Habitat for Humanity: Building Hope Together

October 15, 2014  |  Scott M. Lepak

On October 3, 2014 BGS helped build its most recent Habitat for Humanity house. This house was a single story house specially constructed to meet the needs of a disabled family member. Another great thing about this house was that it is located in Columbia Heights, a City where we have been honored to serve as City Attorneys for the past 23 years. Our work crew arrived expecting to put on siding but the wet weather from the previous day had put the project slightly behind schedule.
We spent the morning disassembling scaffolding and hauling it through the mud before we could get to our main jobs of putting up a center post on the porch and installing fascia and trim. The work crew of Tracie Davis, Lynn Geistfeld and Liz Schading turned out to be the best fascia installation crew with flawless teamwork and attention to detail.

The work crew led by our best carpenter (who is our IT pro in his regular job) Brian Harvison showed flashes of productivity but work periodically slowed as the lawyers on the crew, Dan Ganter, Scott Lepak and Jon Erickson, periodically paused to engage in spirited debate and instruction to each other on the proper way to perform simple tasks. The Habitat for Humanity job foreman Ed and the Americorps carpenter Matt provided considerable expertise and good natured advice. The result was a completed job and a job site that was picked up and nice for the job crew coming in the next day.
Our BGS construction crew has worked on many of these houses over the years with work ranging from framing to painting. We have worked on new construction and remodeled existing houses. This is always a highlight of our year. We can’t wait to get to work on a house next year.