Another Day in the Community!

Hello everyone,

We had another fun and productive day on the work sites today. We had a very busy and jam-packed day, so we will try to keep this blog post concise. One half of our group helped around the HABITAT head quarters and mixed paint and served at the restore project. Here, volunteers through HABITAT donate house-hold items and paint to help raise money for the house building projects. Our group members aided in this process by mixing paints to sell the new colors to local house renovators. They even made a beautiful teal shade that they named "Erie Shores Green". They were so efficient that they got to finish their work day early and go on a hike!

The other half of the group went to the HABITAT warehouse where they painted base boards and trim to go into one of the new houses being worked on. They worked so fast that the HABITAT coordinator, Hope, asked them to help reorganize the messy warehouse so future HABITAT teams can navigate it better. Later in the day, this team worked with newly-learned power tools, like nail guns and power saws, to begin putting the fresh baseboards and trim into the house. Some members worked on other finishing touches like fixing door hinges and cleaning the outdoor siding. The HABITAT contractor, Mike, was so patient and informative with us to make sure we were learning how to use the tools correctly and to complete the tasks to their standard.

Once the group was reunited, we all shared in homemade tacos, reflected, and played some fun and competitive board games. We cannot wait to keep learning new skills, getting to know the members of this amazing community, and growing closer together in friendship.

Stay tuned for more updates!

The Kentucky Kids


  
 
  
   

First Day on the Job!

Hello everyone following along with our trip,

Today our group kick-started our day off with some breakfast and an introduction to the history of HABITAT and some of the staff and volunteers that are a part of the Madison/Clark County HABITAT. We learned the story of the founders of this amazing organization and got a first-hand testimony from one of the volunteers, Guy. We all shared a special connection with Guy as he attended Gannon from 1951-1953, and shared his stories of trekking through the cold Erie winters (uphill both ways of course). After breakfast the team headed off to their two locations- an insulation installation and shed cleanup.

The alpha squad headed off in the beta car to install some insulation. Our team split up into groups to caulk the exterior of the house, cut and fit the insulation, and staple it all together to make everything secure. We split up into groups and tackled the entire house in three hours. At the end of our build we were able to meet Angie, the house owner, and hear about her story and share her excitement for her new home. It was such a cool experience, and our team had a great time working together.

The alpha car headed over to another site to clean up an old shed filled with trash on the inside and out. A little while after they got there it started raining, but our team pushed through and used their teamwork and perseverance to get the job done. Then it was lunchtime, and after that they patched up some walls with putty. Lastly, they headed home for the day and cleaned up from their muddy mess.

After the whole team returned home and played some card games, we shared a yummy pasta, meatballs, and garlic bread dinner compliments of Kevin. After dinner, we reflected on our days and watched a video on life after the coal industry in Kentucky. For the rest of the evening we are enjoying game night, snacks, and spending time with one another.

With love,
The Kentucky Kids 

   
 

First Full Day in our New Community!

Hello friends and family,

Today we thoroughly enjoyed exploring our new community. To start off our day, most of group members attended St. Mark's Catholic Church where we were welcomed with open arms. The priest even recognized our group in front of the congregation, sharing how we were from Erie, Pennsylvania and working with HABITAT for Humanity for the coming week. On the way out, we were stopped by a kind couple wanting to get to know our story and wishing us the best of luck on our service.

Then, we went to lunch at Casa de Fiesta where we enjoyed authentic-style Mexican food and good conversation. After returning to our lodge, we relaxed for a couple hours and researched places to go on a hike. We ended up going to a local nature park and hiked along the John Holder Trail. We stopped at many amazing sites, including a small river and a rushing waterfall. We all talked about how much we appreciated the sunshine, warm weather (66 degrees), and being able to enjoy the outdoors, and how much we missed these opportunities because of Erie winters.

After our hike, we came home and made our first home-cooked meal. It was fun trying to navigate this new little kitchen and working as a team. Tonight we reflected, learned more about HABITAT for Humanity, and shared some stories with each other. We are all excited to get started with service tomorrow.

Simply,
The Kentucky Kids

  
  
 

We have arrived!

We are here in Kentucky at the HABITAT House! We had an easy and safe drive that honestly flew by! We made a quick pit stop for an amazing lunch at Raising Canes, a recommended fast food restaurant only found in the southern states. We were all pleasantly surprised with how good the meal was, especially the fluffy garlic bread. After we arrived and moved in, we took an efficient grocery run to Costco where we got most of our needed food for the week. We are truly enjoying getting to know each other better, especially over the walky-talkies with our new code names. We all cannot wait to begin the week and to start serving this amazing community! 

