Electric Co-op Today

Construction is underway on the first two Habitat for Humanity houses in a Florida community receiving a major infusion of help from the local electric co-op.

Volunteers assembled at the kickoff for the building of two Habitat homes in Lacoochee, Fla. (Photo By: Richard K. Riley)

“We had 57 ladies from our cooperative who volunteered to work on these two Habitat houses in the Lacoochee area,” said David Lambert, manager of member relations at Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative.

The Dade City, Fla.-based co-op began serving Lacoochee in 2007 and has focused on rebuilding the once-thriving community which has seen better times. Last July it held a Visioning Day to bring together community and government leaders. Since then, things have really taken off.

Known as the “WRECing Crew,” the volunteers—all women co-op employees—began work April 30 and have been coming out primarily on weekends since then. Lambert and Ronnie Deese, Withlacoochee’s finance and accounting manager, have offered technical guidance, but for all intents and purposes, the women are building the homes themselves.

“We are very proud,” Lambert said. “It is not easy work. It’s definitely not in their normal scope of professional skills for many of them.”

Not to mention that Florida gets rather toasty this time of year. But on what was once a vacant lot, things are looking good. “We now have the walls up, the roofs on, and we’re ready to start on the inside,” Lambert said.

The goal for these two homes is to have the families move in by the end of June. But Habitat remains committed to an even bigger goal of 50 homes in Lacoochee.

Tags: Co-op News, Commitment to Community, Local Initiatives