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. 

Smore's on a Thursday

Day 6

Once again, today we were split into two groups of seven for today's projects; one team was sent to work on leveling a crawlspace at one of the Habitat houses while the other was sent to fill in dirt at another property and to work at the Restore.

The first team included Amanda, Austin, Tim, Claire, Stephen, Julia and Kaisa. At the start of the day, they prepared the crawlspace by beginning to remove excess wet clay and concrete from the area. Then, while Amanda, Julia, and Stephen continued to remove the clay, Austin, Claire, Kaisa, and Tim went to wheelbarrow gravel down into the space. It was quite a workout! The group took turns on each task and encouraged each other the entire time.

When lunchtime rolled around, the group was more than ready to eat! Provided by a local church, the lunch consisted of sandwiches, chili, chips, crackers, brownies and cookies. Once our tummies were full and our bodies were rested, the group went back to work. Tim and Austin began to help with the tresses of the porch while the rest of the group continued to remove mud and wheelbarrow gravel. At the end of the day, they were all covered in mud and the crawlspace was covered in gravel!

When they were walking back to the car, the group realized that they were too dirty and would have to figure out a way to keep the car clean. Everyone was covered head to toe in clay and were able to strip some of the dirty shirt layers but obviously would have to find another alternative for their pants. Amanda and Austin decided that it would be in their best interest to create pants for everyone out of garbage bags! Claire was the only one who actually had other pants with her, so to her, the rest of the group looked like goofs. The group had a blast though and made some one-of-a-kind memories.

The second team included David, Emily, Marie, Grace, Brynn, Alicia, and Tierney. First, they went to a home to level the yard by moving dirt from a large pile to the area under the porch.

Grace, Marie, Brynn, and Tierney shoveled the dirt and loaded the wheelbarrows, while Emily and David worked on pushing it under the porch. Alicia cleaned up the backyard from dead brush. 

Then, they went to the Re-Store, where they painted the walls to give the store a more vibrant ambience and unloaded the truck full of items for the store to fix and sell.

They started by unloading the truck that included items like furniture, doors, mirrors, and other various household items. The team paired up to carry the heavy items from the truck into the store.

David painted the trim of the blue wall. The new paint gave the store a beautiful new look to invite families to the store. 

Grace, Marie, and Emily team up to paint the bottom of the wall gray. Alicia and Tierney worked on painting the top part of the wall blue. 

After a hard day's work, the team heads to visit their volunteer coordinator Hope, where they had a bonfire at Hope's home. The group made pizza and smore's and sat around the fire. They all participated in "roses, thorns, and buds," meaning the best and worst part of the day, as well as something they look forward to the next day. 

Half-Day Ash-(Wednes)Day

Day 5

It was a beautiful and sunny day in Richmond today! The group was split into two teams again. A group of eight returned to the original site for a third day to continue with the flooring, adding finishing touches to the cabinets, and replacing an exterior window. This group consisted of student-leader David, participants Brynn, Julia, Grace, Stephen, Marie, Tim, and accompanier Emily. Emily and Stephen worked outside the house on ladders removing siding, prying nails, and replacing a window. Julia, Grace, and Marie meticulously worked on finishing the kitchen cabinets and applying the final coat of paint. Brynn, David, and Tim continued to lay flooring in the living room today.

The second group consisted of a team of six: student-leader Amanda, participants Claire, Kaisa, Tierney, Alicia, and accompanier Austin. The team spent a chilly but sunny day outside working cleaning up the yard of a new Habitat for Humanity house. Claire, Kaisa, Tierney, and Austin spent their time in the front yard chipping at the frozen ground with pickaxes to move piles of dirt under the porch to level it out. Lots of heavy lifting and shoveling resulted in a rewarding finish in the front yard. Amanda and Alicia worked in the backyard cleaning out dead brush and trees. Amanda was excited to use a saw and Alicia hauled the wood piles around to the front as they worked to clean up the backyard. The landscaping team was later joined by the homeowner, Carlos. "He was very appreciative of the work we were doing, and was surprised how we were spending our spring break. We wouldn't have it any other way!" expressed Amanda.




