TALLADEGA — Shocco Springs is hosting more than 500 members of AmeriCorps who currently are serving with Habitat for Humanity International for a weeklong conference and building training.AmeriCorps is a national service program, similar to the Peace Corps but doing work only in the United States. Habitat for Humanity helps low-income households build affordable housing.
It is the first Habitat for Humanity National Service Leadership Conference.
HFHI National Service staff member and AmeriCorps alumnus Graham Green said, “A lot of these members are first-year members. They’ve maybe been at their sites for some weeks now. We’re going over construction basics, construction organization. We’re trying to teach people about sustainable or green building, mostly to improve energy efficiency.”
Bill Moriarty, of Habitat, and Iris Dooling, Americorps project coordinator, led training in building energy efficient homes during the “Framing Frenzy” portion of the conference, by showing volunteers how the house frames were laid out and how to construct walls.
The “Framing Frenzy” was sponsored by The Home Depot Foundation.
Moriarty said once volunteers had built the frames and walls for seven houses the structures would be deconstructed and sent to three locations for easy reconstruction.
“This will save two days of labor on the job site,” Moriarty said.
Four of the homes would go to Birmingham, two to Baldwin County and one to Chambers County.
Fred Johnson, an AmeriCorps member from Kinston in Coffee County, said his experience in the leadership conference has been fun.
“The most enjoyable class I’ve gone to, which may not sound like it would be, is conflict resolution,” Johnson said. “We’ve learned a lot about how to deal with conflict. The teacher, Tommy Prince, was really great, and he had our attention.”
Trisha Hecker, a third-year member of AmeriCorps from Long Island, N.Y., said the networking opportunities with other AmeriCorps members were her favorite part of the conference.
“It’s just good to meet people who know different things and different practices. I’m in construction, so I’m learning different practices other AmeriCorps members do on their sites,” Hecker said.
She leads the women’s construction group at her New York affiliate and enjoyed swapping stories with some of the longer-serving members and teaching the ropes to new members.
Peter Rumsey, the HFHI director of national service programs, said members connecting with their peers in the national service movement is one of the main goals for the conference.
“Those (AmeriCorps) members serve in roles to build the capacity and engage the community in helping us to serve more families,” Rumsey said. “Over 500 members are serving in local communities across the country.”
Members from 27 states and the District of Columbia, from over 100 affiliates across the country, are attending the conference.
Green said Shocco Springs was an ideal location for the conference because it had great facilities, and travel costs were kept low since Habitat’s headquarters is in Atlanta.
Johnson said Dr. Martin Luther King once said greatness can be achieved with a heart full of lovingkindness and being willing to serve others.
“If that is the case, I am truly and deeply humbled by the amount of greatness that has assembled in this place this week,” Johnson said.
