Women-only crew building home for single father

Staff photo by Greg Lynch Carlo Gilbert and his three children, Lyric, 11, Cyncere, 6, and Trinity, 10, stand outside the Washington Street Habitat for Humanity home in Hamilton that is under construction for them. The house is being constructed by an all-female work crew of 30.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 2:41 AM Saturday, May 9, 2009

HAMILTON — There’s something to be said about being surrounded by 30 beautiful women with power tools.

That’s how Carlo Gilbert will spend just about every weekend until August as part of the “Women Build” effort on his new TriState Habitat for Humanity home on Washington Street in Hamilton.

“It was a little awkward at first, but you get used to it,” he said of building the home alongside an all-female crew. “You get used to it. It’s fun and we joke around a lot.”

Gilbert, a 32-year-old single father of three, was selected for the home about a year ago. He’s been raising his children, 11-year-old Lyric, 10-year-old Trinity and 6-year-old Cyncere, since their mother was killed in a shooting two years ago.

“They’ve had a hard time with it,” Gilbert said. “But they are looking forward to this. My son, Cyncere, asks me every day when we can go to the house.”

With more than 50 percent of Habitat homes being built for single women, the Gilbert home offered a rare opportunity with the Women Build program to turn the tables. This is the first Women Build home for the TriState affiliate, said Randy Wilkerson, construction operations manager. It’s also the first certified green home through the National Association of Home Builders.

“You don’t typically build a home for a single father,” he said. “I think that we’ve only done this once in the homes that we’ve built.”

Today, May 9, a team made up mostly of women will work on the roof of the Gilbert home and help install windows as part of a special Mother/Daughter Day.

The agency expects the 1,152-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home to be completed by Aug. 22.

The Gilbert family will then buy the house through a program of low payments on a no-interest loan, along with contributing 500 hours in “sweat equity” to the project and one other home, Wilkerson said.

Not that they mind.

“I think it’s a blessing. You don’t find many people who work on their own house and have their own family and friends helping,” Gilbert said. “It feels good waking up and knowing that’s what you’re going to do today.”

Women build single father a new home

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