Both groups took a break for lunch and met around noon for some time to debrief on individual experiences, and were joined by some friendly neighborhood cats! Carlos spent
lunch visiting with the rest of the group and expressed not only gratitude, but also his amazement at how we were spending our spring break.

Our day of work wrapped up early to allow the Habitat for Humanity staff/volunteers as well as members of our team to practice Ash Wednesday. Having some free time today allowed us to enjoy the sunshine by playing corn hole and relaxing while watching a movie. After cleaning the dirt, paint, and dust off ourselves, we gathered together to discuss and reflect. Today our focus was part two of last night's topic of socioeconomic issues that Appalachian people face in their daily lives.

This evening Saint Marks Church hosted us for a delicious fish fry dinner. While there we even met a friendly woman with a unique last name... Gannon! Everyone has been so thrilled to welcome our Gannon team, but Ms. Gannon showed a special excitement when meeting our group.

After dinner, seven group members took part in a Methodist Service and five attended a Catholic Mass. Tim remarked that his experience at the Methodist Church was, "...really calming and it felt good to connect more with Habitat volunteers. Charlene and Mike, two of our contacts, were attending the service as well, and it was great to see them." The group was welcomed by the pastor and thanked for the work we've been completing. All in all, the day was full of laughter and fun experiences. Our love for Richmond Kentucky continues to grow!

Two-and-a-Half Groups Tuesday

Day 4


For today, our group of 14 was split into two groups of seven. This was to ensure that we help in multiple ways throughout our trip and to work as effectively as possible.

The first group went to the same site as yesterday to work on the bigger projects like the cabinets and the flooring. Julia, Grace, and Marie started painting the cabinets and are going back tomorrow to finish the last coat and hopefully put on the doors. Claire, David, and Alicia finished the flooring in two of the bedrooms while also touching up walls, doors, and trimming. After lunch, Josh came up to David and applauded the group on their hard work. He said that they were not expecting to get the flooring or the cabinets done this week and we are more than halfway done with each of those tasks! As a token of gratitude, he allowed David to write something on the plywood of the house that would be covered later with the flooring. We then signed our names under the beautiful words that David wrote so the house would always be a part of us and we would always be a part of the house.

The second group worked on a variety of tasks throughout the day. We started out by cutting out pamphlets for a movie-night fundraiser that Habitat is putting on for Friday, which will be explained more in a later blog. The group then made their way to downtown to distribute these pamphlets to the local establishments. To finish the morning, they stopped at a local coffee shop called Purdy's and then split into two groups.

Amanda, Stephen, and Tierney headed off to a vacant lot that was full of trash. For three hours they picked up all kinds of trash including five tires and a mattress. Amanda even had to get in a hole in the ground that was half filled with water to pull out the garbage. After completing the section, they traveled with our contact Amos to dispose of the all of the items. This included taking some to the trash compactor and having the satisfaction of watching it all get crushed. Once all of the deliveries were done, they met the other half of their group of seven.

Emily, Brynn, Tim, and Kaisa had headed directly to Habitat's Re-store and spent their whole day there. This is a second hand store that sells everything except for clothes. Items here run at a discounted price and are donated if no one purchases them. Here they met an awesome employee, Nicole, who guided us through the day. Our first task was to clean recently donated items and put them out on the show floor. We cleaned a variety of items such as cabinets, tables, chairs, and even an air hockey table. Once Amanda, Stephen, and Tierney arrived, the rest of the day consisted of a lot of painting. Last years Habitat ABST group painted a side of a door that the Re-Store has used as a divider ever since. Nicole then offered for us to paint the same door but the opposite side! Kaisa and Stephen worked on this the majority of the afternoon. Brynn, Tierney, Amanda, Emily, and Tim painted a wall a new shade of gray. We finished the day by taking pictures with Nicole and other employees.

 After a solid day of work, we all met back at the lodge and got ready to go to dinner. Dinner was provided at the Catholic Campus Ministry's Newman Center at Eastern Kentucky University. It was wonderful to see another college and hear about their experiences so far! Overall, today was another day filled with laughter and working to make a difference in so many lives, including our own.