Sheridan, WY is pretty legit, in a small town kind of way. It’s the 6th largest city in the state with a population of 17,000. Wyoming is the 6th largest state by land area, but the least populous, which I believe form our drive through it. When we got into town we met up with our sponsor Eliza and took us over to our housing, which is a three bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and a large living room. Even better, it was furnished with furniture from the Habitat Re-Store, which sells donated household things to raise money for building projects. In the morning I went for a run up the valley that starts near the apartment. As it turns out, it was only about 20º outside, which explains why there was ice in my beard after only a few minutes outside. I was all worth it though to see a few Great Horned Owls near the road and the sun rising as I got back to the apartment.
We went to the Habitat HQ and got breakfast then a brief orientation. Habitat provides homes to people that earn between 30-60% of the median income in order to alleviate substandard or poor housing conditions. Every adult in the families that get the houses have to put in 250 hours of work, and in exchange they get an interest free 30-year mortgage at a price below the market value of the home. The Eastern Bighorns chapter has been around for about 15 years and built 20 houses with several under construction right now. We immediately went to work on the Murphy house, which will be inhabited by a family of 7. Our first task was to paint all of the trim and floor boards for the house and lay them out to dry. After lunch we split up into two groups and I stayed at the house to begin installing door trims. It was actually pretty fun, especially because I got to work outside, measure things, and use a radial saw. Did I mention that I got to use a radial saw? The 4 hours in the afternoon flew by and before I knew it we were getting picked up, hitting up Walmart for some groceries, and now I’m here writing this.
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