A soon-to-be homeowner is getting plenty of help building her new house.
Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley is constructing the house completely from block.
Help and a big idea met at the right time.
Four walls of concrete block might not look like much more than a barricade now, but by the end of this fall, it will be Gayle Graham's home.
"Oh it's exciting," Graham said. "It will be good to get into my own place, have my own place."
Her home will be the first Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley has built entirely from block.
"Basically what happened is Blue Ridge Masonry Association came to us and said we would love to build a house for you guys," said Kathrine Gray with Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley.
An eco-friendly idea with a big cost. The association donated over seven thousand dollars worth of supplies to the project.
"If we do not come forward as a community and work together nobody's going to make it through no matter what we do. We have to all work together," said Joe Doyle, a member of the Blue Ridge Masonry Association.
Help couldn't have arrived at a better time.
"About that same time about a month or two later, TAAP Youth Build Program came to us and said we would love to come work with you guys," Gray said.
Enter Total Action Against Poverty students, a vocations school that helps high school dropouts focus on education and careers like construction.
"When I get out of here I'm going into construction. I want to do this. I really like this. This is my career," said one TAAP student Adryana Morris.
The dozens of volunteers from TAAP and the Mason Association have inspiration much stronger than mortar the admiration from Gail.
"I've already got a rocking chair for the front porch," Graham said.
