FORT BENNING, GA - Work started at ground level Tuesday on the Habitat for Humanity site near Benning Drive in South Columbus. Several Soldiers and civilians with the CONUS Replacement Center laid the foundation for a new home that will be sold at cost, with interest-free loans, to a family in need.
The project is the CRC's second time collaborating with Habitat for Humanity, said battalion commander LTC Twanda Young, who aims to involve the battalion in at least one volunteer project a month.
"It breeds good camaraderie, humility, and it's just a great opportunity for the command to come together and take time to give to the community," she said. "The key thing is servanthood. You can't be a good leader without having a servant's heart. And what better way to do that than to give your time, your sweat, your effort to somebody else'"
As they worked on the foundation of the home, the volunteers laid the foundation for a solid team, Young said.
"We're a team of teams, and no one can do a mission without the buddy on the right and the buddy on the left," she said. "Out here, we have people shoveling, we have some raking, we have some picking up trash. Everybody has to play a role well in order for the mission to get completed - no different than being in a war zone. We're out here doing it side by side. I think that within itself is a cornerstone of leadership."
The CRC began its volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity in July. CPT Jeremy Griggs chose to partner with the nonprofit agency because of its direct influence on the local community.
"(Volunteers) can see the fruit of their work. It gives them a sense of fulfillment," said Griggs, formerly attached to the CRC and now part of the Warrior Transition Battalion.
"It's fun once you get out there," he said. "You feel good about doing something for someone else. If you look, everybody has smiles on their faces."
Veronica Brown, who worked alongside her husband, CPT James Brown, said she had fun building the house.
"As family members, we do what we can to support our Soldiers, and when they're doing something like this, we want to stand beside them," she said. "I think this is an awesome program. It is a lot of hard work, but I'm actually enjoying myself. When you're doing it for other people who you know really need it - I don't mind doing it at all."
CRC cadre also worked next to people who would eventually own a Habitat home.
Anyone who wants to purchase a house through the program must put in 500 hours of "sweat equity," said SGM(R) Regino Diaz, site manager for the construction.
The goal of Habitat for Humanity, Diaz said, is to help people who couldn't otherwise afford a home and to revitalize neighborhoods, making them safer and productive parts of the community.
Diaz started volunteering as a Soldier at Fort Benning, working with all stages of the building process, including the final moment when volunteers hand new homeowners the keys to their house.
"That's one thing I enjoy when people move into the houses, how happy they are. It's a big step," he said. "That's everybody's dream: to have a home."
Diaz said Habitat needs volunteers Tuesdays through Saturdays year-round. It can be a group or an individual working for a week or an hour.
"One hour - half an hour - makes a difference," he said. "(You) don't have to have a skill; age is not a problem; handicap is not a problem."
Diaz said it would take him and his coworker two days to do what the CRC volunteers finished in two hours.
To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, call 706-653-6003.
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