[Community-service] Question about Techniques for Painting and Renovation Projects

[Darian Smith]

Dear Sarah,

 Thank you for your post to the list!
 On a project, I did some work with Electric sanders, drills and nail guns.
 What worked for me was learning  the essential dos and don’ts for safety, (particularly with regards  to the nail gun), then understanding the parameters of the project.
 Once I got that down and got familiar with the tool, , I felt pretty good about digging into the work.
If you need to use measuring tape for accurate measurement for something like spacing between nails in a board or on a wall, you could stick a piece of tape on the marking you need  and then remove the tape when you are done with the work.
 
I have had some experience painting, and in my experience it was in rooms where only one color was needed which is almost always the case on a habitat build.  I used a paint roller and I, as a consequence of the work, tended to  worked near someone. That person I could ask if I felt the need to verify my work.
 I know that I wasn’t the best at it, sometimes I would miss a spot, but I don’t think I missed spots so much that it was a huge problem.
 One thing that it is easy for me to forget is that what volunteers are asked to do is their best work, that professional level work is not the expectation because volunteers may not have that professional level experience in the situation, and I suspect this to be the case in your situation..  So, try not to hyper focus on perfection, but to work hard,  and enjoy yourself.
 here is a blog entry from the 2016 NFB Community Service Division Service Project (one of my personal favorites), with, of all places, habitat. 
http://www.nfbcommunityservice.org/blog_Reflections_from_the_2016_Community_Service_Division_Habitat_Build
 Darian  
  

     
> On Jun 12, 2018, at 6:24 PM, Sarah Meyer via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Good evening,
> 
> Some of you may know me even though I haven't posted to this list
> before. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sarah and I am
> a graduate student working on a Master's in Clinical Mental Health
> Counseling at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I don't get to
> volunteer as much as I'd like, but some of what I have done more
> recently has included using my time to do outreach for the clinic that
> my counseling department runs to inform the community about our
> low-cost counseling services and to educate about mental health
> issues. We provide individual, couples, and family counseling to
> Muncie and the surrounding cities/communities, and since we are a
> training clinic and don't deal with insurance, we offer sessions for
> $10 but will go down to as low as $1 per session of clients are not
> able to pay more. It's a win-win for clients and for those of us who
> are going into the field of counseling. The counseling we provide is
> all supervised and recorded.
> 
> Anyway, I am writing because I have a couple of questions. I apologize
> if this is already a topic that has been brought up by others. My
> church is getting ready to do a local mission trip to our community,
> and the projects include working with Habitat for Humanity and another
> local coalition that works to strengthen neighborhoods and
> communities. The projects primarily include painting, renovations
> (those will be at our church's children's ministry building), and
> organizational projects with the civic theatre...and more painting.
> What I am wondering is, have any of you done these kinds of projects
> as a part of volunteering with a group, and if so, what challenges did
> you face and what alternative techniques did you use? What stereotypes
> did you encounter, and how did you handle those?
> 
> When I was in high school, I tried to volunteer with Habitat once, but
> I didn't feel I was able to really contribute. I honestly don't
> remember what I did do and what others were working on, but I think I
> helped carry things to people. I remember feeling like I was in the
> way and not able to fully participate or make a difference. Granted, I
> hadn't had solid training or blindness philosophy; I did the best I
> could, was fairly independent, and had a pretty positive attitude, but
> I sometimes saw more obstacles instead of opportunities. I'm wondering
> if that might be part of what is happening now...if I might be seeing
> more obstacles than opportunities.
> 
> If I can be transparent, I think I'm a bit nervous that I would not be
> able to contribute, that I might actually get in the way or cause more
> work for the team I'd be working with. I don't want to slow them down
> or be a burden in any way. The work days are 8 hours long, so it would
> be one thing to help for just a couple of hours, but if I take longer
> to do things or miss spots with painting, for example, and create more
> work for them, well 8 hours is a long time to have to put up with
> that.
> 
> I am curious what others' thoughts are on this topic and the questions I posed.
> 
> Thanks so much, and have a great evening!
> 
> Sarah
> 
> -- 
> Sarah K. Meyer
> Graduate Student, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
> Ball State University
> sarah.meyer55 at gmail.com
> (317)402-6632
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. You can live the life
> you want; blindness is not what holds you back. Together with love,
> hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality.
> 
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