Long-time Habitat board member and job site MVP Dick Schamberger underwent heart bypass surgery recently after suffering a minor heart attack. We’re not saying his recent exertions assembling our affiliate’s first IKEA kitchen are responsible, but that project did involve a lot of swearing. Wife Ann reports that Dick came through the July 8, 2022, surgery in great shape, and we look forward to him returning to his passion for community service as soon as possible.
Despite the intensity of the mid-summer sun, Habitat for Humanity of Grand County’s fourteenth house is rising at 240 Nevada Street in Hot Sulphur Springs. It’s the first project in a busy summer for the affiliate, which also hopes to break ground on House #15 within the coming weeks. Prospective House #14 homeowner Lacey Lund has been a hard-working partner so far, and HFHGC supervising contractor George Davis of Maple Street Builders has worked through both knee replacement and eye surgery to meet the affiliate’s ambitious construction deadlines.
One of the central tenets of Habitat for Humanity is that selected homeowners become partners in the construction of their own home. In late May, Lacey Lund, a single mom from Fraser, logged the first of her minimum 200 hours of “sweat equity” to make her dream of home ownership a reality. If she completes the program, she and her two youngest children will live in House #14 built by Habitat for Humanity of Grand County in Hot Sulphur Springs.
With the snow mostly gone, workers have been excavating the lot for House #14 and preparing to start framing. Today was foundation-pouring day, even as work continues to finish up House #13 next door for Michael Bunker and his family.
Future Habitat homeowner Michael Bunker handled the heavy sledgehammer work (into frozen ground!) while fellow volunteers helped build the timber-and-gravel driveway of House #13 in early December.
Our intrepid and ever-expanding building crew is working hard to finish work on House #13 before the snow flies. The electrical and plumbing work is done, and drywall installation is set to start soon. The goal is to complete the interior finish work before the holidays.
House #13 is rising right next to House #12, upon which Maria Archuleta Jones and her family closed in June 2021. Habitat owns five more adjacent lots, and hopes to break ground on House #14 soon.
Exterior grading was completed in mid-October, as was construction of the front driveway. That near-final exterior work was a race against the approaching winter in the Rockies.
Heavy insulation on Energy Star-rated House #13 should keep the family toasty during Colorado’s long and often harsh winters.
Did you know that Habitat for Humanity of Grand County does more than just build houses? Through our “Brush of Kindness” program, our volunteers also are willing to help local residents and charitable organizations with short-term building and repair projects, such as this recent soffit-and-facia repair work done for Dave and Marsha Walker in Winter Park Highlands. If you’re interested, contact Board President Martin J. Smith at habitatgrandcounty@hotmail.com, or by phone at 970-887-9138.
Habitat for Humanity of Grand County is offering donated appliances for sale at reasonable prices to help us continue our mission to address the county’s affordable housing crisis—just $50 each, as is! Interested? Contact Habitat Board President Martin J. Smith at 970-887-9138, or by email at habitatgrandcounty@hotmail.com.
Our crew recently completed work on a new ClimaPod greenhouse for Mountain Family Center in Granby. It required five days of work and the efforts of at least seven different volunteers, but the new greenhouse will help stock the shelves at the center’s food bank with fresh produce. It also will serve as an educational resource for Grand County residents.
