Media Coverage

Habitat for Humanity: Raising the roof

Christian Schiavone, The Beacon

October 3, 2007 - ACTON, MASS. - Normally quiet River Street was already bustling by 9:30 a.m. on a recent Saturday morning, the chorus of hammers and nails against the drone of a generator audible from blocks away.

About a dozen tool-belt clad volunteers streamed in and out of Acton’s first Habitat for Humanity project house through every doorway and even a second-story window, hammers swinging from their hips.

Marcos De Souza, who will move into the house early next year with his wife, Sylvia, and three children, was busy hanging roof trim over the garage.

"This is our dream come true," De Souza, a pastor at a Leominster church, said in Portuguese, his daughter Maria serving as interpreter. "We’re very thankful to all the volunteers who help. Everyone is wonderful."

The De Souzas came to the United States from Brazil just over two years ago without much money and relied on friends and family to get by. As with all so-called "partner families" who move in to Habitat homes, they will put in a total of 500 hours of work on their future house and other Habitat projects. They will also pay a no-interest mortgage to Habitat. Habitat houses usually cost about $110,000, according to the project’s Web site, but the total amount of the mortgage will not be assessed until the project is finished.

"We like to say we give families in a disadvantaged position a hand up, not a handout," said Mike Nobrega, construction manager for Habitat’s North Central Massachusetts office located in Fitchburg.

Nobrega said the current challenge is to make the frame of the house weather tight to allow volunteers to continue working on the interior through the fall and early winter. The next step is to finish the roof trim so that a roofer can begin shingling.

Marcos said he enjoys working on his future house alongside the volunteers."I can do something useful and know I’m helping build the house," he said.

After nearly four months of work, the walls are up, the floor is in and the house is nearly ready for wiring and plumbing.

"This is the exciting part, to have kind of visible signs of our progress," said Bill Schumacher, who co-chairs the local project committee overseeing the construction of the house with his wife, Heidi. "That’s uplifting for everyone."

The Schumachers and other town residents began advocating for a local Habitat for Humanity project about two years ago and held the groundbreaking ceremony last May for the 82 River St. lot.

One obstacle the project faced was meeting the standards of the historical district where the lot is located. Designers settled on a two-story Cape-style house with four bedrooms and two full bathrooms. "It was the perfect balance of what we needed and what we could build," said Bill Schumacher, as he toured the house, pointing out the future living room and bedroom on the first floor.

Designers also had to modify the plans for the home to accommodate the De Souza’s eldest daughter, Rebeca, who uses a wheelchair. For example, instead of having a half-bathroom downstairs, designers included a full bathroom downstairs, as well as a back door leading outside to Rebeca’s room to allow her a second way out in case of an emergency.

The project has garnered impressive volunteer support from Acton and surrounding towns, according to Bill Schumacher. "We have a hard time creating enough volunteer opportunities for all the people who want to volunteer. That’s a good volunteer problem to have," he said. "Anybody can come and pound nails and cut wood."

Nobrega agreed that community support for the Acton project is impressive. "The level of fundraising and volunteerism is top notch," he said, his white hard hat glinting in the sun as Marcos and another volunteer scrambled across the garage roof behind him.

Local businesses, including the Copp Tree Company and School Street Architects in Acton, have also joined in effort to help the project along. Businesses from towns as far away as Newburyport have also pitched in and Minuteman Regional High School will help with plumbing and wiring.

To date, Habitat for Humanity has built about 225,000 homes around the world that provide housing for close to a million people, according to Nobrega. The organization, which builds affordable homes for low-income families, was founded in 1976 and popularized by former President Jimmy Carter.

To learn more about the Acton Habitat for Humanity home and to find out more about volunteering, visit http://www.ncmhabitat.org/builds/acton.asp.

Christian Schiavone can be reached at 978-371-5743 or at cschiavo@cnc.com.