And now for some construction courtesy of The Pink Bandana Brigade

 

story and photos by Joel Rafkin
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A group of women redefined the stereotype of homemaker and became home makers for a day.

The Pink Bandana Brigade, as they are called, worked on the roof of Arkansas Valley Habitat for Humanity house no. 82 on Saturday (Oct. 30). The home at 1804 Johnson St. will be inhabited by Krystal Leckie, a single mother.

The walls were raised Oct. 9 and move-in is slated for mid January. The house is AVHFH third women’s build project and will be built entirely by women volunteers (except for construction supervisor Eddie Peters) working every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Pink Bandana Brigade was organized by Lorie Robertson and is comprised of women who are either breast cancer survivors, co-survivors or advocates of breast cancer awareness. October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Robertson saw an opportunity to close out the month by bringing two groups of people together who share a common bond — hope.

“The Habitat for Humanity Women’s Build is all about hope. It’s about providing a family with a decent place to live that they might not otherwise be able to afford. Breast cancer survivors and fighters know how important it is to have hope. That’s why they are so excited about rolling up their sleeves and investing sweat equity in this home. It’s a symbol of overcoming obstacles in life, living to tell about it and passing along encouragement to others," Robertson explained.

Robertson issued pink bandanas to the crew as a symbolic representation of life. Pink is also the color of breast cancer awareness. Robertson said the threads of the bandana represent the fibers of the path of life and the cross threads are support systems in life. Woven together, they create a strong bond and a meaningful, whole existence. The bandana is also representative of cancer patients’ hair loss and also their caregivers who might need to clean up after them or wipe sweat from their brow as they battle the disease.

Habitat for Humanity houses are sold to the prospective occupant(s) without profit. The funds for construction are acquired through donations and the affordable, interest-free mortgage payments are returned to Habitat for humanity to be used for future home construction. Every homeowner is required to participate in their home’s construction and their labor is considered sweat equity.