Habitat for Humanity Plans House Build. Looking for Student Volunteers.

Habitat for Humanity has organized a house build for March 14, and students looking for volunteer opportunities are encouraged to participate. Students who attend this semester’s build on Alexander Street in Albany need no previous experience in construction because there will be paid personnel to train the volunteers. Sue Kilgallon, adviser for the HVCC branch of Habitat for Humanity, said that in order for a student to join the club on a build, they need to attend each meeting, scheduled every other Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Lang Hall, Room 110. If a student would like to come to the meeting, they should contact Sue Kilgallon through e-mail at S.Kilgallon@hvcc.edu.

After a student seeking to join a build team for Habitat for Humanity comes to a meeting and signs a few forms for the organization and the college, they can attend a build, which occur every other Saturday. Habitat for Humanity is a volunteer organization. Its goal is to build affordable housing for those who need it most. Habitat for Humanity focuses on offering their housing to America’s “working poor,” meaning anyone who has a job and is just above the poverty line, but struggles financially. The people who qualify for Habitat for Humanity homes are often single mothers or fathers who are living from paycheck to paycheck. In order for the person to qualify, they must be willing to let Habitat help them with their finances or find daycare programs. In addition, each applicant must put in 400-500 hours of work into the house, if able.

Each Habitat home owner gets a house that is worth around $150,000, but around $80,000 is put into it because of the percentage of labor, up to 90 percent, which is donated. Also, around 35 percent of the materials needed are donated. The new home owner often pays a similar amount on their mortgage as they would pay for monthly rent, and Habitat for Humanity owns the mortgage and the home owner doesn’t pay interest.
Students who come to jobs get Habitat for Humanity T-shirts. During each meeting, refreshments are provided for the students.