Weber is a Home for Habitat

Looking for a scholarship or job application boost? Being athletic or having a high GPA isn't all that employers are looking for. Being involved in community service projects is a fairly easy way to show employers or a scholarship committee that the applicant is a well rounded person, has the total package and should get the job or scholarship. Weber State University has many community service opportunities. One of them is WSU's own Habitat for Humanity (HFH) affiliate that has been active since 2002. This international organization operates in over 90 countries and strives to build or renovate decent houses for families in need, called partner families. Each group of HFH workers, called an affiliate, operates as a non-profit organization. They are responsible for unbiased choosing of the families who deserve a new home, the funding to build the home and mortgage servicing. "We have done between Weber and Davis county about seven houses; one a year," said Billy Rutter, construction co-chair of HFH and former campus chair. "We are working on one right now on Doxey (street). There will be three on Doxey, two others will be done by the end of the year. All of them are old houses; two of them were built in the early 1900s. The other was built in the 1930s. They're all worn out. So we gutted those out and updated everything." According to the HTH Web site, houses are modest in size. HFH guidelines state that there is to be no more than 1,050 square feet of living space. Most have three bedrooms, but the homes are built to accommodate the family. Typically, they are built using wooden framework, but some affiliates use adobe or straw bale. Volunteers don't need to know how to wire or plumb a house to be involved. Inexperienced volunteers, along with the family in need, build the homes with their own hands. But the house is not just given away; a down payment is established and it comes with a 7- to 30-year mortgage plan. Professional contractors and construction workers are on hand, but mostly it is the average person doing the building, tiling, painting, etc. Big name companies often take part in HFH by donating materials, one of them being Delta Airlines. They use the money they receive from recycling their in-flight meal trays, aluminum cans and newspapers to fund the building of three homes. Whirlpool helps by donating an Energy Star refrigerator to every Habitat home. Whirlpool is also responsible for launching the Building Blocks program. HFH also gets funding from concerned people in the community. They send in their donation detailing exactly which community they want to receive the donation, and HFH board members see to it that the donation gets where it was intended to go. Not all donations are monetary, some are materials needed to build or or furnish the house. On average, if HFH is building a house in a developing country, the cost is about $800. If they are building within the country, the average cost is $60,000. In 2008, HFH built over 55,000 homes for families in need. That's 6,000 more than 2007. Because of the poor economy and the rising cost of houses, HFH expects there to be many more houses built this year. Becoming involved in this community service project, students may realize that they truly enjoy wiring a home, or laying flooring. Or maybe there are some students who are in a field that may be useful to HFH such as interior design or drafting. Businesses like The Home Depot and Lowe's offer classes on home improvement. Enrolling in a few of these would be helpful for HFH as well. "This summer only a few students came out. Three or four." Rutter said Usually communication students come out maybe five or 10 students at a time, different students every week. A couple hundred students get involved every year. Most students come out of Hill Air Force Base. I'd like to see more from Weber State come out, but people are busy." Currently, WSU volunteers are working on a home on Doxey St. in Ogden. Coming up on Saturday, Sept. 12, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., there will be a get-together to make another push in building the home.