All-Female Building Crew Has It Nailed : Volunteerism: The house is one of thousands of similar projects undertaken by Habitat for Humanity, a Georgia-based Christian ministry.

When the last nail is pounded and the paint is dry, it will look like any other single-story house in this modest neighborhood.

It won’t be.

“Raising a wall together was awesome,” said Jackie Holmes as she directed an all-female crew of first-time home builders. “It’s empowering women and teaching them at the same time. It’s exhilarating”

The volunteer-built house is one of thousands of similar projects undertaken by Habitat for Humanity, a Georgia-based Christian ministry group linked to former President Jimmy Carter.

But it’s only the second built entirely by women.

“It’s not like we don’t want men to breathe the air over this piece of land,” Holmes said. “But if a man wants to help, we usually send him to another project.”

Each weekend, Holmes greets a new group of women, many of whom arrive at the construction site with no experience in building. She and a small core of volunteers who learned building skills on previous Habitat for Humanity projects teach them how to saw, dig trenches and pour concrete.

“I’m watching all the time. If someone is having a hard time at one task, I need her to work on something else,” Holmes said.

“The truth is that anyone can build a house. It’s a matter of breaking the job down into pieces.”

But some women are intimidated by the work because of social myths learned as young girls, Holmes said.

“Boys are taught to play football and other games. Girls aren’t taught how to pull together physically as a team,” she said.

Carmen Baker agreed that the all-female atmosphere has freed her to learn new skills without the pressure of men barking orders.

“If there were men around, I probably wouldn’t have the courage to learn some of this,” Baker said as she worked with a team pounding nails into the roof.

“There’s the macho attitude. Some of the guys I work with have it and it gets kind of tiring,” she said.

Construction began in May and is scheduled to be completed by October. The house will be sold at no profit to a low-income family.

Pam Perich said there’s no doubt the house will be finished on time.

“It’s not just that women can do this,” she said. “It’s that they enjoy doing it.”