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 Paul Sims/SDN Jena Grover, of Rockford, Ill., uses a saw to cut wood in the Apostles’ House at 322 Apple St. in Starkville. Grover, a junior elementary education major at Rockford College, made her first trip with a group which makes the annual trek from the college to Starkville to build Habitat for Humanity homes here. By PAUL SIMS
Starkville Daily News
An annual effort to help Starkville’s Habitat for Humanity organization build homes here not only draws college spring breakers, it also moves alumni to take off work to participate.
Rockford College, in Rockford, Ill., is in its 13th year of taking part in Collegiate Challenge with the local Habitat group.
The college sent 47 people, its largest ever continent, to Starkville this year, said Robin Kenney, the trip’s coordinator. Eleven alumni are along.
One of the Rockford College alumni along this year is Patrick Young, who holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in business management from the college.
This is vacation
time for some
He is a night supervisor for Target Corp. at a distribution center and has taken one of two weeks of vacation to take part.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to use the gifts and abilities we have to help people who aren’t as fortunate as us,” Young said of using his vacation time to make the trip. “We have homes to go home to. We take that for granted sometimes,” he said, speaking of those with him.
“It’s kind of crazy to see what 30 to 40 students – who have limited construction experience – can do in a week. I think for a lot of people who come down here, they learn a lot about themselves. They overcome boundaries and walls in their lives to finish this project,” Young, who is originally from Roscoe, Ill., said.
In 2006, Rockford College renamed the trip the Alan Hutchcroft Alternative Spring Break in honor of a chemistry professor who was a big supporter of the group and who passed away in 2005, said Kenney.
AHASB’s 2008 contingent surpassed last year’s number of 39, which, at the time, was the largest, she said.
“It is a life-changing experience for the students who attend, giving them an opportunity to serve the community of Starkville. They choose to serve when they could choose other ways to spend their spring break,” Kenney said. “The trip grows because it’s sort of addicting.” This is Kenney’s third year to take part in AHASB.
This year’s group attended the groundbreaking ceremony and that helped “solidify the purpose of the trip in meeting the families,” she said.
Tony Hardin, who is on his second trip with the group, mentioned the groundbreaking and “being able to meet both the families we’re building for,” Hardin, a junior psychology major from St. Peters, Mo., said.
In explaining why he came back on the trip, Hardin said: “Just being able to change someone’s life for the better – make a difference in the world. I think that’s why we’re all here and we we’re at Rockford College.”
‘ I wanted to try it’
Jena Grover, from Rockford, Ill., is along on her first trip with the group. She is a junior education major at Rockford College.
“I wanted to help. It sounded interesting,” she said, noting that everyone who had gone before was excited about it.
“I’ve never done anything like this before and I wanted to try it,” she said.
Grover said of her experience on Tuesday: “I love it. It’s amazing,” she said, adding that everyone on the site has been helpful in explaining things.
“It’s just been a wonderful experience,” she said.
“I’m impressed with the students and how hard they work and how they build new relationships with each other. They’re willing to try new things and adapt to the situation. Rockford College should be proud,” Kenney said.
Two other schools will send participants to Starkville to help out with the Habitat construction project – Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. and Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, Md. TSU’s group will be here next week and NDP will be in the community the week leading up to Easter, said Freddie Rasberry, Habitat for Humanity’s executive director.
The Collegiate Challenge effort concentrates work done to build a house into three to four weeks. Normally, it takes six to eight months to build one of the houses because the work is typically done on weekends, Rasberry said.
The Collegiate Challenge teams work on the homes in March and local volunteers finish out the homes.
Opportunity ‘to do
God’s ministry’
In building a Habitat house, the community raises the money and then Habitat sells the house to a qualified homeowner at no interest and no profit, he said.
“We don’t start a house until we have the funds,” Rasberry said.
Habitat homeowners contribute volunteer labor on their or another person’s home.
The basic Habitat home is 1,200 square feet with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Habitat homes improve the appearance of the community, helps citizens who are trying to make it and “this is a vehicle for others to do God’s ministry,” Rasberry said.
The two homes under construction currently are located near the intersection of Apple and Curry streets.
The first is called the Apostles’ House, in which Habitat officials try to bring together a number of churches. First Presbyterian Church is taking the lead on this home, which was already framed in as of Tuesday. Next door, First United Methodist Church is the lead church on what is called the Methodist House, a home whose foundation was being prepared Tuesday.
The framework on the Methodist House was under way Wednesday.
Respectively, the Apostles’ House is 322 Apple St. and the Methodist House is 320 Apple St.
Habitat officials anticipate that the Apostles’ House will be finished in July and the Methodist House completed in the fall, Rasberry said.
For information on volunteering or donating, call the Starkville Habitat for Humanity office at 324-7008.
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