Creating Social Value Blog / Service in Action

Friends of the Homeless– Alex Woodhouse

Every experience that the whole Friends of the Homeless team experiences is just as memorable as all of the others. I think one of my favorite stories is when we had our full team out, including a student volunteer helping to re-shingle a shelter down in North Weymouth. The seven of us shipped out to help Herb, our site director, repair after Hurricane Sandy. Sandy hit North Weymouth nowhere near as hard as New York or New Jersey but she managed to destroy the protective shingles up on the roof on one of the shelters. Three of us grabbed a ladder and got up onto the roof to clear away the debris and whatever was left of the shingles to make way for the new shingles. It seemed like an easy job before we found water damaged and rusted out roof plates that protected the interior below. We had to repair the patch with water seal tape and the cover that with brand new boards of plywood. Each played a key role and operated great as a team.  Emma generally was on the skill saw cutting away the angle which Anas would mark off from the roof. Deena would clear the offcuts and help with measurements when cutting. Our muscle to get the big boards up onto the roof was Ali and our awesome volunteer Dom. After we would get the boards in place we left it to Mackenzie to use the nail gun to lock the boards into place. Herb was up top of course making sure we weren’t to off with our measurements and to provide expertise as we built the roof. While this was a great learning experience for ourselves, building part of a house and all, I realized how fortunate we were to be able to have this opportunity to do service. Every time we go I have more and more fun.

–Alex Woodhouse, Class of 2015

Friends of the Homeless