Meet Our Amazing Group!

Hello ABST friends and family!

We hope you are excited to share in this journey with us as we take off to Kentucky tomorrow morning. We will be departing from Gannon University around 8:00am in two large SUVs, planning to arrive in the Richmond area around dinner time. So, be sure to stay tuned for an arrival post tomorrow evening, as well as our daily updates throughout the week. Before we embark on our spring break trip, we wanted to introduce our amazing team, so some of our group members put together a little bio to help you all get to know us!

Meet the team:

Kevin Paton: Hey, my name is Kevin Paton. I am a Senior math major, from Silver Spring Maryland. This is my second ABST and my first time leading one.

Hailey Wehner: Hello, my name is Hailey and I am so excited to be one of the student leaders for this year’s HABITAT ABST! I am a junior physician assistant major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and along with this amazing ABST program, I take part in Gannon’s Honors Program, T.R.A.V.E.L. Program, and Dance Team. This is my second leadership opportunity and third ABST, so I have loved being a part of this community since my freshman year and cannot wait for this spring break’s experience. I love this group’s outgoing and open-minded dynamic, and I am so excited to continue getting to know everyone while we serve to try to make a difference in the Kentucky community! I hope to learn more about this new culture and affordable and fair housing in America, as well as grow within myself to shape better perspectives and lead a better life. Yay HABITAT Domestic, Kentucky here we come!

Daniel Scheidhauer: Hello! My name is Daniel Scheidhauer. I am a freshman nursing student and my hometown is Mercer, PA. At Gannon, I am part of the Army ROTC program, along with the Color guard Team and the Pathfinder Club. I am extremely excited for our upcoming ABST trip to Kentucky to work with the Habitat for Humanity Team. I am looking forward to creating new bonds with the people that I am going to be around but most importantly, I am looking forward to giving my service and time to people that are in need.

Lina Reis: My name is Lina Reis and I am a freshman in Gannon’s Industrial Engineering program. Outside of school I enjoy riding my horse, Nova, and spending time with friends. I am excited to go to Kentucky and work with Habitat for Humanity. I look forward to working with my hands and getting to know the community we will be serving. I am thankful to Gannon and my friend and family for giving me this amazing opportunity.

Maria Lohmann: Hello, my name is Maria and I am a junior Nutrition and Human Performance Major from Pittsburgh, PA. I am also involved in Gannon’s cross country team.

Katie Hamilton: Hi! My name is Katie Hamilton and I am a Sports and Exercise Science Major in the 4+3 PT program from Erie. This is my second ABST experience with Gannon and I chose Kentucky because it’s a service opportunity completely different than anything I’ve ever done before!

Devin Williams: Hi everyone! My name is Devin Williams and I am a sophomore biochemistry and mathematics major. I chose this ABST for Habitat for Humanity because I have heard many wonderful things from the participants in the past. I can’t wait to experience everything that this trip has to offer especially getting to get to know the locals from their community. I am so excited to leave for this trip and bring back what I have learned to our community!

Kaitlin Doverspike: Hi everyone, my name is Kaitlin Doverspike. I am a sophomore, Biology/pre-dental major. I am in an affiliate program with LECOM, so I will go to dental school there after I graduate from Gannon. In my free time, I enjoy skiing, hiking, reading, listening to music, and spending time with my friends and family. I am very excited for this Habitat for Humanity trip because I think it is an amazing opportunity to learn new skills and give back. I have been involved in various kinds of service work throughout my life, but I have never tried anything like this and am happy for the chance to try something new.

Grace Foster: Hello! My name is Grace Foster, and I am a freshman at Gannon in the 5 year PA Program, and minoring in Chemistry. My hometown is Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!). Some of my hobbies include baking, especially anything with chocolate in it, reading, hanging out with my friends, and staying active. I love sports, and am on the Women’s Club Volleyball and Softball teams here at Gannon. I am so excited to embark on this exciting journey ahead of us with our amazing Kentucky team!

Brendan Cuddihy: Hi, my name is Brendan Cuddihy. I am a Freshman Mechanical engineering major. I am from Hamburg, NY and I am looking forward to doing a lot of hands on work. I love building, designing, and seeing how things work.

Noah Marangoni: I'm Noah Marangoni, a sophomore Psychology and Clinical Mental Health Counseling major from Pittsburgh. I love fantasy, birds, linguistics, and the mind.

