AMHERST — The materials may be heavy and the work may be tough, but a local group of women carpenters showed last Saturday morning they’ve got it covered.
The women lent their skills to a Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity “Women’s Build” event for what will be a duplex condominium home at 235-237 East Pleasant St. in Amherst.
From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the women installed vinyl siding on the pale blue duplex home.
“The more women on the project, the more empowered we feel,” said Aziza Holloway, a carpenter from Springfield. “It’s a tight-knit group of women.”
Holloway was joined by a crew of 10 female carpenters and apprentices from Carpenters Local 108. More often than not, only one or two woman carpenters will be on a job site, they said.
So in February, the women started a local chapter of United Brotherhood of Carpenters known as “Sisters in the Brotherhood.” The group meets every two months to talk and plan events. The Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity “Women’s Build” was their first event as a group.
The Habitat for Humanity house the women worked on Saturday is a duplex home that will accommodate two families. Tim Barnes, a rural carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, and his daughters Riley, 6, and Claire, 4, will call one of the condos home once it is completed.
Habitat for Humanity laid the foundation for the home last October, according to crew organizer MJ Adams. Barnes has been working on the site to earn 150 hours of sweat equity, along with 100 additional hours he will give to the organization.
Adams, 59, was the executive director of the Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter for 12 years. The completion date for the home has not been announced, Adams said, and the family who will live in the other side of the duplex has not been selected.
Barnes, a single father in Belchertown, told the Gazette in July he was happy for the opportunity to move his daughters into a newer, healthier home and to send them to one of the best school systems in the state.
As Adams shared stories about the people Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has helped over the years, tears welled up in her eyes.
“It makes so much difference to the kids that live in these houses,” Adams said. “It changes their future.”
And it seems building homes has done just as much good for the people working on the project as it has for the people moving in.
Yemairis Denson, 19, found carpentry during her time in the Westover Job Corps program in Chicopee. The Springfield resident tried out three trades during the program, which lasted from September 2015 to July.
“Once I got into carpentry, I was building this window frame. And as I’m doing it, I’m finding myself looking at the time and it’s flying by,” Denson said. “So when the time came I said, ‘carpentry is for me.’”
After completing the jobs corps program, Denson was referred to the Carpenters Local 108.
“I did not see carpentry coming at all, but I enjoyed it and it made me want to keep doing it,” Denson said. “It’s hands-on, I love it. It keeps me motivated.”
Julie Boucher, 28, is a journey-level carpenter who hopes to see more women become carpenters like Denson did. Boucher, of Westfield, guided two apprentices on the job Saturday.
The event came just two days before the start of National Apprenticeship Week, a U.S. Department of Labor initiative that begins Monday.
“There are not that many females coming into carpentry. We want to inspire other women and empower them. Carpentry is an opportunity,” Boucher said. “If we can do it, anybody else can.”
Holloway added that being a woman carpenter is about more than just the job. Carpentry is an opportunity for women, she says, because being a union member leads to great benefits.
Tyeka Robinson, 32, is a fourth-year apprentice carpenter. According to a press release from Carpenters Local 108, Robinson, a single mother, credits the union for turning life around for her and her young son.
Robinson, of Springfield, said she loves driving around with her 6-year-old son and looking at the buildings and houses she has worked on. She points out the window and tells him, “I built that!”
“My son will be able to grow up and say — even 10 or 20 years later — ‘My mom built that,’” Robinson said.
Robinson added she was happy to work with so many women Saturday, especially for a cause like Habitat for Humanity. In a male-dominated field, it was nice to get together with so many like-minded women.
“It feels good to put your experience to good use,” Robinson said, smiling. “We’re building America, baby.”
Staff writer Scott Merzbach contributed reporting.
Stephanie Murray can be reached at stephaniemur@umass.edu.
