Monday, April 16, 2012

HABITAT HOUSE FINISHED
after i retired i decided i wanted to do volunteer work 1-2 days
a week
since i was busy with my work here on the country n and with the
alzheimers association and the alzheimers research study and
with some travelling the 1-2 days would fit well into my weekly
activities

we all need to give back in some way
since i had to give up my medical license and discontinue medicine
i couldnt do volunteer medical care
its a shame i spent all those years going to school and practicing
medicine and left medicine at the peak of my abilities as a practicing
family doctor and not be able to use that skill and knowledge to
help others by volunteering
but since the decision was made to discontinue medicine because of
my diagnosis my medical license dea number board certification, and
dps certificate as well as my medical malpractice were all discontinued
(i do have what they call a tail coverage on the medical malpractice
that covers me until i die and probably after i die)

thats done and i cant go back so
i volunteer in non medical ways
ive chose the habitat as one source of my volunteerism

the way habitat for humanity works is it depends on donations and
volunteerism for it to survive
its an international organization that has branches everywhere
i just googled habitat for humanity and found the local branch
i contacted them and started volunteering when this latest
house was started

ok i also always wanted to watch a house be built from the beginning
to end
thats what i did on this house
from the walls being constructed to the landscaping being placed
i learned to use tools ive not used before
how to do cuts on boards and molding so they would fit right
a problem i always had when i did things at the country n
how to put up tyvek siding paint properly and put down flooring

i did use my influence as an organic green person and added a
keyhole square foot garden and recycled all the concrete that
was broken up and used it for the edging of flower beds and
beds around the house and recycled some of the cardboard

i also helped with doing the landscaping and made sure the
oak tree which my nurse she and her husband donated to the
land owner and other trees and landscape plants were properly
planted
(the soil has clay under the topsoil so i made sure everything
was planted with small raised beds with good soil so the plants
would get a good start
the trees were also planted high enough so the root flares were
all visible-a big problem with a  lot of trees being planted)

this weekend we finished the house
all the landscaping was done
the closing ceremony was done on sunday
the house will be hers later this week
another good deed done

shes a single mom with a 10 year old she is raising on her own
she works and is active with her sons activities
the deal is she went through a lengthy screening process that
requires a lot of screening
when chosen she has to do a certain amount hours of work on the
house and after she moves in may have to do more to get all her
hours in
she gets a no interest loan for 20 years for an amount that is
probably 40% of what the house would cost if she had done
this on her own
(the labor was on donated except for some skilled persons like
plumbers and electrician and concrete work)

this house is in a good neighborhood and should only increase
in value over time
in fact it will increase in value by 60% the day she moves in
eg a $40000 note on a house that will be worth $100000 when
an assessment is done

not a bad deal is it
so yes there is good in this world
we just have to look for it and
hopefully we all will try to be a part of this good
and
yes there is hope for the future
and im getting to be part of that good and hope for the future

the organicgreen doctor





1 comment:

  1. Dear OGD,
    Retiring from practice as and when you did was a brave, bold, rare, and righteous move. It looks to me like you are navigating brilliantly the change from medical care of one patient at a time to having a unique and critical impact on vast numbers of people. You are indeed using your medical skill, knowledge, and experience to help people, just in a very different and much wider paradigm than traditional medical practice. May God bless you.
    JF

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