NORTHAMPTON - On their ninth "work camp" experience over the past 16 years, 10 men and women who form a core group of volunteers from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Telford, Pa., finally got to Massachusetts.
Focusing primarily on "the homeless," the group of five couples usually volunteers each alternate summer with Habitat for Humanity affiliates and other groups like it at work sites "in the North," said the church group's coordinator, Jim See. "We always come north. We don't like heat. So we came here, and look what we got - this rain and humidity."
In a week when rain pounded the Telford group's home state, they arrived in Northampton to find uncharacteristic weather. That did not faze them. With the typical five-day work week ahead of them, they got to work building stairs and putting up sheetrock at the Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity's Westhampton Road project, which consists of three, two-family condominium units.
One of the duplexes is "already inhabited," said Jessica Wallis, a volunteer project coordinator for Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity and an AmeriCorps member. Wallis has worked since last October with various volunteer groups that have helped build the duplexes on land donated by the city.
JoAnn Fosbenner, one of the church group volunteers and a registered nurse who works for a primary care physician, joined See, a software analyst who is "newly retired," in the first-floor dining and living area of one of the duplexes to talk about the project and their church group's dedication to projects for the homeless.
The group has built homes in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. "This is the first time we've been to Massachusetts and the first time we've had an on-site manager all day, every day," said Fosbenner. "They are very organized here."
The church group includes Jim and Pat Gill, Steve and Wendy Leshinskie, Bob and Dottie Hosterman, JoAnn and John Fosbenner, and Jim and Myra See, all of the Telford, Pa., area, said See. While they are here, he said, they reside at a local inn.
See noted that the volunteers pay for their own lodging, food and travel expenses.
"Any donations the congregation makes goes to the Habitat organization," said Fosbenner.
"We do the work. We provide the blood, sweat and tears," joked See.
The 10 volunteers spent their short spurts of leisure time visiting area sites, including the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, and a friend's home in Greenfield.
"And Yankee Candle, of course," laughed Fosbenner. "One of the reasons we do this is to see different parts of the country and meet different people.
See and Fosbeener, as well as the other members of their group, are deeply dedicated to the work they do for Habitat for Humanity, they said.
"To volunteer to do this, you feel good at the end of the week. There is a different kind of completion of your volunteer experience doing this. It's nice to meet the people who are going to move into the home you worked on," said Fosbenner.
"There are a lot of reasons to do this," added See. " You have to have a passion for helping the homeless. We all have that."