Lynn Parris’ phone goes off constantly, and its ring cuts through the noise of construction. It beeps with incoming radio messages. It rings with phone calls. Every time it goes off, there’s a voice on the other end needing something.
"Man, it never stops, dude," Parris, the 22-year-old construction manager for Habitat for Humanity of Calhoun County said.
Parris’ title comes with the job of overseeing the construction of the 36 homes being built at two sites during the Jimmy Carter Work Project this week.
His phone has beeped through the week from folks needing everything from hurricane clips to attach roofs to walls to boards.
"There was some," Parris told the voice on the other end, the one seeking the hurricane clips. "They should be there, unless they disappeared."
Getting those hurricane clips – and the nails, lumber, shingles, plumbing and wiring – to the 2,800 volunteers building the houses is a constant effort, one that keeps Parris moving all day long. He rides a four-wheeler around the three streets of the project’s main site, Wellborn Manor, ferrying tools, smaller items and loads of information.
"These people are running out of lumber. There’s no excuse for that," Parris barked into the phone the first day of building. It parlayed into an order for two-by-fours. As he talked, he divided a bundle of rafters into sets for delivery to the houses.
More calls came from more people needing more supplies. Any time Parris lighted in one spot for too long, he soon was surrounded trucks and golf carts, all bearing workers, supplies and questions.
Dana van Ekris knows that feeling. The executive director of Habitat’s local affiliate called herself "the answer woman." Some questions were important. Others a little on the inane side.
Like Parris, van Ekris fields calls on her phone all day long. People need nails, water, ice and Gatorade. They wanted to know when the buses were running back to the parking areas at McClellan and the housing site at Jacksonville State University.
Van Ekris drove a golf cart through the streets, which were choked with volunteers, security workers and trucks piled high with supplies.
Those streets were a challenge for ambulances taking injured volunteers away from the project site and for trucks delivering fresh food and drink at mealtimes. They were a challenge for anyone trying to get anywhere. But they managed.
As hectic as the project site was, both van Ekris and Parris said the logistics of throwing 36 houses up in one week was not as bad as they’d feared.
"It’s definitely less hectic than I imagined," van Ekris said. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. She turned to shout a phone number to someone, and then drove off to help someone solve a problem on the other side of the project site.
Van Ekris credited the volunteers’ good spirits and the willingness of Calhoun County residents to work with keeping the project running so well, if still a bit crazily.
"You can’t control craziness," van Ekris said. "You have to let it happen.
"I think I’ve learned that."
