Welcome to PA!

Day 6 - Build day in Stroudsburg, PA

Today we split into two groups and assisted with different Habitat projects in Stroudsbourg. The site I was assigned to was a rehabilitation project, where we were prepping a foreclosed house for a Habitat family to move in. The rehab projects are a relatively new component to Habitat for Humanity builds. With the recent increase in the number of foreclosures nationwide, many Habitat chapters have been applying for federal grant money to use to rehabilitate the foreclosed homes. They then are able to turn around and find a Habitat for Humanity applicant family to move into these homes. While this is a great way of making use of otherwise vacant homes and spaces, it often is more costly and time consuming than just building a new home from scratch.

The site I was at was in pretty good shape. We did a lot of prepping for paint (removing hardware off the walls etc.) as well as some minor demolition stuff and yard work in the back.

As far as I could tell, the other build site where the other Bike & Builders went, was a bit more intense. They were involved in a full demolition project in a rehab house. They essentially gutted and entire kitchen and stopped early only because they had filled the dumpster to capacity...Not an easy thing to do in three hours! Needless to say, they came back to the hosts a bit more hungry (and MUCH more dirty) than the rest of us!

Day 5 - Middletown, NY to Stroudsburg, PA via New Jersey

9.4% max grade
4,506 ft elevation gain
63.5 miles

So we have officially covered New York, New Jersey and PA! Woohoo! We arrived at the church in Stroudsbourg extremely fried after a long (and HOT) ride. We were greeted by a local news crew who did a little bit of interviewing and shot us riding in.

We had a relatively mellow evening and enjoyed a delicious meal provided by our hosts!