I took our Jack Russells for a run by the river on a warm day late this summer and as we came around a bend, there was a gray tent, neither big nor expensive – no camping equipment outside, no sense of comfort, no chairs – just a walker, sitting lopsided in the sand outside the zippered door. I called the dogs. We turned around and went back the other way.

This week, when the wind was spinning over 100-pound flower pots full of hydrangeas and the rain was outrunning the gutters and sloshing onto the deck outside our bedroom door, I laid awake in my warm bed and thought about that tent, and that person, and wondered if he was OK and what it would be like to be homeless. When I despaired our entire house because that tiny spot in one corner of my sewing room is once again leaking and Bill just cannot seem to find the entry point, I did find myself wondering, what would it be like to have the rain driving in around the windows, through the rotten ceiling, bringing up the mold in the carpet? Who would care?

Habitat for Humanity was founded by a man who cared. His name was Millard Fuller. In obedience to what he believed was God’s voice, he gave away most of what he had, in his case about $1 million, and he set about building houses for people who desperately needed simple, decent shelter.

Today Habitat builds internationally, and its best-known voice is former President Jimmy Carter. Here in Forks we build for each other and the best-known voice is you! It’s us! Rejoice, my friends. In the trample of politics and world despair, there is something we can actually do that makes a difference, and we’re doing it, one house at a time.

Do you know how much you’ve done? You have stuffed your Outfitters receipts in those jars around town and it already has added up to hundreds of dollars.

A young lady drove by the site on her way to exercise class and dropped off boxes of nail-gun nails she didn’t need. Businesses donate lunches and individuals bring them by for the workers. Advertising on Forks 1490 is discounted for us. A banner has been donated to stretch across the main drag. Umpqua Bank is having a bake sale. Thank you! Thank you! Yay for Forks! Yay for us! We rock! We not only can do this, we ARE doing it! Millard Fuller would be proud.

The Weavers’ new house is tight and dry.The roof is complete, the windows in, the siding going on despite the weather. Soon the plumber will come, the electrician, the dry-wallers, and the rooms will become apparent.

Tia will be able to stand in the first private bedroom of her life and imagine painting and posters. No need for a sleeping bag to ward off the ever-present dampness and chill. Your generosity has done this. Your continued generosity will maintain the momentum for the Weavers, the Goodings and beyond to a whole block of carefully crafted homes and a better community for all of us.

If you would like to volunteer (and in answer to a FAQ, yes, there is a background check to work on site), contact Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County at 360-687-6780. Or come by the site on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and ask about what you can do. If you like to laugh and learn new skills, or hone old ones, this is a great place to be.

Showandah Terrill lives on a 132-year-old homestead on the Quillayute Prairie, where she cans what she raises and quilts when she can, and writes novels which she plans to publish when a publisher comes along.