ROCKINGHAM — Every year, an intrepid group of elderly handy-men and handy-women flock to Richmond County like birds flying south for the winter, except they do it to help Habitat for Humanity build a “nest” for a deserving stranger.
The RVers, as they are known, spent the last two weeks helping Habitat for Humanity of the NC Sandhills build a home for the family of Fati Brown. One of the founders of the group, Jack Paterek, said that by bringing so many extra pairs of hands — 16 this year, the smallest group they’ve had in their 20-year history — the build got so far ahead of schedule that they had to stop to wait for new materials to arrive.
Adam Cook, project manager with Habitat for whom this was his first experience with the RVers, said that with their help putting up the walls, rafters and porches, they are now well ahead of their Christmas deadline for completion.
“We just ask for a slab of concrete,” Paterek said.
The group started with Paterek, who owns an engineering firm in Michigan and has had a condo in Richmond County for 45 years, becoming a Habitat donor. He said many of the first members of the RVers were people vacationing in Richmond County in the early 2000s. For example, Bob Gray said he was staying at a campground in the county and saw a bumper sticker for Habitat, and asked about it at the campground’s office.
A short time later, a “very nice man” (Paterek) knocked on his door, and 10 minutes later, Gray said, he had a hammer in his hand. Gray said his favorite part of the group is camaraderie. They work beginning early in the mornings, until it gets too hot, then, Gray said, “It’s happy hour every afternoon.”
Paterek’s wife, Polly, cooks dinner for the other RVers each night. And they all pitch in to pay for the food.
Paterek said he and his wife have been involved in 28 houses so far. Their ideal journey goes like this: Michigan to North Carolina where they help build a Habitat home, then to Georgia where they build another, then to Florida, Texas, New Mexico and California, building Habitat homes all along the way, then heading back up to Michigan.
By then, Paterek said, “It’s warm there again.”
“I’m going on 91 (years old),” Paterek said. “It keeps us going.”
On Friday, a group of 16 volunteers from Richmond County Hospice was on site as part of a team building exercise. One of the Hospice volunteers was Marvin Taylor, director of finance for Hospice. No stranger to trying new things, Taylor, who last month won the Judge’s Choice Award at the Taste of the Sandhills Showcasing Dancing with the Stars event alongside his daughter, Hannah, credited Cook with giving the volunteers the skills they needed to contribute.
“Seeing the skills your coworkers have outside of the office is really amazing,” Taylor said. “It might build your confidence to try (a home improvement project) yourself) or confirm that you need to hire someone.”
Julie Woody, director of public relations for Hospice, said there were four Hospice managers participating in the project along with their staffs. The managers were Woody herself, Taylor, Arturo DeAguilar and Dr. Steven Strobel.
“What better way to do team building than by giving back and working together?” Woody said.
