Community effort raises these walls

By building walls, they break down barriers.

Fellowship proved to be a vital force at a construction site in northeast Spokane Wednesday as dozens of volunteers picked up tools and worked side-by-side to construct a Habitat for Humanity duplex – homes for two families.

No matter who you are, where you come from or how much money you make, “a Habitat home is the great equalizer,” said Michone Preston, executive director of Habitat for Humanity-Spokane. “When people work together regardless of their differences, they find out that we’re all human beings.”

Wednesday’s work at the corner of East Boone Avenue and Pittsburg Street was the initial surge of a 20-day “Blitz Build,” an accelerated effort to build homes quickly.

Like other Blitz Builds throughout the country, this year’s event in Spokane features Congress Building America, a nonprofit partnership between Habitat for Humanity International and the U.S. Congress. A congressional measure passed two years ago encourages all members of Congress to help build at least one Habitat for Humanity house in their home district or state. On Wednesday, the dozens of volunteers at the Spokane site included Rep. Cathy McMorris and her staff.

“This beats a quiet day in the office,” said Dustin Duvanich, a McMorris staffer in charge of constituent relations, who spent part of the morning putting together window frames.

But the best part, he said, is to meet and work alongside the people who will live in the houses.

“Seeing so many people out here is so amazing,” said John Campbell, one of the future homeowners.

Campbell and his wife of 12 years, Terri Campbell, have been living on the second floor of his mother-in-law’s house for the last five years. While they fantasized about owning a house someday, they never thought it was possible until they qualified as a partner family through Habitat 1 ½ years ago. Now, they’re less than three weeks away from moving in and having a yard for their two toy poodles.

The couple, along with the family that will live next door – Thuy Troung and her two young daughters – chose to paint the exterior of their duplex beige with a dark-brown trim. Because John Campbell uses a wheelchair, Habitat volunteers also plan to build a ramp into the Campbells’ side of the duplex, along with wider doorways and a lower kitchen sink so John Campbell can do the dishes.

The future homeowners, along with four other families moving into the two duplexes that were recently completed next door, will get the keys to their two-bedroom homes during a June 22 dedication ceremony. Each family has put more than 500 hours of “sweat equity” into the construction. Each will receive a no-interest loan to buy their duplex at cost, which is estimated at $65,000.

The Campbells’ and Troungs’ duplex will be the 148th and 149th homes in Spokane County to be built since Habitat for Humanity-Spokane started in 1987.

In the coming weeks, more than 1,000 people will contribute their time to completing the duplexes. Most of the volunteers who worked on the site Wednesday were from Sterling Savings Bank, one of the event’s sponsors and a participant in the annual Blitz Build for the past four years. In addition to a $12,000 donation, the bank also enabled about 55 of its employees to take time off and help with the construction.

In many ways, those who volunteer for Habitat get as much out of the experience as the families, said Kirsten Fehlig, a retired science teacher. She has been coming to the site once a week, first to help with the two now-completed duplexes, and now to work on the Campbells’ and Troungs’ homes.

Without any prior experience in construction, Fehlig first showed up at last year’s Blitz Build. She started volunteering regularly in February, when poor snow conditions kept the long-time Mount Spokane ski patrol member at home.

Although she still can’t hammer a nail – “It always seems to bend,” she said – Fehlig is now skilled at other construction work, including putting up siding and insulation, roofing and even installing water cooling systems.

“I wanted to learn new skills,” she said. “I also wanted to give back to the community.”