Meredith College Habitat Club Builds with First Partner Family
While Meredith College community members have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for more than 20 years, a student-led effort that began in 2006 has resulted in the first Habitat home to be fully funded by Meredith College.
The College kicked off the project with a celebration on Friday, August 22, 2008, in the Science and Mathematics Building Atrium on the Meredith campus. Attendees signed 2 x 4 pieced of lumber that will later be used in the construction of the home.
Hayley McPhail, Meredith Class of 2008, who founded the College's Habitat for Humanity Club, spoke at the kickoff celebration, along with Meredith President Maureen A. Hartford, Meredith Habitat Club President Chelsea McGlaughlin, and Meredith Habitat Club advisor Barbara True-Weber. With help from the homeowners-to-be, they revealed the blueprints to great cheer.
Home Dedication Saturday, April 18
On-site construction began in September 2008. Students had the opportunity to cut headers, build walls, nail OSB, install siding and paint. (See photos from the work site.) Students, faculty, staff and friends will join the family dedicated the home on Saturday, April 18.
(Exterior house color swatches are show above.)
Meredith College Habitat Club
Founded in 2006, the Meredith College Habitat for Humanity Club diligently met the collegian's first goal: raise $75,000 to fully sponsor a Habitat home in Wake County.
Planning included three creative fundraisers:
- a sale of hand-painted birdhouses
- a 12-hour Box-a-Thon
- a benefit shopping event at a coffee shop
The Box-a-thon was part of a rally in Fall 2007 to raise awareness of the need for affordable housing. Club members challenged themselves and other students to live in boxes from noon until midnight.
Students Drive in Nails as part of Meredith's new Habitat Club By Heather Blackwood, Meredith College '07 shares the collegians' enthusiasm for helping people achieve the security of a safe, decent home.
Until the construction on the home they are sponsoring got underway in August 2008, the young women volunteered to construct other homes. In addition, the collegians began tutoring some children of Habitat homeowners.
Said, Hayley McPhail, 2007-2008 president of the chapter: "In recent years, Meredith College community members have volunteered to help people in Sri Lanka after the tsunami and in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina. With the formal formation of our Chapter, we'll work closer to campus to help a family in Wake County."
