BELLEFONTE — Volunteers began work on Dawn Davis' new home at about 6 a.m. Friday. By noon Saturday, the single mother could move her two young daughters into the three-bedroom ranch house.
The 29-year-old Bellefonte woman watched Friday afternoon as about 10 volunteers nailed tan siding onto the house's exterior walls. Meanwhile, workers inside the home began dry walling.
Work on the project, spearheaded by the Builder Association of Central Pennsylvania in conjunction with Tri-County Habitat For Humanity, was scheduled minute-by-minute to ensure the new home would be complete in 30 hours.
The Halfmoon Hill Road house is the third project the local Habitat chapter has completed in such a short time period. Habitat built two other "BLITZ" homes in 1990 and 1992, which are homes that are built within about 30 hours.
Similar to the earlier projects, volunteers did all the work on Davis' home and area businesses donated most of the materials. Centre County Housing Authority gave the land for the BLITZ house and three other Halfmoon Hill Road homes.
The four Halfmoon Hill Street homes were built identically: a one-story layout with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room and kitchen. Outside church groups and local volunteers worked on the other houses over the summer, which still need some interior work.
When volunteers arrived early Friday morning, only the foundation of the BLITZ home was complete. The exterior walls, constructed by State College High School students ahead of time, were raised in a matter of hours.
As she watched the construction progress Friday, Davis was overwhelmed with the generosity of the volunteers. Habitat organizers said about 200 workers donated their time for the weekend project.
"There are still good people who pull through," Davis said. "No words could ever express the thanks."
Davis hoped her daughters, who are five and nine, would recognize the strangers' kindness when they saw their new home complete.
Because of the tight time constraints with the BLITZ project, most of the workers were professional builders. However, other Habitat projects employ unskilled laborers, including Penn State students.
Lynne Heritage, a Habitat board member who also owns her own business specializing in closet and window work, arrived at the site around 11 a.m. Friday. However, the shelving work she was assigned wasn't scheduled until 1 a.m. Saturday.
Heritage came early to help other workers with their projects. The Bellefonte woman said the camaraderie among workers made the BLITZ home construction special.
"It's a great community effort to see everyone working together -- to see people who are usually competitors work together," she said.
Habitat President Dennis Hameister said that since 1985, his chapter has built 22 homes. Those homes provide shelter for 106 people, including 58 children, he said.
While Davis is grateful for Habitat's help and the many volunteers who gave their time, she hopes to eradicate some stereotypes associated with the program.
Davis works full-time while raising her daughters with little child support.
"I'm working hard," she said. "I've worked all my life."
Davis, like every Habitat family, will invest 500 hours of work or "sweat equity" to Habitat projects. During the summer, Davis hung insulation and helped with other interior work on neighboring Habitat homes. She also made a down payment and took out a mortgage to pay for the uncovered costs of the project.
"(A Habitat worker) told me, 'We're not handing you down anything, we're giving you a hand up,' " Davis said.
Davis hopes to complete the 1 1/2 years of classes she still needs to earn her nursing degree, but for now she is focused on supporting her family and helping her daughters adjust to their new home.
Although at first she was leery of publicity about the project, Davis changed her mind when she saw the hard work of the volunteers.
"These guys deserve a big pat on the shoulder," she said.
