Habitat volunteers eager to move to newest homes

Caitlin Hudgins

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 4:17 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 26 - 27, 2004

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, John Thompson had sweat running from under his orange hat down the side of his face. His T-shirt hung damp on his back as he twisted some multicolored wires hanging out of an electrical socket. His mud-caked boots shuffled noiselessly on bare concrete floors under the racket of a jackhammer outside.

Thompson isn't your average Las Vegas construction worker. He does this for free.

The recently retired electical engineer volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit group that builds houses for families with low incomes.

Habitat has constructed 34 homes in Las Vegas since the local chapter was formed in 1991 and is building two more near Boulder Highway and Sunset Road. The national organization, founded in 1976 and promoted by former President Jimmy Carter since 1984, has built 150,000 houses across the United States.

Money comes from corporate funding, in-kind donations and volunteer labor.

Cynthia Glor and Audree Goldstock will move into the newest houses later this summer. They will buy their homes at cost, paying an average of $400 per month on a 20-year, no-interest mortgage.

In addition, Glor and Goldstock had to contribute 250 hours of labor to their homes.

When she applied, Glor, a 45-year-old fund-raiser, was living with her three children in a rented bedroom after the apartment below hers caught on fire.

"When they finally came out and said 'You have a house,' it was kind of overwhelming," Glor said.

With her July 15 move-in date approaching, Glor isn't sure what her family will do with a whole house to themselves.

"Once we get inside, we'll just sit down and cry," she said.

Habitat applicant Veronica Sayles, 32, has known about the organization for years, but only decided to apply recently.

"I'm ready to own my own home," said Sayles, an office specialist at Bonanza High School. She lives in an apartment with her two children, Steven, 12, and Warren, 6.

New rules require applicants to donate 25 hours on someone else's house before getting their own, so Sayles plans to volunteer two hours Monday through Friday this summer on Glor's and Goldstock's homes.

On Sayles' first day of volunteering, Superintendent of Construction Shawn Smith taught her to organize tool bins.

As Sayles learns, Smith will help her work on the house. He enjoys this mentoring portion of his job -- one of the four paid positions in Las Vegas.

Sometimes he has to show volunteers simple tasks such as how to hold a paintbrush.

Even with the "sweat equity" from future owners, the group is grateful for donations it gets from the community, Smith said.

Triangle Electric is a regular donor, paying four employees to work on Habitat houses several times each month.

Owner Lawrence Knight volunteers for the organization whenever it needs help, he said. His company also fixes electrical problems that come up after construction is complete.

Stephen Berry of Grace Valley Church also lent a hand to Habitat by organizing a trip to the work site recently for his congregation.

Eight people from the congregation, ranging from age 15 to adult, worked on the Habitat houses, and everyone got involved with the work of the day: shoveling rocks.

"It was manual labor, but it wasn't hard," Berry said. "It was a new experience."