habitat philly.

so.

last evening i attended orientation for habitat for humanity phila. the office is located in north phila, right near temple university (read: sketch). the meeting attracted a very diverse group, which included (oh, but certainly not limited to) trannies, families, young folk and older, and a geeky dude sporting a harvard ring (replete with mcfly-type eyeglasses).

habitat philly brings in about 2600 volunteers a year (wow!), and is currently building in north, south, and west philly. each home costs habitat about $150,000 to build; the breakdown of that sum going to materials and work that must be subcontracted out (e.g. plumbing, electrical, as required by the city). the project that i’d really like to work on is a group of 7 houses in west philly that will be the first "green" homes that the local affiliate has completed. they are in the process of being leed-certified, and i’m anxious to learn more about the process and how it’s different from standard building practices/materials. the green homes cost about 10-15k more to build than the standard type.

i've never volunteered with habitat before, and i'm curious to learn more about the non-profit structure. looking forward to working a little construction in the next month or so...