Hundreds of Americorps members visit Raleigh for Habitat Build-a-Thon

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- About four hundred Habitat Americorps members are spending the week building homes in Raleigh.

The members are working at Raleigh's Crosstown neighborhood, a neighborhood that will be home to 100 Habitat For Humanity of Wake County built homes.

Americorps is a national service program and the build-a-thon happens once a year bringing service members together from all over the nation.

"We have people from Honolulu, Chicago, and Charlotte, so, from far away and close and so many different building styles but all Americorps so we can all relate to each other," explained CJ Hamilton, a Raleigh -based Americorp National Member.

"Americorps is a domestic peace corps," Hamilton said. "People that want to do something good in the world and want to do it in America."

That good is being done by constructing a dozen homes in Raleigh from Monday to Friday. One of the homes will be ready for occupancy by the end of the week.

Habitat homeowners are building alongside the Americorp members. Habitat requires homeowners to put in 200 hours of sweat equity into building their own homes.

"It's definitely worth it," explained Habitat homeowner Barbara Hemingway. Hemingway expects her home in the Crosstown neighborhood to be complete in June so she can move in with her five children.

"It's something that our kids will have a yard to play in and when they have kids the grandbabies can come back," Hemingway said.

"The homeowners work so so hard for these houses and they deserve them," added Hamilton.