Christensen Lumber donates time, materials to Habitat

The non-profit, which uses volunteer labor to build affordable houses for those in need, has been behind on building its homes in the past several years, owing in large part due to a steady decline in volunteers, says Executive Director Joy McKay.

And for the house being built at 1351 Maxwell Avenue — one of three on the docket this year — there was still a lot of work to be done before winter took hold.

“This third house at the beginning of last week was just a hole in the ground,” McKay said. “I mean we had the basement, the foundation and everything was poured, but that was it.”

With the cold weather already setting in, McKay said, if the framing didn’t go up soon, it likely couldn’t go up until spring, which would delay a lot of other work that could be done inside the house.

And so Habitat for Humanity’s construction manager Pat Brown called Christensen Lumber, which has been a longtime supporter of the group.

And they answered the call.

That same day, Nov. 20, a group of 10 crew members came out to the site. By the end of the next day, the framing was completely finished. The shape of a future home was built.

They had done all of it, in two days, for free.