Day 7: Aberdeen Build! #2

8/12/22

Today was a build day. We volunteered for 6 hours at Grays Harbor Habitat tiny house. This is the first of nine tiny houses that Habitat will build in the area. They plan on building them all in the next 3 years.

The build consisted of framing, breaking down concrete, clearing brush, and painting. The team made impressive progress on every task and the habitat staff were all so appreciative and fed us a delicious taco lunch. I personally took part in clearing the brush. We uprooted several dead trees, large branches, and blackberry bushes. The framing team frames and put up the front exterior wall. Painting team primed and painted the backyard shed. Concrete team jackhammered and cleared concrete around the base of the property.

One highlight of the day was meeting and playing with the neighbors dog, Quoia (like “sequoia”), who is a close descendent of wolves. She provided the team with some entertainment and much-needed dog time.

The owner Judy was there and shared a bit about her circumstances leading up to her habitat application. She told a friend how she wanted to love in a tiny house and they replied “you’re too big for a tiny house.” She took to Facebook to prove them wrong and another friend gave her an application within a day. Judy has been living from her mobile trailer and has been dealing with the stress of moving it every 3 days. At this point in her story she began tearing up, noting the hardships of having unreliable access to water and electric to meet her daily needs. Judy appeared quiet and stoic from the first impression, so it was incredibly moving to see her get emotional when telling of her struggles. Her friend Debbie next to her noted that she was just feeling so blessed after a year of difficult circumstances.

The hosts cooked a beautiful dinner spread with barbecue, salads, sides, and several dessert options. Safe to say, we’re fueled up for tomorrow’s 71 mile ride to Kalaloch.