Jessica Pellegrino – General Assignment Reporter
Southern’s campus is full of service opportunities. From Greek Life to Honor Societies, most organizations participate in service activities. However, Southern also has exclusively service based organizations. These organizations participate in various different projects. One of the most well-known service organizations Southern has to offer is Habitat for Humanity.
According to their website, the main mission of Habitat for Humanity is, “Habitat for Humanity works in the Hamden/New Haven area to assist in building affordable and decent housing for those in need. We work with our local affiliate, Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven.”
The students involved in Habitat for Humanity will spend their Saturdays aiding in the building of houses in the area. They will paint walls and help but up structures. No building or carpentry experience is necessary and anyone can join and help build houses.
This year, Habitat for Humanity is trying to meet more of the families they build for.
They believe making a personal connection will benefit the organization members and the families. These connections the volunteers are making is what sets Habitat for Humanity apart in terms of service.
Though building houses is an important part of Habitat for Humanity that is not all that they do. Recently, the club has truly expanded. One of Habitat for Humanity’s goals for this semester is to become more involved with Southern’s community, including collaborating with other organizations on campus.
Habitat for Humanity holds a big event in the spring semester called, “Sleep Out for the Homeless.” The event is set out in the quad. Volunteers sleep out in the quad from 6 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next morning. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness for homelessness and how it feels to sleep in the cold. This year Habitat for Humanity wants to make this event bigger than ever and hope that other organizations will get involved to help raise money for the homeless.
Another activity Habitat for Humanity is initiating this semester is called the “Storybook Project.” The organization plans to do fundraising in order to raise money to buy children’s books. They want to give the books to the families they build houses for in order to promote literacy.
What makes Habitat for Humanity different is the feeling volunteers get when they help out. President of Habitat for Humanity and SCSU senior Jerry Lafortune shared his experience with Habitat. Lafortune says, “When I was in high school, I was part of a group called Build-On. It was similar to Habitat for Humanity but not as in-depth. Habitat at Southern really makes a difference. I didn’t know the extent of it until I got a position last year.” Lafortune’s firsthand experience helped him realize the value of Habitat for Humanity.
Another Executive Board member, Louis Francois, shares his experience as well. Francois, Senior, serves as Habitat for Humanity’s secretary. “My volunteer work started young.” says Francois. “When I got to college I really wanted to make a difference somehow. I went to the club fair and picked up like five flyers. But I knew after the first meeting that Habitat for Humanity was the right fit for me. I saw how much Habitat impacted people’s lives. But it was really only after I received my position that I knew I personally could make a difference.”
Habitat for Humanity meets every other Monday afternoon at one. They meet in Engleman A120 and their first meeting is on Sept. 8, 2014.
