Women nail Habitat home project

Lori Ellis had zero experience in home construction before Friday, but she has built stalls in a barn and has taken on a few other do-it-yourself projects around the house.

So when Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco announced plans for its "Women Build" project and said it needed volunteers for its all-female construction crews, Ellis decided to sign up.

"I like helping out and volunteering," Ellis said during a water break at the Habitat construction site on Coit Road. "This is such a good cause."

Women wearing pink hard hats swarmed over the foundation of the house Friday morning as they pounded nails, toted lumber and operated power saws.

Most of them are like Ellis, said Crystal Lazar, associate director of Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco. They had no prior housing-construction experience.

Habitat holds clinics in conjunction with Lowe's to teach a few construction tricks, but those aren't mandatory.

"Most of the training is right here, hands-on as they are putting the house together," Lazar said.

Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976, is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry that uses volunteer labor to build houses for needy families.

This makes the third year the East and Central Pasco chapter has participated in a "Women Build" project. The house also will be the 100th the local Habitat group has built.

"Women Build" doesn't exclude men, Lazar said. It just puts an added emphasis on recruiting more women to put on hard hats and grab a hammer.

Indeed, a few men were at work on the house Friday, though Lazar said they were either construction supervisors who are on staff with Habitat or volunteer crew leaders.

About 45 people are helping build the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, which is on property that was a former school site and was donated to Habitat. Three Habitat houses have already been built there and another is under construction right behind the one the women are working on.

Eventually, the property will hold eight Habitat houses, Lazar said.

The plan is to dedicate the house from the "Women Build" project on May 12, when it will be turned over to the new owner, Jessica Avalos, and her daughters, Layla Brandt, 11, and Shaelyn Moats, 5.

Habitat requires families who receive a home to participate in the work. Avalos and Layla were among those wearing the pink hardhats Friday and putting in their sweat equity.

"It's amazing," Avalos said. "I've always wanted to do construction work."

Layla, who judged the work hard but fun, was in a hurry to start the day.

"She rushed me out here," Avalos said.

Layla looks forward to having her own bedroom. Right now, Avalos and her two daughters live with a relative and share a room.

They look forward to the day they can move in.

"We live right in the neighborhood," Avalos said. "After work, we ride by it."

Karen McLelland-Seal, a winter resident from Ontario, was looking for another way to volunteer in the community. She already puts in time at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, rocking babies in the nursery.

The Habitat project seemed perfect, especially after she read about Avalos and her daughters.

"I like hands-on stuff, so it's great," McLelland-Seal said.

Plus, she's always wanted to shingle a roof.