Knoxville - Habitat

 Day 4 - Tuesday March 29

Today was our first day working in the Habitat for Humanity warehouse with the construction workers. We helped build prefabricated walls and doorways for the 7 day blitz built that is happening next week. The Habitat crew is making 7 houses in 7 days next week and they needed a lot of help to prepare. For many of us, this was the first time we had done woodwork, especially to help someone else. Our wrists and arms were sore by lunch, but we loved having the chance to do that. At noon we ate our sack lunches in the Habitat Office with Julie. Then Julie took us to the Habitat Thrift Store for us to get some supplies for our house for the week, including pots, cutlery, and other assorted things that we hadn't already gotten. From there we went to the Habitat ReStore to help out. The ReStore sells extra and donated materials to do home renovations at a cheaper price, and then the funds go directly back to the organization to fund more build sites. Since it opened its new location on March 10, the ReStore earned $67,000 for these projects. We helped the ReStore workers by organizing a lot of the materials they had in the back room to make space for more donations. Since the ReStore has a staff of only 7 people, they don't usually have the time or manpower to be restocking the floor as much as they need to. 

After we finished up at the ReStore we drove back to our house. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our house we noticed that one of our front windows had been broken. We called the Habitat Office immediately to ask what to do, as they told us to contact them if the house was vandalized. A few men from Habitat drove to the house and we went in to find that a large rock had been thrown through the window. A couple of us had our money stolen, and one had his iPod and cellphone stolen. The burglars also stole our bag of jellybeans, which we thought was actually pretty funny. We were a little scared and upset, but we were all just grateful that no one was hurt and that we weren't at the house when the incident happened. No one wanted to continue staying in the house for the rest of the week, so we packed up our stuff and drove the minivans to the Habitat Office. Habitat did reimburse us for the cash that was stolen. After a few phone calls, a family on the Habitat for Humanity board allowed us to stay at their house for the remainder of our trip. We're currently staying with Scott and Kim Sundham with their two children, Ally and Ryan. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity and warmth, especially on such short notice. 

Once we figured out where we would be staying, we drove through the University of Tennessee's campus, downtown Knoxville, and Market Square. We ate at a restaurant called The Copper Cellar on the strip, which a student recommended to us. That excursion was a nice way for us to get our minds off the robbery and continue to bond with each other. After dinner we came back to the Sundham house, reflected on our day and went to bed.