While most students were at nestled in the warmth of their dorm rooms or enjoying a trip home for mid-semester break, a small group of Goucher students met at 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 13 for a day of hard labor.
Led by Goucher's Habitat for Humanity Co-president Travis Jolly '09, the four of us braved a bumpy Gouchermobile ride into the city and entered the headquarters of the Sandtown Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit Christian organization founded in 1976, seeks to eliminate homelessness by constructing and rehabilitating homes for low-income families. They have been responsible for creating 225,000 comfortable homes -- affecting about 1 million people in 3000 areas around the world. Volunteers perform the construction; charitable donations fund all materials. Habitat homes range are worth $800-$60,000 and are always sold to "partner families" at zero profit. The new homeowners are also responsible for contributing "sweat equity" to their homes- that is, they are expected to put in a certain number of hours of their own labor into the building.
Sandtown-Winchester, a neighborhood in West Baltimore, has suffered years of poverty. The Sandtown Habitat for Humanity (SHH) branch formed in 1989 with the aim to rebuild vacant houses and increase home ownership in search of a more healthy community. It has produced 230 homes in its first 18 years, with the average value of a rehabilitated rowhouse at about $50,000. Partner families in Sandtown must put 330 hours of sweat equity into their homes.
As we walked into SHH, we were confronted with a warehouse full of dusty plywood, bags of concrete mix, and wheelbarrows propped against the wall. A SHH employee directed us to gather the necessary supplies for our day of service- gardening gloves, dust masks, goggles, brooms, shovels, trash cans, lights, extension cords, bolts, washers, nails and a saw. We then jumped back into the Goucher van and made our way to the site, just a few blocks from the SHH office.
The block we were to work on was lined by classic Baltimore rowhouses, some sparkling and revamped thanks to Habitat, others crumbling and sealed off from the neighborhood with concrete in the windows and door. Our tasks were to board up the recently installed windows- new windows would surely be broken into- and to clean the four-story home in preparation for the electricians.
The work team was composed of Jolly, Casey Maloney '10, Sam Colon '09 and myself. We focused on our tasks diligently for over four hours, knowing our contribution would be limited to the single day. Despite our concentration, a lack of construction experience meant that we were only able to board about half of the windows by the end of the day.
While all of us agreed that the day was successful, Jolly pointed out that many Goucher students seem to lack genuine interest in performing such service. "We're pretty lacking in [community service]. I really appreciate the people that do come, but it's not that many. Goucher is such an upper-middle class school. I think it's pretty important to do something helpful for people other than yourself," he said.
"Actually make an impact. I don't see people doing that. Most of what I see is awareness-raising. Any day of the week, I would rather do something tangible. It's good to be aware of breast cancer and Darfur, but we're not doing anything about that," he said.
For Maloney, who is also involved in Amnesty International, the type of service Habitat provides is of utmost importance. "You can sign a petition," she said, "but going and seeing your work done -- being able to see work accomplished -- is invaluable."
--- For more information on Habitat for Humanity, check out: www.habitat.org or www.sandtownhabitat.org
Be the first to comment on this article!