They may not live at 3515 Jenny Dale Drive in Dallas, Texas, but it will always be the house the Bruhahns helped build.
Together with a team of 250 other Habitat For Humanity volunteers from around the country, Brian and Kristen Bruhahn of unincorporated King County near Kent added their sweat and effort to build nine homes in the small neighborhood just outside the center of the city, including the three-bedroom rambler home on Jenny Dale Drive.
It was a long November week of 10-plus-hour days, but by the end of it the long hours were worth it: A new home stood where a simple concrete slab sat the week before.
“I’ve never been that tired at the end of week ever in my life,” Brian said with a hearty laugh this past week, adding that the home went from trusses to “darn near livable in five days.”
“It was like a swarm of busy bees on a house and … it’s done!” Kristen added, twirling her hands frantically in front of her for a moment.
Brian, an account manger for Whirlpool, first got involved through the company’s Building Blocks program. A longtime sponsor of Habitat For Humanity, Whirlpool employees are given the opportunity to take a week of work building homes alongside the families that live in them.
The company also donates a refrigerator and range for each Habitat build.
Brian said he first picked up a hammer in New Orleans during a January 2007 national sales meeting. Teams of Whirlpool employees spent a day in the Ninth Ward, the section of the city hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.
More than a year later, Brian said four of five homes were still destroyed.
“The devastation was incredible and the rebuilding was incredible,” he said. “We saw things down there the TV just can’t bring you.”
After his one-day blitz in New Orleans, Brian returned ready to continue volunteering. Kristen, whose father volunteers locally with Habitat for Humanity, decided to get involved as well.
When the opportunity arose for 150 Whirlpool employees and 100 others to work on a full block in Dallas, the Bruhahns leaped at the chance.
“Where one goes the other goes,” Kristen said with a laugh. “It’s a team; You get us both.”
Through a lottery system, Brian received one of the employee slots. Whirlpool not only paid for Brian’s expenses, but also allowed him to take the week without having to burn any vacation time.
“Whirlpool made it really easy for me to volunteer,” he said.
Kristen also received a spot on the team, but had to pay her own travel expenses.
The crew worked on nine homes, and though contractors were brought in to do plumbing, electrical, drywall and other highly-skilled tasks, but the volunteers did the rest.
“We did everything. We did siding, finish work, painting, installed windows…” Kristen listed.
“It was hard,” Brian said. “We went back to the hotel every night dog tired.”
“But it’s a good kind of tired,” Kristen said. “Everybody was there for the families.”
Working with the family – an Ethiopian couple with two children – made it all worth it, Kristen said.
“It was a great family. It was very emotional at the dedication,” Brian agreed. “It’s not just a handout. These are hard-working, deserving families.”
Both Bruhahns said they do a lot of volunteering at home, but plan on continuing their work with Habitat in the Puget Sound region.
“My goal is to do it two times a month,” Kristen said. “I encourage everyone to volunteer.”
“You never realize how rewarding it was until you get deeply involved,” Brian said. “Don’t make excuses.”
Learn more
For more information about Habitat For Humanity visit www.seattle-habitat.org.
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