Jenna Minard: Hi! I’m Jenna Minard. I’m a sophomore biology/ premed major. I am in the LECOM early acceptance program. In my free time, I enjoy running, reading, crocheting, and spending time with friends and family.

(We also have the amazing Brandon Fronk and Renee Castrigano as out wonderful trip facilitators. Unfortunately, these busy-bees did not have time to write introductions, but we hope you will get to know them throughout the rest of our blogs)

Here are some silly pictures of most of our group members on "buddy dates" throughout the school year! I hope you enjoyed getting to know each of us a little bit, and we could not be more excited to begin this journey together!

  
  

With love,

The Kentucky HABITAT Team

Home Sweet Home

Day 8

Today was a very bittersweet day for our crew. Though we were sad to leave Kentucky, we were excited to come home to Erie and share our experiences with those around us. This morning we finished up our cleaning responsibilities and pack the cars for our departure. We left Richmond around 8:30am and watched as we left the Habitat Lodge fade away behind us.


While traveling we listened to all of our favorite songs from before and after the trip. We laughed as we reflected from the week of work and enriching new relationships. Most of us read our affirmation letters from the rest of the group and it was a great feeling seeing how we each impacted each other. Alicia said, "Getting to read how our relationships grew throughout the week was special and one of the best experiences of this week."

We stopped for lunch in Ohio at Panera. It was a nice break from sitting in the car and was nice to once again laugh with our entire group. We talked about different things that happened in the few hours we were separated. After lunch we headed back on our trek to Erie, stopping only once more to stretch our legs and use the restroom.

While approaching Erie, each car listened to our favorite songs from the trip and celebrated making it home safely. We want to thank Austin and Emily specifically for giving their time and energy to this trip. They made it all the more special and meaningful. The work would not have been the same without them. Austin and Emily were gracious enough to drop each student off at their respected residence halls so that they did not have to carry all their luggage far. It felt very nice to return back to our rooms for quick showers before we all came back together at Amanda's apartment for dinner.

The rest of the night was filled with games, laughter, and Jimmy John's. Overall, this trip has touched and affected each and every one of our lives. The memories and experiences that have developed throughout this week will never be forgotten. Thank you to Amanda and David for being the best leaders and always pushing us to be the best that we can be! We can speak for everyone by saying this was an amazing week and we are all sad that it is over. Until next time, Richmond.

Finishing Friday with Fantastic Fajitas

Day 7

Today we were split into two different groups for todays projects; one team went to the warehouse and the Restore while the other went to one of the Habitat houses again to finish up some work.

The first team included Amanda, Austin, Stephen, Claire, Grace, and Kaisa. At the beginning of the day, they went to an old warehouse that Habitat bought to load bags of concrete into a truck. Then they continued to clean up other various things around the lot and got to explore the inside. It was freaky. Afterwards, the group went to the Restore to finish up painting the walls there. Even though it was cold at the beginning of the day, the group continued to encourage each other and stayed positive.

The second team included David, Emily, Brynn, Tim, Marie, Julia, Alicia, and Tierney. Here, the group got several big projects completed that we started on Monday. This included finishing the cabinets and new vinyl flooring. These were huge tasks that everyone wanted to see finished and it was very rewarding to see it all completed. While other projects were being completed, Tim got to work with Marty on fixing up the siding and putting a new window in.

By the end of our last day, everyone was exhausted. We all headed back to the lodge to meet up with the Habitat for Humanity staff to go have a closing ceremony. Our group was really crunched for time, so after we finished, Austin, Brynn, Marie, Alicia, and Tierney ran upstairs to cook some delicious chicken and fish fajitas. The rest of the crew got to work cleaning up the lodge. It was in our trip's covenant to leave the places better than we found it. Austin said, "The last day was definitely the busiest but we have gotten so good at working together during this week! Making chicken and fish fajitas was no problem at all."

Following dinner we all went to volunteer at Surge's Night out with the First Responders! Amanda, Stephen, and Claire had been helping set up for most of the afternoon and so it was amazing to see these three step up and help teach our group. We were in charge of concessions as well as selling tickets to the community. This was an event that was raising awareness for Habitat for Humanity's First Responders Build. The event included opportunities for children get in firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. In addition, they could print their own shirts as Surge is a local screen printing company. They closed out the event with a showing of Incredibles 2.

We ended the day with a closing reflection as well as last minute packing for our trip home tomorrow. Everyone has expressed sadness in these final days but joy for the experiences we have shared in.