Banana One

When it comes to building Habitat houses, Scottie Kivela has done it all. He’s volunteered with Rockbridge Area Habitat twice a week for the past six years. He professionally supervised the construction of two Habitat homes in Glasgow, and volunteered on six other builds. Scottie is also the Foreman for Blue Ridge Contracting, and his employer, Walt Shendel, is another devoted Habitat supporter.

Joe and Kelly, our Construction Supervisors, frequently ask Scottie to teach groups of volunteers the safest and most efficient way to paint a room or shingle a roof. His motto is “work smarter, not harder,” and he emphasizes that quality work is done slowly and carefully. Though he is a professional builder, Scottie says that “volunteers only need to have a willingness to help. No experience is necessary.”

Kelly says that “Scottie is a great guy to work with because of his positive attitude and fun-loving spirit.” Scottie returns the compliment by saying that “Joe and Kelly are fantastic people! No one has more patience with volunteers. They always have a kind word or a compliment for the workers.”

Scottie Kivela

Scottie loves volunteering for Rockbridge Area Habitat because he meets new people and works with the partner families, for whom each step in the building process is new and exciting. He also enjoys that our worksites are laidback and unrushed. Everyone has a good time, but still gets the work done. But the best thing about helping to build a Habitat house, says Scottie, is the knowledge that your efforts will benefit not only the homeowners, but their children and grandchildren as well.

“Sweat Equity,” the work partner families are required to do on their own homes, is an important part of the Habitat experience. Scottie feels that families take pride in their home because they’ve worked on it themselves. They also develop skills they can use forever. Because they’ve helped to build the house, they’ll know how to make their own repairs and avoid expensive contractor fees.

When not working at Blue Ridge Contracting or volunteering for Rockbridge Area Habitat, Scottie helps out with Mission Next Door, an association of area churches that assists needy homeowners with critical repairs. Walt, Scottie’s boss, calls him “Banana One,” in reference to his importance on the build site. He’s Banana One to all of us at Rockbridge Habitat too.

Member of "The Crew"

Harrison Bicknell started volunteering with Rockbridge Area Habitat 11 years ago, when he and his wife Jane moved here from Schenectady, New York. Harrison and four other retired gentlemen formed a volunteer group they called “The Crew.” Together they helped to build over 20 Habitat homes in Lexington, Buena Vista, and Glasgow.

Harrison is a retired electrical engineer and he used his professional knowledge when planning building projects. He even drew the preliminary sketches for several homes, one of which belongs to our very own Lexington ReStore Manager, Jane Ann Wells, and her family.

The Crew worked with many other volunteers, including high school and college students. Some houses were built by the Building and Trades class at Rockbridge County High School, moved in sections to the site, and then reassembled by Harrison and his friends. One of his most memorable projects was a 24-hour Blitz Build in which an entire home was completed in four days with the help of VMI Keydets and Southern Virginia University students.

Harrison volunteered at the building sites until he turned 75, and then began to look for new ways to contribute to Rockbridge Habitat. Five years ago he began volunteering in the Lexington ReStore. Each Monday morning he sweeps the floor and prices the furniture. Donations arrive constantly, and Harrison enjoys sorting the treasures and identifying antiques.

Upon moving to VA, Harrison was issued a new license plate, part of which read “YKY.” His NY friends joked that he had been labeled a Yankee by the folks in VA, but Harrison assured them that he felt very welcome in his new home. And whenever he’s asked about his experiences with Rockbridge Area Habitat, Harrison attests that all are welcome to join our mission of making safe, decent and affordable housing a matter of conscience and action.

Harrison Bicknell

As Harrison demonstrates, there are many ways to volunteer with us, from swinging a hammer to using a pricing gun. No experience is necessary.

Call (540) 463-3770 or email habitat@rockbridge.net.

Melissa's Story

In a few weeks we will be celebrating the completion of Melissa Carter’s new home in Buena Vista. During the dedication ceremony the keys to the house will be passed from a Rockbridge Area Habitat representative to Melissa, marking the beginning of her life as a homeowner.  

The story of Melissa and her 7-year-old daughter, Ciesha, is a particularly compelling one.  Ciesha, nicknamed “Ci,” has a number of health issues, including autism and asthma.  Melissa and Ci share an apartment in Lexington, but since Ci’s birth, Melissa has dreamt of owning a warm, comfortable home of their own.  Keeping Ci warm is crucial because her asthma symptoms worsen in cold weather.

Melissa first applied with Habitat in 2007, but our Family Services Committee deemed her not ready for homeownership.  Rather than giving up on her dream,  Melissa entered a church-sponsored mentoring program that worked with her to improve her credit, secure a full time job, and budget her income.  With the encouragement of her mentor, Melissa worked hard to correct her credit and straighten out her finances.  Her hard work at KFC was rewarded when she earned a fulltime position and was promoted to Shift Manager. 

 In 2010, Melissa reapplied with Habitat and was accepted into the program.  Since then she has steadily worked to help build her home, and she and her family will have contributed at least 350 hours of sweat equity by the time the house is completed.  Her manager at KFC was right when she said recently that Melissa is “hardworking and a joy. She always takes the initiative. She deserves this house. You won’t find many like her.”  

Melissa’s mentor says her confidence level has gone through the roof.  “She is a different person today.  Before she was afraid to make goals and plan for the future, but now she sees that her efforts do pay off.  She worked so hard for this house and now that it’s almost completed, she sees that the sky’s the limit.”

Congratulations, Melissa for your many successes!

Bending Nails- Rockbridge Habitat's Blog!

If you’ve ever swung a hammer, you’ve known the frustration, and the humor, in bending a nail. Here at Rockbridge Habitat our build site volunteers bend a lot of nails, but we don't mind because we know that with vision and a lot of hard work, in the end we will have a home.   So we’ve decided to apply our hard earned bending nails skills to building a blog. We might bend a few nails along the way, but like our volunteers, we’ll keep hammering away until we get it right.

Here you will read some of our most inspiring, interesting, funny and sometimes heartbreaking stories. Hopefully, you’ll get a better understanding of who we are, and why we’re passionate about building homes for deserving families in Rockbridge County. Over the weeks and months to come you’ll follow the journeys of hard-working local families, store volunteers, our dedicated volunteers, committee & board members. We will share stories about our Habitat partner families, neat finds in our ReStores, and the joy of breaking ground on a new home, and share with you the thrill of handing over the keys to a deserving family. Most of all we hope you might learn something new!

Your comments, questions and concerns are most welcome, as we can only meet our mission through your help. If you are interested in submitting your own stories for the blog, you can connect with us at Habitat@Rockbridge.net.