What do a PECO manager, a home inspector, and a nun all have in common? They are enthusiastic participants in Habitat Philadelphia's Women's Build construction classes! In January of 2007, the first class of women pioneered a new venture for Habitat Philadelphia. Born from a desire to enable women to take more of a leadership role as Habitat volunteers, the classes have grown into a safe and often raucous learning environment where women of all ages, economic backgrounds, and cultures come to hone their construction skills.

The eight-week course includes hands-on instruction in nearly every aspect of building a Habitat house and has sparked new interests and developed new found talents among its many participants. Taught by Lauren Mariani, a carpenter with McCoubrey/Overholser and a former Habitat AmeriCorps volunteer, this second round of classes has also included graduates from the first set of classes putting their skills to work as assistants. Many have come out to volunteer with Habitat on one of the women only build days. Still others have quickly put their new found skills to work at home.

While the skills taught in the class are geared toward building a Habitat home, they also apply to other home-building techniques, according to class facilitator Shelly Halloran. "The lessons taught here give a foundation to doing things differently outside of Habitat." Power tools tend to be a hit with the ladies, as they are instruments that rarely show up in the average tool shed. But a few of the women were surprised at what they learned by simply using a hammer correctly. "Since about age 2 ½, I've been using a hammer," laughs Sister Frankie Vaughan, a 65 year-old nun with Medical Missions Sisters in Philadelphia. "I've just learned things that a hammer can do that I've never known before. I thought that was the cat's meow!"

Whether their motivation is to serve the world, protect their families and properties from untrustworthy contractors, or simply to gain confidence in a field dominated by men, the women who attend the Women's Build construction classes find an inviting environment for growth.

As for putting their new skills to use, the women have some ideas. "My husband says he's looking forward to me doing more things around the house," Diane Howard admits, but not without an unmistakable ring of pride in her voice. "I have a lot of power tools at home, and this class is helping me learn how to use them!"

In last month's installment of House Story, we laid out the obstacles of property acquisition faced by Habitat Philadelphia. If you missed this piece, please click here for the full version.

The next phase of pre-construction for each of our properties is the zoning and permitting phase. While there are a few differences in the process based on whether we are rehabbing a property or building from the ground up, the path from obtaining the property through to being able to build is a circuitous one faced by all developers regardless of size. Below is a brief overview of the process for new construction.

Coming Next Month: A discussion of the process for determining house design.

Habitat Philadelphia is pleased to welcome the following five talented and diverse leaders of the Philadelphia area to its board this summer:

• Brett Altman - Chief Executive Officer of Allied Construction Services II, Inc. Since 1977, Brett has been involved in general contracting and subcontracting operations. His areas of expertise include: construction estimating, cost controls, scheduling, management of personnel, contract negotiations, solicitation and evaluation of proposals and coordination of field activities.
• Omowale Crenshaw - Managing Director of Enterprise Heights Real Estate Development Company. His activities include land use planning, acquisition, budgeting, community engagement, zoning, financial packaging and elected official interface.
• Michael C. Forman - Prior to co-founding FB Capital Partners in 2005, Mr. Forman served as a senior partner in the Corporate and Securities Department at the Philadelphia based law firm of Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers LLP. In addition to his career as an attorney, Mr. Forman has been an entrepreneur and has founded two finance companies: Mercantile Capital, a mid-size asset based lender and factorer and Preferred Capital Bidco, L.P., a Small Business Administration lender.
• Michael O'Brien - Vice President of W.S. Cumby & Sons, a premier Delaware County construction company, since 1999. His company represents contractors who are socially and environmentally responsible. As VP, his responsibilities include oversight of all pre-construction activities in excess of $50 million per year.
• Kevin Watson - Deputy Sheriff Officer in Philadelphia's Sheriff's office. Drawing from his background in Army Intelligence Analysis, accounting, and Philadelphia police work, he brings his expertise of civil procedure to Habitat's pursuit of property acquisition in the city.

Looking for your fifteen minutes of fame? Here is your chance to have your work viewed by thousands and have it fund Habitat's work of rebuilding Philadelphia's neighborhoods.

Habitat Philadelphia is asking local artists and designers to submit original designs to be considered for our holiday card. Cards will be professionally printed and packaged for sale.

The selected image and artist will receive significant media exposure via Habitat Philadelphia's mailing list, promotion in local media, as well as credits on the back of each card. In addition, the winning artist will receive 100 cards for their own personal use. We expect to sell cards in local stores, on our website, and use them as notification for alternatives to holiday gifts.

Join us as we celebrate this year's homecoming of our hard-working partner families. The fabulous RAE Restaurant will host the evening including hors d'oeuvres, beer & wine, and a silent auction to benefit Habitat Philadelphia's work.

This year Habitat Philadelphia is expanding its definition of rebuilding Philadelphia neighborhoods to include home repair. Focusing on two neighborhoods where we are currently building on a large scale, Habitat volunteers will focus their day of service activities on making many of the homes around our constructions safe and warm.

Through this effort, we hope to have a greater impact on the communities in which we build by making it possible for current home owners to gain much- needed repairs, further stabilizing the neighborhood by maintaining or increasing property values for existing residents, providing an opportunity for a greater number of volunteers to be involved, and expanding our desire to eliminate poverty housing.

Teams of volunteers led by staff, AmeriCorps, and volunteer crew leaders will perform minor repairs focused on making selected homes warm, safe, and dry. Included houses will be pre- selected via an application process that includes a written request and a home visit to assess necessary repairs. We expect to include no more than 20 homes in this initial project and will use it as a test run on which to base the feasibility of offering this service on a regular basis.

On June 28th, Habitat Philadelphia began offering Crew Leader Training for interested volunteers. The goal is to develop skills in a particular aspect of construction to the point of leading a small group of volunteers in that task. This will enable to site supervisors to focus on several activities on site and hopefully allow Habitat Philadelphia to increase the number of houses it builds each year while reducing construction costs.

The first class, "Its All in the Trim: Finishing Touches that Make a Room" focused on the basics of installing trim as well as leadership skills for managing a crew of volunteers on site. It was a hot night, but the members of the class worked diligently on learning the basic tools for trim installation and even began installing the closet trim on one of the houses on Titan Street! These volunteers will be coming back to work on installing trim as well as leading small crews of other volunteers in the coming months. The next class is "All About Painting: Using Housing Interiors as Your Canvas." Future class dates will be posted on our website as they are scheduled.

Crew leader training is open to individuals who volunteer on a regular basis. For a list of upcoming trainings or to become a volunteer, please email Alexis at volunteer@habitatphiladelphia.org or call 215- 765- 6000 ext. 10. New to Habitat Philadelphia? Find out how to become a volunteer here.