TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– The sounds of hammers, saws and other equipment filled a portion of Third Avenue on Saturday as a number of local organizations volunteered to work on two Terre Haute homes. 

Electricians from local #725 and Crown Electric were joined by both Guarantee Roofing and Miller and Sons Roofing to provide work on both the interior and the exterior of the house. They worked on two homes on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, who said this event helped save thousands of dollars. 

Charles Miller, the owner of Miller and Sons Roofing, said he was eager to do something to help the community.

“It’s important to me because I’m from here,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of things around the town, and anything I can do, or our company can do to better the community, we’re all about that.”

The work will take about a week, according to Miller. Other Habitat volunteers were on hand– including 97-year-old Dick Becker, who has offered his time to the organization for over 30 years and remembers the first house Habitat provided for a family in need.  

“I enjoy seeing more and more of these houses built for the people here in Terre Haute that actually need them,” he said. “In some cases, the houses we’re building are really for families that need them, and they’re living in substandard housing now, or no housing at all.”

Becker said he’s done almost everything there is to do over the years, including helping design a number of the homes.

“As far as the work from Habitat is concerned, I’ve been doing almost everything that there is to do, from drawing the plans… I must say, I have not done very much if any of the electrical work, and as far as the plumbing is concerned, I leave that to others,” he said. 

Now, most of his work is reduced to gathering materials in his Stationwagon or taking photos, a passion of his that dates back over 75 years.

“I sort of took it up during World War II, I had a camera with me when I was in service there, so I was shooting pictures at that time, and I’m still shooting pictures all the time,” he said. 

More information on Habitat can be found on their website.