programers from Expedia; we spent the day measuring, cutting, and attaching studs along the mud sill for the party wall.

Hopefully when we return next week the wall is still standing! ^.~

snow in september! :O

Pile into the van, drive an hour outside the city, hike 3 miles into the forest and discover the most beautiful hidden lake covered in mist and moss, with a thick layer of fog and sheets of ice with a collective group of AmeriCorp kids that would inspire you as much as the stunning, mind blowing, acts of nature witnessed along the hike.

lovely sarah, will you tell me a story? ;)

september_really!

_amazing photo by RUTH_

_amazing photo by RUTH_

it's going to be a great year~