seMissourian.com:
Julie Martinez-Smith and Kelly Leondelapaz were each looking for a sign.
The two women didn’t know each other, but both found their prayer answered in the other person.
Martinez-Smith was moved to tears by an episode of the television show Extreme Home Makeover and wanted to help someone.
Leondelapaz was dreaming of owning a home, but said there was no way for the single mother of two to do it alone.
The two women met when Martinez-Smith headed up the Joplin-Area Habitat for Humanity project that built Leondelapaz’s new home.
Martinez-Smith said she didn’t know much about Habitat for Humanity, but a local representative of the organization called and asked if she would take the lead.
“I asked for it — I couldn’t say ‘no,”‘ she said.
For the next two and a half months, she worked as a banker by day and a builder by night along with a crew of more than 100 female volunteers. It was the first Joplin-Area Habitat for Humanity project built completely by women.
The idea, Martinez-Smith said, is to empower women to do things around the house and even tackle some construction projects. And to celebrate the feminine touch, much of the Joplin project was done with pink hammers from Tomboy Tools, a company that specializes in tools for women.
Logo from Tomboy Tools