Franklin - Habitat for Humanity

It took us over 15 hours, with 9 stops, and 500+ songs but we finally made it to Franklin, West Virginia. Along the way we saw many cows, many sheep, and the beautiful Appalachian Mountains (We definitely weren't in Missouri anymore). Our journey East wasn't always rainbows and butterflies as we dealt with problems from contacting our housing site to having zero service throughout Pendleton County, to everything in between. Amber had this to say about the issues of our trip so far,

"So far, I have learned how important it is to be gumby and show love…At. All. Freakin. Times.

Our group went to Walmart earlier today and I cannot explain to how awful some people were looking at us… However, I am representing Mizzou Alternative Breaks and I cannot afford to talk out of the side of my neck. Cannot. I had to continue to be respectful and show love even though I was not receiving the same respect from some of the good-Christian people of Franklin, West V's."

Despite our obstacles and setbacks, we remained positive and persevered. (We truly learned what it meant to Be Gumby).

During the first two days of service we worked on a house for the Alt family. Our work days consisted of working on small projects on the interior of the house like window framing, touch up painting, and installing door stoppers. It was great seeing everyone so eager to work on their own projects. There was even some friendly competition to see who can build the best window frame. (They were all perfect though). We were also able to challenge ourselves through the projects we took on. With help from Jonathan and Wise Walter, our site managers, we were able to learn new skills like how to use power saws and nail sinking.

"Before today I never did anything with house construction or anything even close to that. But throughout the day I could feel myself growing more confident. I started to get the hang of using a hammer and nailing the window frames into the wall. Things started to go faster, and I got excited about working on the house. By the end of the day I did something I never thought I would do; I used a power saw!" – Audra

 

While the scenery and nature of West Virginia is beautiful, it has not distracted us from the reason we choose Franklin to serve with Habitat for Humanity. Being in the rural area we have seen a lot of the issues with housing. We are very excited to learn more about homelessness and poverty and continue our work with Habitat for Humanity this week!