Habitat 2020 Build Update 4 & 5

It has been a while since we issued the last update for the Seton Habitat 2020 build.  To bring everyone up to date, Seton’s current build is a recycle house located in the Douglass Community in East Plano.  A recycle house is one that is bought back from the previous owner that needs extensive work – basically, the insides are taken down to the drywall.  Seton is co-sponsoring this house along with St. Mark Parish, Prince of Peace Parish, Harley-Davidson Financial Services, and the City of Plano.  We began the tear-out process on February 1st, and were able to work on it for a few more weeks before Habitat suspended the volunteer opportunities in mid-March due to Covid-19.  However, they continued to let crew chiefs (experienced volunteers) work on the projects that were in process but limited it to four crew chiefs per job site.  

The re-start of the 2020 Habitat recycle house in the Douglass Community in east Plano officially began on Saturday June 6th.  We are now under Construction Operations Protocols for Covid-19.  This means wearing face coverings, keeping social distancing, and limiting the total number of personnel on the job site to 13.

The volunteers were from the Plano parishes of Seton, St. Mark, and Prince of Peace.  The primary task for the day was to apply primer paint to the exterior of the house.  The exterior had been power washed earlier in the week which allowed for the primer to be applied to a clean surface.  While the weather was great, the temperature started in the low 80s and reached the mid-90s by the time we stopped working in early afternoon.  The lunch break afforded us the opportunity for a much needed rest period.

While we tried to paint on the shady part of the house, as the sun moved from the morning to early afternoon, it was not always possible.  Therefore, some of our hardy volunteers got a little more sun than they wanted.  Habitat personnel always provides water for its volunteers and ensures that they stay hydrated during the day.  By the end of the work day, we had almost completed painting the entire exterior.

If you would like to be notified when volunteers are needed, join the Seton Habitat Team, or to learn more about Seton’s Habitat activities go to the Habitat for Humanity section of St. Elizabeth’s website at www.setonparish.org/habitat.  You can also connect with Seton Flocknote.  Just join the group “Habitat for Humanity – Seton” in the Pastoral Care/Outreach ministry section.