I had a couple of first days with Durham Habitat when I got my start with the organization – starting work with two different houses, both in very different stages of building – in my first week of volunteering.
On my very first day, I drove to a part of town that I had never been in or around before, in Durham, North Carolina, and sat in my car for a few minutes near the address I had been given, looking around to see if anyone else was there, checking out what state the home was in, and trying to figure out what I might be getting myself into. 
I was early, so when I walked up to the house, the only other people who were there were two site supervisors, who were incredibly friendly and welcoming. The home we were going to be working on that day had its structure completed and was into the finishing work, and one task that needed completing was painting of the exterior of the home. The site supervisor in charge asked if I was comfortable on ladders, because a number of volunteers were not, and when I said that I was, they asked if I would paint the upper part of the exterior during my time at the site that day. I happily obliged.
That first day, I met one other person at the build, a young woman who ended up painting next to me on the side of the house. She was working to get her sweat equity hours so that she could start the process to get her own Habitat home, because a certain number of hours are required before a property can be obtained, before a recipient can even complete work on their own home. It was a slow process for her, because in addition to her sweat equity hours, she was also working full-time, she was a full-time student at Duke University, and she had a 10-year-old daughter for whom she was the primary caregiver.
Right away, she gave me an understanding of what a Habitat home really means to people, and how much time and effort goes into the process before the living can even start to happen. And despite the length of the process and the slow progress she was making, her only feelings were gratitude and excitement for what she was a part of, and what it meant for not only her, but the others we were building for.
My second first day came the following morning, when I ventured to another address not far from the first, where I would be building twice a week. That first day was the actual first day of the build for a new home for a couple, who I met right away and built with each day I was at their home site. That was exciting because not only did I get to see the process right from the beginning, but I also got to see the faces and hear the excitement and thoughts of the recipients as we added on and made progress each day.
Right away, I began learning what goes into the foundation of a house. Our work started after the masons laid the actual cement foundation, but in our first day, we sealed and insulated the crawlspace – and I got my first experience with a concrete nail gun, using real bullets to fire the nails into the concrete – and by the following week we were putting up walls, which was an incredible and amazing feeling.
Even from the very beginning, I was included in every task at hand, I was given an opportunity to use each tool and try anything that I wanted to attempt, and I felt like I was assisting in the process every step of the way.
My two first days were incredibly similar and different at the same time. The two homes were in completely different stages of work, in one I got to assist the family who would eventually be moving into the house, and the required tasks were very different each and every day, but they both provided me insight into what the organization did and does, who it can help, and what the experience is like.
It helped me understand that I wanted to be a part of it.
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