Women and girls ages 16 and up will install siding on a new Holston Habitat home being constructed in Johnson City during the Fall 2020 Women Build.
This biannual event, initially scheduled for Spring 2020, was postponed due to COVID-19 and will now be held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. Holston Habitat’s Women Build events provide a safe, supportive environment for women and girls to learn and expand their construction knowledge and skills.
This event will mark the seventh Women Build hosted by Holston Habitat. Previous Women Build construction activities have included building interior and exterior walls, installing windows, doors and siding, and painting. Once complete, the house will become the home of Miatta and her two sons.
“You are there trying to give your time and your skills for someone else but inevitably you also receive; skills, friendships, confidence, a sense of accomplishment, and new strengths,” says past Women Build volunteer, Gwen Little. “Everyone wins, you just have to show up.”
Holston Habitat’s mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope fits nicely with Women Build’s model of inclusion and empowerment.
“This fall, Holston Habitat expects to engage 32 women and girls as Women Build construction volunteers,” says Mandy Penz, Holston Habitat’s Volunteer Manager. “Our goal with each of these events is to involve a greater number of women and girls, with the ultimate goal of one day building an entire Women Build house.”
Sponsorship for Holston Habitat’s Women Build is provided by Servpro of Washington & Greene Counties, Century 21 of Johnson City, Peoples Home Equity of Johnson City and Holston Habitat’s Board of Directors. Two Holston Habitat houses are currently under construction in Johnson City and Kingsport with an additional house project planned for Elizabethton in the coming months.
For more information about Women Build or to register as a volunteer with Holston Habitat for Humanity, visit the volunteer page at www.HolstonHabitat.org or call the office at (423) 239-7689.
