Earlier this week, Terrie Mamac’s 5-year-old daughter stopped by Habitat for Humanity’s most recent Blitz Build site for the first time since construction began.
Earlier this week, Terrie Mamac’s 5-year-old daughter stopped by Habitat for Humanity’s most recent Blitz Build site for the first time since construction began.
“You didn’t tell me we were getting a whole house!” the girl said to her mom, Mamac recalled Friday morning.
The Mamacs are one of five West Hawaii families who have seen those whole houses come together this week and last week, as more than 1,000 volunteers descended upon Department of Hawaiian Home Lands building sites at Lai Opua. The Blitz Build — a push to construct five houses in 10 days — wrapped up Saturday with a dedication ceremony.
Families will be moving in within a few weeks, Habitat for Humanity West Hawaii Executive Director Patrick Hurney said, after the last punch list items are finished and the county signs off on the final inspections. Friday morning, work was running slightly ahead of schedule. Dozens of volunteers moved around the site, near Kealakehe High School, completing finish work inside and out.
Volunteers and housing recipients noted the way island residents and off-island volunteers came together, got to know each other and became friends. The five families selected for the homes completed classes together prior to the start of construction. After more than a week of working together on their houses — and staying past dark to just marvel at the work friends, family and strangers have put in to get the construction done on time — they’ve got more than houses to look forward to, they said.
“We’re building much more than homes,” Hurney said. “We’re building a neighborhood. We’re building community.”
Blitz Build volunteers from all over the country, about 75 total, have pitched in, sacrificing vacation time to work in the tropical sun, Blitz Build Chairman Roy Zaborowski said. Five houses is a typical amount for them to see a community take on. For this project, Blitz Build volunteers worked on three homes, with local groups taking over the other two.
More volunteers showed up in West Hawaii than on other projects on which Zaborowski has worked, he said. Everyone on an island is connected, he said, either by blood or friendship, to someone getting a home. That brings out lots of local volunteers, he said. And the volunteers were incredibly hard workers, he added.
“They’ve all been energetic,” Zaborowski said. “They’ve been very motivated to get the work done.”
Aloha Kekauoha, who will live in her home with her daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren, said the kids are already talking about games they’ll play on the cul-de-sac. The family lived on the mainland for several years, returning to Hawaii only recently, she said. Seeing so many West Hawaii residents volunteer for the construction project just showed Kona’s true spirit, she said.
“The love for our town and the people is tremendous,” she said. “You know Hawaii is a special place. To see every ministry, every nationality, different races, different countries (involved in the project) — bottom line is (we) are all the same.”
Kekauoha teared up as she watched workers moving in and out of her new home. Inside, people were hanging cabinets, while outside people were putting on the finishing touches to the carport.
“It’s like my heart doesn’t have room to tell thank you to everybody,” she said.
All the work, all the volunteerism, all the closeness the new neighbors will have will permeate the neighborhood, Kekauoha added.
“This property is going to be so blessed,” she said.