Girl Power

Show-Me Central Habitat’s Women Build event is a real (em)power trip.

Drive by most construction sites and you’re going to see a lot of dudes. The trade is full of them. But had you driven near Brown Station Road in north Columbia in late June, you might have seen a bunch of women wearing hard hats, toolbelts, and work boots, while wielding paintbrushes and power tools with equal confidence.  

You would have witnessed Show-Me Central Habitat for Humanity’s first major Women Build event.   

About 150 women participated in the three-day build and brunch, June 21-23, including 115 who signed up and registered as volunteer women builders. They worked on five homes in the new Habitat subdivision during that stretch, all being built for women homeowners and their families.   

Ashley Switzer, Show-Me Central’s director of community outreach and coordinator of Women Build, said the inaugural event stemmed from the overwhelming success of the chapter’s national ten-day Blitz Build held in September 2023.  

Although Women Build had its beginnings nationally in 1991, and a smaller effort in 2018 was held in Columbia, 2024 was the first year for a large-scale event. And based on its success, it won’t be the last. The army of women in pink tee-shirts with hard hats emblazoned with the words, “Safety First. Sass Second,” it seemed, love to climb on roofs, lay flooring, install baseboards, hang doors, and paint.   

Women Take the Lead   

Women Build couldn’t be pulled off without months of planning. Switzer met with the National Association of Women in Construction Central Missouri Chapter 341 about six months before Women Build. NAWIC’s members comprise women in infrastructure, residential, commercial, and industrial construction.   

“They were really excited to provide some leadership for the event,” Switzer said. “Through that group, we got connected with Rinehardt Construction and other local businesses that have women on their construction staffs.”   

Show-Me Habitat also has a partnership with Stephens College’s Women in Trades program, a workforce development effort to learn and apprentice in building construction, carpentry, and highway construction. Some of the program’s students tackled leadership roles as event volunteers.   

“It was a really cool, full-circle moment,” Switzer added. “You learn how to build on the construction site, and you lead volunteers on the construction site.”   

The logistics for such an event aren’t easy, especially when you want to work on five houses, all in different stages of construction, at the same time. Show-Me Habitat must gather sufficient materials and tools, not to mention food and beverages to feed the troops. More than thirty-five Columbia businesses — many women-owned — sponsored the event through donations. Companies ranged from major sponsor EquipmentShare to local crafters who donated homemade kitchen towels, purses, jewelry, and more as items for purchase to raise more money.   

“Cindy, who led our framing crew, showed us how to load a nail gun in a particular way where you hold it with your thighs. She said, ‘No guy will ever show you this, but this is the easiest way for me to do it.’ And everyone could do it after that. It was so heavy and awkward and bulky,
but she knew how to show us so we could do it.”

– Ashley Switzer, Show-Me Central’s
Director of Community Outreach and Coordinator of Women Build 

While that may sound like any other Habitat event, it wasn’t. Each woman builder was challenged to raise $500 to help fund materials. Austin View, Show-Me Habitat’s executive director, said $37,000 in cash was raised, along with nearly $10,000 in donated building materials. And while a sense of camaraderie is inherent in any Habitat event, a female-focused event is an opportunity for more than manual labor.   

Power Tools and Pampering   

Mornings on the Women Build job site began with a Powerblast session led by Columbia’s Maya Angela McMillan. Part dance, part introspection, part self-affirmation, the warm-up was an energizing and emotional way to begin the day. That’s what first-time volunteer and power-tool newbie Nikki Reese said.   

“From the first day of the build, the vibe was so electric. We started off with Powerblast in the morning. I will tell you, I actually cried,” Reese said. “It was so emotional thinking about what we were doing. We were told during Powerblast to ‘tell ourselves how proud we were of who we were and how far we had come.’ I don’t think I have done that in a very long time. It was powerful stuff. Then throughout the day we were hearing Ashley cheering us on with her megaphone. We were shouting congratulations on each of our accomplishments. We gained new friends. It was so much fun.”   

You’re unlikely to witness dancing at most construction sites. It’s even rarer to see a tent full of male construction workers enjoying cocktails and brunch, facials, and chair massages, making candles and floral arrangements, and playing yard games. But for Women Build, it was the perfect way to pamper everyone who volunteered while wrapping up the weekend.   

For so many of the rank and file, the experience instilled newfound confidence in what they can contribute to the community. Some women came already equipped with some impressive building skills. For those who did not, having an all-woman crew made them less nervous about learning new skills, like using power tools. The already skilled and the construction pros loved to share them with others.   

“Cindy, who led our framing crew, showed us how to load a nail gun in a particular way where you hold it with your thighs,” Switzer says. “She said, ‘No guy will ever show you this, but this is the easiest way for me to do it.’ And everyone could do it after that. It was so heavy and awkward and bulky, but she knew how to show us so we could do it.”   

Reese continued, “I got to overcome fears and use power tools I never thought I would. I believe in serving my community whenever I feel my heart is called to do so. This was a perfect match for me.”   

Switzer confirmed that perspective.  

“This is a great way to engage women who might be nervous to come on a construction site and see what it’s like,” Switzer said. “This is also a great way for our girlie friends to bond together by doing something different. You don’t always have to go shopping or for lunch. This gets you out in the fresh air and having a good time with everybody.”   

It’s About Women Becoming Homeowners   

Krystal and Brent’s house was one of the homes worked on during Women Build. Krystal, who was at first shy about the skills she might need to put in her own sweat equity, found a community she’d been searching for among those she worked beside.   

“These women took time out of their day to help me and my family’s dream come true,” Krystal says. “I got to learn how to use tools and skills I need for the future as a homeowner. I have a bunch of their numbers in my phone and a whole community to back me up.”   

This year’s success will make Women Build an annual event. But to beat the heat in 2025, it will be held in May instead of June. It doesn’t seem that extreme heat, cold, or rain will dampen the enthusiasm of those involved in Women Build, which Switzer describes as: “Women in construction working with women volunteers building women’s homes.”   

She added, “When it’s just a bunch of girls empowering each other every step of the way, it’s a great experience for our women homeowners.”