Tuesday, February 22, 2011

from dirt to frame

Yesterday we worked to prepare the site for Genesis and his family. By the end of the day six concrete footers were poured into holes and concrete anchors were installed to provide a solid foundation for the Uber Shelter.

Loaded with the Uber Shelter in its flat pack, the Grassroots United bus set out this morning to the Delmas 33 camp around 7AM. We were greeted by Genesis and his friends who were happy to see us and eager to begin the build. It didn't take long until we were in full swing, each volunteer working helping out in a different way--screwing bolts, installing beams, connecting panels, sorting materials. The photos that follow show the assembly process.

Digging holes for concrete footers to anchor the shelter






First floor set! 






Securing the second floor






Third floor set



Genesis enjoying the view 

Can you see the Uber Shelter?


Photos by Laurel Cummings

7 comments:

  1. SOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOO Happy I have tears in my eyes!!! Genesis, You, Irene and baby Rob totally deserve this!!! I LOB U GUYS SOOOO SOOO MUCH!!! xoxoxoxo <3<3<3<3

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  2. Well done Raf and Armand you have done an amazing job in providing a home for a family that will so benefit from it. They have been through a great deal and your support and encouragement to them as a family is invaluable. Your work to get to this point must have been incredible. The whole concept of giving families a chance to move ahead with dignity and grace is underlined by your own personality and compassionate nature.
    This family now need to be just that - the little family unit of 3 that they are
    and get on with living in it and testing it out for real!
    The credit for this goes SOLELY to you guys and no one else.
    Heartfelt congratulations
    And as I promised I am on the case for further funding!.......Bon chance

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  3. Genesis,

    i'am so pround of me if i was choose to have that uber shelter and i sleep on it last nisht me and my family and my wife keep tolling me last night i never sleep on a house like that and today baby Rob making all day happy that's nice to sleep on new house they have to put some plywood and waitng for rinning season to see what about but i love it and it's not a shelter that's a real house

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  4. You're right Genesis it is a home and I am so happy for you all to have a roof over your heads!!!New family, new year, new beginnings.Enjoy and live in the moment and remember you are your own free person be true to you & Irene & Rob and the rest will fall into place.Hurry and take photos of you all moved in.See you soon.

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  5. How long did it take to build the shelter? I maybe have missed it while I was looking over the pictures...

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  6. Hi Sam, the shelter took us three and a half days to build. We are happy with the duration of the first Uber Shelter field assembly, considering all possible setbacks. However, I believe that we can streamline the assembly process to reduce the duration to 2 days with a proper crew (1 day for concrete to set, 1 day to build shelter).Here is the timeline below:

    Mon Feb 21- Laid lines and dug holes and poured 6 concrete footers.
    Tue Feb 22- Assembled the frame
    Wed Feb 23- Attached walls and roof
    Thu Feb 24- Installed door, windows, half-day


    -Armand

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