Home for refugee family built in 5 days
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Habitat for Humanity's "Build Blitz" wrapped up Friday afternoon in Kennewick.
Several local construction companies joined forces to take a home from foundation to finished in less than a week. They started at 8am Monday and finished by noon on Friday.
"What we have is people who are usually competing against each other, coming together in a common bond to make a house happen in four days," says Brad Butherus of Horse Heaven Construction.
The home was built for the Bay Lay family, who emmigrated to the U.S. from Burma. The couple has three children, including a teenage son and two daughters who were born in Thailand in a refugee camp.
Construction workers and volunteers say it wasn't easy to build a home so quickly. HBA Executive Director Jeff Losey says everything has to be timed down to the minute to stay on schedule.
"The city inspector came out in his umpire gear, before the game, to give us a final check, so we could keep moving. Then, our windows got in a wreck in Yakima. And we couldn't do siding until the windows go up. So, we had some delays we had to work through."
It took help from 250 volunteers and more than 60 local businesses and construction companies to pull the home together. But they all agree, the reward of seeing the family in their new 4-bedroom, 1,200 square foot home is worth it.
Habitat families are required to put in 500 hours helping build their home. But the organization says Mr. Bay Lay did all that and more. And even as this house is finished, Habitat is looking toward the future. In fact, six more homes right next door to the Bay Lays are already in the works.
The Bay Lay family will be able to officially move in to their new home over the next few weeks.
Several local construction companies joined forces to take a home from foundation to finished in less than a week. They started at 8am Monday and finished by noon on Friday.
"What we have is people who are usually competing against each other, coming together in a common bond to make a house happen in four days," says Brad Butherus of Horse Heaven Construction.
The home was built for the Bay Lay family, who emmigrated to the U.S. from Burma. The couple has three children, including a teenage son and two daughters who were born in Thailand in a refugee camp.
Construction workers and volunteers say it wasn't easy to build a home so quickly. HBA Executive Director Jeff Losey says everything has to be timed down to the minute to stay on schedule.
"The city inspector came out in his umpire gear, before the game, to give us a final check, so we could keep moving. Then, our windows got in a wreck in Yakima. And we couldn't do siding until the windows go up. So, we had some delays we had to work through."
It took help from 250 volunteers and more than 60 local businesses and construction companies to pull the home together. But they all agree, the reward of seeing the family in their new 4-bedroom, 1,200 square foot home is worth it.
Habitat families are required to put in 500 hours helping build their home. But the organization says Mr. Bay Lay did all that and more. And even as this house is finished, Habitat is looking toward the future. In fact, six more homes right next door to the Bay Lays are already in the works.
The Bay Lay family will be able to officially move in to their new home over the next few weeks.
