Git ‘er done

I learned an important lesson in volunteer management and construction supervision today. A crew of guys who “build skyscrapers in record time” in New York City for a living don’t need a lot of instruction, handholding or direction when they are rebuilding fairly simple homes in St. Bernard Parish.
They make sexist jokes, drop the f-bomb more than anyone except (as I learned last week) New Orleans electricians and bicker about who can tell who what to do and when, but they get the work done — well. It was supposed to be my first day as a site supervisor, but I became an errand boy for a group of union construction guys from New York today — part of HEART 9-11, a great new organization of people affected by the Sept. 11 attacks who are now reaching out to residents in other areas impacted by tragedies.
Fifty members of the organization are here for a week working on the homes. Most of them are first responders and family members, but I am working with seven union construction workers – all great guys and great workers. They just don’t really work by the same rules as the St. Bernard Project. The beauty of the small non-profit, though, is that its rules really are made to be broken.