More than 200 volunteers came out to build Nelsonville home, including Sen. Rob Portman.
On Saturday morning, a Nelsonville lot had nothing more than a cement platform collecting rain drops. By Sunday evening, that lot now has a new home for Mark Jones containing a wall signed by all those who had a hand in building it.
Over the weekend, the Habitat for Humanity of Southeastern Ohio held its first Blitz Build, in which they built a house in less than 48 hours for Jones, who is an Vietnam Air Force veteran. More than 200 people volunteered, with the bulk being OU students, Tyler Daniels, who had a large hand organizing student participation, said.
Daniels, an OU senior studying war and peace and political science, said the structure was finished Sunday afternoon, but water and electricity needed to be added at a later date.
Bridget Feldmann, a freshman studying human biology, found out about the event from her Army ROTC learning community, which sent an email prompting many students to sign up.
“There’s so many people here there’s not enough jobs to go around sometimes,” Feldmann said. “It’s still really awesome to see how fast everything is getting done and everyone who came out to help.”
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Casey Krafton, a graduate student studying critical studies for education, volunteered as part of a service learning class.
“There’s a lot of different things to work on,” she said. “I think there’s a decent amount of people through like different classes or like Army ROTC and Greek communities.”
Summer Blanchard, a freshman studying integrated language arts, was helping at the building site as part of her learning community for students whose parents were veterans.
“I think it’s really cool what we’re doing," Blanchard said. "I can’t believe that this wasn’t a house this morning, that is legitimately crazy to me. ... I’ve nailed something into the wall ... but I’ve never hammered anything before, so I was like, ‘I’m building a house.’”
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Not all of those who built Jones’ new home were students.
One out-of-town volunteer helped nail plywood to the roof of the newly formed building, he also happens to be a sitting U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
“I love the organization," Portman said. "I think they've got the right model, which is helping people like Mark to be able to get on their feet and to have a roof over their head, to be able to have a place they can call their own. A lot of the people that I have helped over the years had been renters before and every month kinda put money down the rat hole, rather than building up equity in a house and so I like their approach.”
Portman came out to show his support for Habitat for Humanity in light of legislation that would lower the appraisal costs for the group.
Local volunteers included Holly Shelton, the vice president of donor services and administration for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, who said building the house was a wonderful experience.
“It started this morning there was no house and it's just amazing to see how many people can come together and get something up so quickly,” Shelton said.
The Road Trip Crazies, a group within Habitat for Humanity, also swung by Nelsonville to get the job done.
“We travel around to small communities and we try to stir up some excitement for Habitat for Humanity,” Tom Gerdy, as he put it — the fearless and senseless leader of the Habitat for Humanity Road Trip Crazies, said. “We always talk about letting your heart tell your hands what to do and these people get that. These people understand why we’re put here and it's not about us, it's about reaching out to other people.”
Someone else that put in work on the house is its first inhabitant, Jones.
“I’ve been the one with the nerves," Jones said. "I’ve been wherever or whatever they need that I can do. ... I’ve been here from pretty much the ground up.”
Though Jones has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in the past, this build has brought about new emotions.
“It’s hard to explain the emotion you carry with you especially when you get to this point where you’re seeing this. I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I’m blessed to be able to meet the requirements and be approved and it’s a gift and I’m very thankful.”
During a break in the work, Gerdy addressed the crowd:
“You people will always be part of Mark's life,” he said. “You may never see Mark again, but you will always be a part of his life.”
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