Self-confidence blooms in service to Habitat families

Judy Wilson overcame her fear of heights. Cheryl Jenkins learned how to use an electric saw. And Tonya Arnett realized she could build the garden center she had been wanting.

"Not only are you helping others, but you're learning something you can use," Arnett said.

About 400 local women turned out during National Women Build Week with the purpose of constructing or renovating homes for low-income families. But along the way, they found plenty of benefits themselves.

Habitat for Humanity International organizes the annual event to bring in more female volunteers and to empower women to take action against poor housing conditions, according to its Web site. At least three local affiliates of Habitat for Humanity took part last week.

"It gets so much visibility and excitement, and it draws people in who aren't normally involved," said Star Callaway, executive director of Dorchester Habitat for Humanity, which hosted its first Women Build. Volunteers spent the week working on a new home in Summerville for Denise Godbolt, a single mother, and her two daughters.

Callaway said it will definitely be an annual event for her affiliate from here on out.

"It gives women an awareness that they can make a difference in a way that they didn't think they could ... that they can get out there and wield a hammer; they don't have to just wield a check."

In North Charleston, volunteers with Charleston Habitat for Humanity renovated the home of a disabled woman. They replaced Andrea Gardner's asbestos siding, installed energy-efficient doors and windows, replaced her roof and soon will make her bathroom handicap-accessible.

"That is a blessing to me," Gardner said. "I'll be able to get in and out of the bathroom with no problems, without feeling like I'm going to fall."

On Gardner's roof, volunteer Wilson, who previously considered herself afraid of heights, was learning how to lay tar paper and install shingles. She praised Habitat's staff for the way it taught such tasks in simple steps that she, with no related experience, could understand.

The experience gave her confidence, Wilson said. She even did jumping jacks on the roof to show how comfortable she had become.

On Johns Island, Sea Island Habitat for Humanity volunteers worked to build a home for Yenny and Cuco Ramirez and their three sons.

Habitat requires home recipients to put in hours of "sweat equity," and the Ramirez parents worked side by side with volunteers. That ups the fulfillment factor for Jenkins, the volunteer who learned, among other things, how to safely use an electric saw.

"It's such a good feeling to help someone who really wants something, who's really working for it," Jenkins said. "It is the American dream."

It was Doreen LaFrance's fifth year volunteering during Women Build.

LaFrance had been looking for a way to give back when she learned about Women Build through a co-worker.

"I needed to do something for others, but I didn't have the time for a big commitment," LaFrance said. "I came down that first year not knowing what to expect, and now I look forward to it every year."

LaFrance has used the skills she's learned for various projects around her own home, including rescreening her porch.