Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190019
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Greeley Wyatt has been doing it for many years, both inside and outside the Roanoke Valley, but he never tires of it.
Wyatt, a retired railroad worker, is approaching 70, but he keeps up with those half his age.
The hammers pounded and saws whirred Saturday as eight houses arose out of the ground in a building blitz in Northwest Roanoke.
Amid a festive atmosphere that was touched at times with almost religious fervor, hundreds of volunteers helped put the houses under roof in the biggest one-day project by Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley.
Bankers joined with grocery company executives, meat cutters, secretaries, city officials, carpenters, retired federal employees, church leaders and scores of others to hammer and saw.
They withstood the griddle-hot weather, gulping down soft drinks and munching on watermelons to try to stay cool.
Habitat officials were elated with the turnout to help build the houses on Kellogg Avenue, off 10th Street, that will be bought by families that cannot afford traditional home financing.
Typically, Habitat has 15 to 20 volunteers working on one or two houses at a time, said David Camper, president of the Roanoke Valley affiliate of the worldwide ecumenical Christian housing ministry. But more than 300 volunteers participated in Saturday's event, he said.
The exterior walls and roofs for the houses were erected Saturday, but the interior construction is not complete.
Saturday's blitz was designed to help increase Habitat's visibility in the community and to accelerate the Kellogg Avenue project, Camper said.
Fourteen houses are planned for the 5-acre site. Construction will begin on the remaining six houses when sponsors are found for them.
Sponsors donate $16,000 to pay for materials and provide the volunteers to build a house. Some other materials are donated, and Habitat pays the rest of the costs.
The houses are sold to families for about $33,000, but the price can vary, depending on size and design.
Churches and businesses, sometimes working together, are sponsoring the eight houses that were started Saturday.
The business sponsors are Kroger, NationsBank, Shenandoah Life Insurance and the Woods, Rogers & Hazlegrove law firm. The churches are Calvary Baptist, Virginia Heights Baptist, Cave Spring United Methodist, Vinton Baptist, South Roanoke United Methodist and First United Methodist in Salem. Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations contributed as a group.
Volunteer Carol Pruner said churches are a potential source of hundreds more volunteers.
"Just think what could be done if every church in the Roanoke Valley sponsored a house," she said.
Kroger and NationsBank said their employees eagerly volunteered to work on the houses. Each company had more than 50 volunteers on the job Saturday.
Ken Hammond, zone manager for Kroger, said the $16,000 sponsor's fee was raised quickly after Kroger employees said they wanted to participate in the project.
Kroger also provided lunch and snacks at the work site Saturday for all volunteers.
Doug Waters, regional executive for NationsBank, said there was similar enthusiasm among the bank's employees. Bank officials expected about 10 employees to volunteer, but 52 signed up.
Waters and bank executives hammered nails alongside branch managers, tellers and other employees.
Waters said he is no builder, but he studied construction management in college.
Robin Boggs, a teller at NationsBank's Crossroads branch, said she decided to volunteer because she knew a little about carpentry.
"I know how to hit a nail," Boggs said, adding she has some experience in deck work.
William Clark, Roanoke's public works director, also lent a helping hand Saturday, working on the house sponsored by the church he attends, South Roanoke United Methodist Church.
The churches had no trouble finding volunteers. Tom Sixbey, who recruited volunteers to work on the house sponsored by First United Methodist in Salem, said no one turned him down.
by CNB