Week 20: 2010 AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon

For the second consecutive year, Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity was selected to host the annual Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon. On June 11-18, 2010, more than 500 Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps National and AmeriCorps VISTA members from across the country gathered in Cedar Rapids to build, rehabilitate and repair more than 20 homes in partnership with local families.

The need for affordable housing is especially great in the Cedar Rapids area, where nearly 4,000 homes were damaged by fast-rising water during the devastating floods of June 2008, the worst natural and economic disaster in Iowa’s history.

The sheer size of the disaster’s impact on Cedar Rapids is difficult to comprehend. Approximately 9.2 square miles of the city were underwater; floodwaters exceeded the 500-year floodplain level by many feet; and the damage to residential property in Cedar Rapids was valued at more than $736 million.

The 2010 Build-a-Thon will highlight the recovery efforts in the Cedar Rapids area and will showcase three approaches to meeting the housing needs of communities: new construction, rehabilitation and repair.

New construction
The new construction element of the event will took place in northeast Cedar Rapids, on Council Street Northeast between Fox Trail Drive Northeast and Main Street in Robins, Iowa. Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity planned to frame and “dry in” 11 new homes during the Build-a-Thon. One additional crew prepared two more homes for construction by installing floor systems and completing basement framing during the build week. The homes were later completed by local volunteers during the rest of the build season.

Rehabilitation
Working in partnership with Block by Block, a local rebuilding program working primarily on owner-occupied homes, Cedar Valley HFH and National Service Build-a-Thon participants rehabilitated homes in Northwest Cedar Rapids, the area of the city most severely affected by the 2008 floods.

Repair (A Brush with Kindness)
Cedar Valley HFH is participating in Habitat for Humanity International’s exterior home repair program called A Brush with Kindness, part of Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. Teams will worked in the Wellington Heights neighborhood on the east side of the Cedar River.

National Service participant roles for ABWK Build-a-Thon projects included painting, scraping, minor carpentry repairs, door and window replacement, and landscaping on older two- and three-story homes.

Goals of the 2010 Build-a-Thon:

• Engage AmeriCorps members in a meaningful service project, building esprit de corps among members.
• Highlight the impact of Habitat for Humanity International and the Corporation for National and Community Service partnership.
• Increase the overall capacity of Cedar Valley HFH in the wake of the 2008 flooding.
• Develop partnerships with corporations, individuals, communities, businesses, and local and state governments that recognize the need for affordable, decent housing for all.
• Infuse hope into the lives of those affected by the 2008 Iowa flooding.
• Blitz-build, rehab and repair more than 20 homes in Cedar Rapids with families in need.
• Rebuild Iowa!