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Work is progressing pretty much on schedule for the Habitat for Humanity project to reconstruct a Home for the Hunts – a pilot project with the Revelstoke Community Housing Society.
Demolition was completed on Saturday, Aug. 10 after volunteers spent more than a day jackhammering out stairs and other concrete that is not part of the new plan. The team now turns to reconstructing a modest, wheelchair accessible home for the Hunt family to accommodate Pauline’s needs as the symptoms of ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease advance.
“Many people were surprised to see that we demolished the house down to the foundation,” said project team leader Cindy Pearce. “The walls were made of shiplap with cedar shavings for insulation, making it very time consuming to keep the outside walls intact and re-insulate. And local builders told us it would be much cheaper to work on a new floor surface to put in the new walls for wider, wheelchair accessible doors and halls. Also, we found the old floor was not attached to the foundation.”
The team continues to be thrilled by donations from local and out of town companies. To date Revelstoke Equipment Rentals has provided disposal bins and scaffolding, Black Tie Properties have made their equipment available, Home Hardware and Rona Glacier Building Supplies have donated supplies or provided supplies at cost and Cooper's has helped with food for the volunteers.
The number of volunteers has also been incredible. ”We have about 60 volunteers signed up and about 20 have spent time on-site during the first month of the project – often in over-30 degree heat – and many keep coming back,” said Joel Olsen, the Volunteer Coordinator for the project. ‘We’ve had a great mix of volunteers who are experienced with building, and people who are there to do [things like] clean-up [and] nail pulling.”
People can sign up to volunteer, or make a financial donation via the project website at homeforthehunts.com.
Over the next month the building schedule includes creating the foundation for the small addition, framing the floor, walls and roof and putting on the siding and roofing. The team is ready for another busy month.