Habitat for Humanity's townhouse development at 4200 Kingston Rd. is sliced cleanly down the middle. In a definite case of split personality, the site has, on one side, a row of new, brick-veneered townhouses with interesting roof profiles and large bay windows (some with curious children peeking out), and, opposite that, a line of raw-wood skeletons, with roofs open to the sky and black holes where windows should be.
One year and four months after I witnessed the ceremonial groundbreaking at this, Habitat's first project to meet Energy Star standards, there are families actually living here. That fact brings the message home (pardon the pun) as to why we volunteer workers give our time — for them.
While I still haven't met the 19 families who are (or will be) living here, I have met wonderful people who come and swing a hammer because they want to pay it forward by giving something back.
Good karma has been generated on frigid February days when layers upon layers of clothing were necessary, during the sweltering T-shirt days of August, and everything in between. Volunteers are split down the middle, too: Some have never hammered a nail or turned a screw, while others are retired trades people who prefer keeping their skills honed over watching daytime television.
Volunteers gather for a day’s work at the Habitat for Humanity site at 4200 Kingston Rd. in Scarborough (DAVE LeBLANC)
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And then there are the groups that pay for the privilege of volunteering in the "Adopt-a-Day Challenge" (see www.torontohabitat.on.ca for more details).
This time, on a balmy yet windy day last week, close to 30 Freemasons from the Toronto East District had assembled on the sidewalk for a pep talk from brother Martin Skulnick, who organized the outing.
After a few Masonic jokes during the morning coffee break, Mr. Skulnick admitted that the Masons also have a dual personality. There are the images of secret handshakes and the "old boy network" that persist in the public mind, and the image they'd like to project as one of many groups, races and religions doing a significant amount of community outreach. It's hoped that events such as the Habitat build, blood donor clinics and participation in the child identification program (ChIP) will "increase visibility" and decrease shadowy misconceptions, Mr. Skulnick said.
I was assigned again to a group led by award-winning volunteer Mike. (In past columns, I have referred to Mike as "Older Mike," but I think it's time to restore his dignity as I haven't seen "Younger Mike" since my first visit.) Also on the team were Mr. Skulnick; Masons Garry Fitzpatrick and his wife, Madelon; Brad; Percy; and a few non-Masons. We were given the tasks of installing attic hatches and laying "blue skin" onto the sides and bottoms of window frames.
The attic hatches — really just boxes made from oriented strand board — had already been constructed by a previous group, so all we had to do was haul them to the third floor and hand them over to the guys standing on ladders with drills in hand. After watching the installation of a few, I asked why the boxes extended so far into the attic. "So insulation doesn't fall on the heads of people going up there," I was told.
I subsequently shifted over to helping Mr. Skulnick with the measuring and cutting of the blue skin, a self-adhesive membrane to prevent water penetration into walls.
By the time the free pizza lunch was served in "Nathan's Bistro" (an unfinished garage, but romantic nonetheless), we'd successfully covered every window in the two units that we'd been assigned. When Mike told us we'd be installing actual windows after the break, there was much rejoicing. Many of us, myself included, admitted, however, that we'd never installed a window before.
Alas, it was not to be. Because of some mix-up, the large windows already on site were an inch too large, and we couldn't install the smaller bedroom windows since they hadn't been delivered yet.
Undaunted, Mike and site supervisor Brian fired up the chainsaw to carve out a section of window frame. When the chainsaw ran out of gas, Mr. Skulnick offered to go get some. But the freshly topped-up chainsaw died because of a dirty filter or bad plug.
While Brian went off to work on framing the roof, Mike continued to attack the window frame with an electric handsaw and then a chisel.
With the window job on hold, others busied themselves with moving piles of lumber or general clean up. In the latter category, Madelon Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Electrical in Ajax happily swept her way from room to room for the rest of the afternoon. When her plastic dustpan cracked, big tough Brad grabbed a piece of scrap metal and "Macgyvered" a new one for her.
During the day, I learned a lot more about home construction and a little bit about the Masons. As we all shook hands and headed out around 3:45 p.m., I asked Mike about those too-big-for-the-hole windows.
"We'll figure something out," he said with a smile. That, and a lot more, I thought, as I carved a path between the happy cries of backpack-toting children ascending the steps to their new homes on one side and the whine of power saws on the other.
