Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has been putting forth effort all over the world in order to provide new homes and a new start for thousands of needy families each year. The organization hires contractors, and arranges volunteers to put together affordable homes that low income families can afford. Habitat has attracted interest from thousands of volunteers, including former president Jimmy Carter. He was quoted as saying "We have become small players in an exciting global effort to alleviate the curse of homelessness." Habitat has also attracted volunteers from our very own backyard. In fact, Mr. Steve O'Toole from the special education department makes a monthly visit to the organization with a handful of his students.

The tradition of helping out Habitat for Humanity began when Mr. O'Toole taught at Edison High School in Minneapolis. Edison helped with the project for a few years, and when Mr. O'Toole came here, he brought Habitat with him. We've now been doing it through Park Center for about a year. Every month, Mr. O'Toole takes a group of students out to a construction site to help with tasks such as putting up drywall, varnishing floorboards, caulking windows and doors, and anything that is needed. These students work with the hired contractors and experts, as well as with other volunteers, and the future home-owners themselves. In fact, in order to be able to purchase a Habitat-built house, the home-owners must pitch in a set number of hours on construction. The groups that go on the habitat trips are usually small in number, about three students each. Usually the groups are small due to a lack of general interest, but also, Habitat for Humanity rules state that every volunteer under 15 years old must be accompanied by one adult. For kids over 16, there must be one adult for every two of them.

There were only two students along for the trip this last time, and the weather was pretty wet, but other than that it apparently went well. They all got to the site via school bus and spent the day cleaning up around the property and adding some finishing touches to the house. At one point the students were applying caulking to window seams when they found that it was extremely sticky. Mr. O'Toole attests to the fact that no matter what they did, they could not get it off their hands! As the day was winding down and rain began falling, O'Toole and the two student volunteers tried washing the caulking off with cold water to no avail. After many minutes of this, however, they spotted some Somali students from another school rubbing their hands with sand. The PC kids tried this and, sure enough, the sticky gunk came right off. It just goes to show that its possible to get cleaner with dirt than with water!

On the day of the project, there were about 25 people working on the house including our own students and some kids from a Minneapolis high school. This also included the three or four Habitat for Humanity staff members and the plumbers and technicians that are always involved. Mr. O'Toole says that the reason they like to do projects like this is that it gets the kids out into the real world to apply what they've learned in the classroom. The kids, being Special Education students, need a more tangible and applicable education than normal students, so becoming volunteers to help out others is a great activity for them to be involved in.

If you would like to get involved in Habitat for Humanity, simply call them at (612) 331-4090, or visit the local Habitat website out of Minneapolis at this link: MINNEAPOLIS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Habitat is a great way to give back to the community, help others, and have a fun time. It's a great program and according to Mr. O'Toole, the kids like it and he'd like to see more Park Center students get involved. So, give them a call and volunteer your free time to those in need of a home.