Hundreds Of Women Build Homes With Habitat For Humanity

DENVER (CBS4) - Hundreds of women are putting on their hardhats and picking up a hammer to help families in Colorado -- whether it's sunny or snowy. They're helping to build two homes, as part of Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Week.

"Over the course of the next four days, more than 200 women are going to be out here helping us kick start construction on two homes," explained Robyn Burns with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver. The women are raising walls, installing roof trusses and hammering away, to build the homes for two local families.

"The work Habitat is doing in the Denver metro area is allowing people to own homes," explained Kelly Brough, who was volunteering. "Which I think, frankly changes lives."

Brough says this event is an example of construction for the community, by the community.

"To this day, I take my kids or parents by houses and I say 'I helped build that house,'" she said. "There is a lot of community ownership in Habitat builds, and that's exactly what makes a community work."

The build will take the group four days to complete. It began on Wednesday, with sunshine and 80-degree weather. With temperatures expected to drop as a storm rolls in Wednesday night, volunteers say, no matter the weather, they're dedicated to the project.

"These homes need to go up in all kinds of weather," Brough explained. "Tomorrow you'll see a ton of volunteers working in really hard conditions, doing the same thing we are doing today."

The houses built by these dedicated volunteers will be sold to hardworking people who need an affordable place to call home.

"All of our homeowners help to build their own homes too, with 200 hours of sweat equity," Burns explained. "Then, we sell the homes to the families with affordable mortgages."