AZCO® News and Press Releases
Habitat for Humanity, AZCO INC. and Students from Menasha High School team up for the second time to help build a house for a family in need.
AZCO employees volunteering their time are joined by Menasha High School students and staff this spring to install support beams, build walls, erect siding, landscape, paint, install cabinetry, appliances and finally clean the house they’ve built for a local family in need.
This is the second successful pairing of the Menasha students and AZCO employees, along with the construction crews of Habitat for Humanity to build a home in Menasha.
Habitat for Humanity invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable loans. The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses.
According to Larry Haase, Menasha High School Principal, the students visit the construction site twice a week, considering it a “hands-on learning lab” rather than just a community service project. Different groups are involved in the construction at the site and in school such as Family and Consumer Education Students, Art Students, Youth Service Students as well as those involved in the Construction from other academic areas.
“We’re hoping the Digital Photography Group will be able to put together a photo essay of the construction for the family as well,” said Haase, adding that it’s a nice memory for the family to have after the project is complete.
Prior to construction, Habitat for Humanity purchases the building site, provides the house plan and makes provisions for survey, site plan layout and pulling proper permits. During the construction process, the Habitat Construction Supervisor is on hand to review progress, assist less experienced volunteers, modify the building schedule, find and schedule subcontractors when needed, schedule inspections, order materials, review quality, track bills and pay expenses.
Construction on this project began in early March with the excavation and poured footings a nd walls handled by professionals. AZCO and the Menasha HS students and staff began work late in March with the installation of beam and sill plates. From March through June, there are 22 volunteer days the groups will be getting together with the homeowners to complete the project. Plumbing, heating and plastering will also be subcontracted.
On a more personal level, the students and staff work directly with the family. For example, the Family and Consumer Education students will measure, sew and create curtains for rooms, blankets for beds and assist with other tasks for greater personalization of the home.
The Art students join with the Family and Consumer Education students to provide one of the kids’ rooms with an “Extreme Room Makeover” discussing with the family the design and tools needed, which could include stenciling the walls and painting a mural.
Additionally, the Youth Service Students are combining their talents with the Outagamie County Master Gardeners to provide landscaping design and services. Work is not centered just on building the structure and the inside of the house, but also on the site as a whole.
AZCO INC. has had a long relationship with Habitat for Humanity dating back to 2004. In addition to annual monetary donations, in 2007, one of our employees, Christy Birling, created an astounding miniature house for a Silent Auction fundraiser event. Complete with carpeted rooms, a stocked refrigerator and an attic full of collector items, the miniature was quite a sensation. |