Women Build
Taking Homemaking to a New Level-Habitat Women Build
Written by Florence "DeeDee" Riffe 
The women hammering and lifting and measuring and leveling the sides of the house at 106 Young Avenue on Oct. 2 are butchers, bakers and candlestick makers-when they aren't at their day jobs of accountants and mortgage lenders and physicists.
The tall woman in charge, Durham native Lucy Gardner Stokes, is the general contractor for her 4th Women Build (and she's been in charge when the men build, too). Construction supervisor Donesha Thompson of Habitat of Durham's staff is in charge of day-to-day construction. Many of the volunteers have helped build Habitat homes before, but some are first-timers who look wide-eyed at Pete Jones in his wig (Chick Palermo forgot his), grateful for help with the heavy lifting and pondering whether the gender formerly stereotyped as homemakers can make homes from scratch.
Rounding up the volunteers for the construction of Kim Rives's home is Jennifer McFarland, who said her parents' brush with homelessness by Katrina helped cement her determination to contribute time and talent to Habitat. (Notice how no one has to use the modifier "hurricane" any more before that infamous feminine name.) When Jennifer's mother moved to Chapel Hill, Habitat of Durham homeowner Marsha Ham (champion sweat-equitor from the 2009 Women Build) became her caregiver. Marsha, like most Habitat homeowners, cannot resist telling others how Habitat changed her life. Jennifer listened.
Future homeowner Kim is ebullient at the prospect of living on such a pleasant street, where mighty oaks stand as sentinels against the hot sun, with her daughters Camille, 8, and Angela, 23 and a student at Durham Tech. They hope to move in before Christmas 2010.
The volunteers listen up when Lucy gives instructions, orders or asides. "Get that board right there and saw it. Yes, the one with 'don't cut' written on it," she nods, holding such details in her head while figuring the length of boards for the front porch. The daughter of structural engineer Nick Gardner, Lucy "didn't know what I wanted to do" after finishing a civil engineering degree at North Carolina State University. She became a carpenter's helper in Charlotte after a year of working in Yellowstone National Park. She moved on to commercial jobs of steel and concrete with Davidson and Jones before joining George W. Kane Construction Company as a construction superintendent, who-oh, by the way-married the boss's son Bill Stokes. "I always called my dad when I screwed up, though," she said. As project manager in the office of her own business, which blends better with rearing two children, Lucy now "builds the job in my head before supplies get to the field"-sort of like meal planning.
"Women have better organizational skills, better communication skills and are better team players," she said to explain why she keeps coming back to Women Build. As for her commitment to Habitat she says, "It's the only non-profit for everyone, all political flavors. Even Newt Gingrich and Jimmy Carter can agree on it." But you have to wonder if Newt or Jimmy can bake a cake or recite a nursery rhyme after a day of home building.
This is one of the 25 stories included in Habitat of Durham's 25th anniversary history book, Building Hope Equity: 25 Years With Habitat for Humanity in Durham, NC. The book was written by DeeDee Riffe and designed and produced by Linda Barnett as their gift to Habitat of Durham. To learn how you can purchase this book and support Habitat of Durham's mission, click here.
