The tables were turned Saturday when five AmeriCorps volunteers received an electric-blue shotgun house built with help from Loyola student volunteers.
Most Habitat for Humanity house projects are for low-income families; however, with students finishing paint touches, a fence, a flowerbed and other projects on Saturday, AmeriCorps volunteers were given a house as a sign of gratitude courtesy of Habitat.
“We decided to build a volunteer house since they’re paid very little,” said Geandra Davis, assistant construction supervisor for Habitat.
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that meet critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment, according to their Web site. Among the programs AmeriCorps volunteers take on is building affordable housing, the lack of which is the number one cause of homelessness.
Student volunteer efforts were organized by Loyola University Community Action Program and Sam Cabrera, international business sophomore and LUCAP Habitat for Humanity co-chairman.
According to project volunteer Sarah Mackota, sociology freshman, the volunteer work is worth the effort because it makes someone happy.
“I like how you’re not just donating money,” Mackota said. “It’s nice to work with people you’ve never met before. It shows a lot about the Loyola community.”
Davis attributes a reduction in crime and neighborhood revitalization to the four houses in the neighborhood that Habitat has built.
Quinn Dennehy, sociology/theater arts sophomore and community service chairman for Phi Kappa Psi, said the experience takes students out of their usual zone.
“It’s really important for us college students to get out of Uptown to see the impoverished neighborhoods,” Dennehy said. “There’s a lot that needs to be done to help the community.”
Saturday was Dennehy’s fourth visit to the volunteer house at 4322 D’Hemecourt St., which stands next door to a vacant lot slated for another Habitat project and across the street from the group’s supply warehouse.
According to Davis, students began to arrive at the site at 7:30 a.m.
By 3 p.m., most of the work was complete and volunteers helped with clean up, carrying tools across the street to the warehouse, washing out brushes with the hose at the front of the house and sweeping the new cement walkways.
Beggars fraternity, the International Student Association and Social Justice Scholars were among the organizations present. Loyola volunteers and LUCAP will visit five more sites this semester, and the projects are open to anyone or any organization.
“Come with soled shoes, and you’re pretty much ready to go,” Cabrera said.
Savannah Brehmer can be reached at [email protected].
History junior Evan Lieberman and marketing junior Ricky Currier construct the backyard fence, post by post, with fellow Beggars.
