Celebrity: Habitat for Humanity
Year Established: 1994
Number of Members: 220
What is Habitat for Humanity and what is your mission?
Habitat for Humanity is an amazing organization that works all around the globe to advocate for safe and affordable housing for everyone. Habitat works in many countries to select families in need and provide them with a home that will be a safe environment for their entire family. Habitat is a unique organization in that it does not simply hand out houses for free to individuals who are in need. When a family is chosen to receive a Habitat house, they go through a process in which the affiliate educates them about finance management and how to provide for their children while ensuring that the family has enough money saved to be able to pay their mortgage. Each Habitat home is purchased by the homeowners at essentially a zero percent mortgage. This mortgage is very much reduced from a typical mortgage, but it allows the homeowners to learn how to manage their finances and to be able to teach others in the community who are struggling as well. As a campus chapter, we participate in this goal by working with our local Habitat for Humanity of Costal Fairfield affiliate to help with fundraising for homes, assisting in dedications of completed homes, and working on homes for deserving families. One of the most important aspects of Habitat that has impacted myself and all of the other club members is the sense of family and joy that this organization builds. The families that are selected to have a Habitat home are mandated to work on their home or volunteer with Habitat for a total of 500 “sweat equity” hours. This allows the Habitat families to work on their homes, learn new skills, and interact with all of the people who are dedicating their time to work on their home. Once you work on a Habitat house and meet the homeowners of the house, it is evident that Habitat is not just an organization, but rather a family made up of people from all races, religions, and backgrounds that seeks to fulfill Habitat’s mission:“Habitat seeks to put God’s love into action. Habitat For Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.”
What is a typical build-day like?
Given the wide variety of things to do on workdays, there is really no such thing as a “typical” work day. We usually start the workdays by going to the affiliate and meeting with the other individuals who we are going to be working with during the day. These individuals include the construction coordinator, the homeowners of the home, and any other volunteers that will be working on the home with us. Depending on the day and how far along the houses are, we can perform a wide array of activities. Some of these activities include building the walls for a new home, painting, putting up the walls of a home, working on the siding or areas surrounding the house, installing windows, installing insulation, working on the roofing, and many other aspects of building a house. The construction coordinators are very informative and helpful to all who volunteer and teach all of the volunteers how to perform the work that they will be doing throughout the day. The volunteer groups also work alongside the homeowners and get to hear their stories. The workdays are a very rewarding experience with hands-on opportunities that tie in the mission of habitat with serving the community.
What are some past volunteering trips that you have done and what future trips are you planning?
Being involved with Habitat for the past four years, I have been on many trips as both a leader and a participant. As a participant, I have been to Lucedale, MS twice to work with their local Habitat affiliate to work on a home for a family affected by hurricane Katrina. As a leader, I have lead Habitat delegations to Lucedale, MS, Texas, and Chicago. These trips have been nothing shy of amazing and I would highly recommend going on one to anyone! Each year out club sends out a few delegations during Spring break. These places are determined in late October for the upcoming year and so we are not sure where we will be going this year, but we will be definitely sending some trips out so SHU students have the opportunity to experience these amazing trips.
Have you hosted any guest speakers for the past few years as a club?
Each year at our annual Habitat Sleep-Out, we host guest speakers that are Habitat Homeowners. These individuals come to speak to us about their experiences with habitat and how the organization has changed their lives. While these speakers change every year, they all have a profound effect on those to whom they speak. I think this is a great opportunity for individuals who are associated with Habitat because you really get to know the families that you are helping and to see how much they appreciate the work you have done for them. Aside from that, we also get to meet the entire families that we are working with, including the children, and form a relationship with them that will impact both our lives as well as theirs. (This year’s Habitat Sleep-Out is tonight!).
How can others get involved?
Anyone interested can get involved with our club by coming to the meetings and getting involved with fundraisers and workdays! We have our club meetings every two weeks on Wednesdays at 10:10 pm. We send out globals before every meeting with the location of the meeting so please keep a look out for those! We encourage everyone who is interested to attend the meetings! Habitat is an amazing organization and we want as many people as possible to experience how fantastic it is! If anyone has any questions, they can also feel free to email me at riverac65@mail.sacreheart.edu.
Thank you Cory Rivera, Habitat for Humanity’s president, for taking the time to participate in the celeb interview.