Amarillo Build Day

6/30/22

Today was a build day in Amarillo, TX with Habitat for Humanity. They have been a fantastic partner and host.

They served us a delicious barbecue lunch along with a presentation on their work and Amarillo in general. We can tell the southern Midwest likes their burgers because we’ve been served them with much more regularity than earlier in the trip- no complaints here! During the presentation they mentioned some other cool programs they have. One that stood out to us was the classes they offer their future homeowners on house and car maintenance, budgeting and finances, and low budget cooking. These classes really make it clear that Habitat is setting up their families for long term stability.

During the build they were organized, grateful, respectful, and great at teaching and letting us take the lead on projects. Some of us used the weed-wacker (or weed-eater, as they say here) to keep the site looking tidy while construction is under way. Others put up plywood sheathing for the exterior walls, or installed blocking in the framing to support future kitchen cabinets, or lifted trusses onto the roof.

We finished our day with a powerful gratitude circle type of activity where we anonymously tapped the people who have positively affected us in specific ways.

Now we’re off to bed in luxurious bunk beds!

- Laura