Community Corner

Mepham Students Participate in 'Habitat for Humanity'

Students and advisors help build a home for someone in need.

In late May, Mepham student advisors Josephine Parlagreco and Andrew Slattery, accompanied by 20 members of the Habitat for Humanity Club, boarded the bus headed to Mastic Beach to help with the construction of a "Habitat for Humanity" project.

Upon arrival, the construction supervisors at the site introduced themselves and gave the students some background information on Habitat for Humanity and explained how the organization works. It was explained that the organization does not give “hand-outs,” but rather lends a hand to new homeowners that cannot afford to make a down payment on a house.

In order to get a house from Habitat for Humanity, there is an application and screening process to make sure that the new homeowners are willing and capable of making a commitment to owning and maintaining a house. They have to agree to a detailed contract that includes “Sweat Equity,” which basically means that the new homeowners have to put 176 hours into working on their house and six hours on other community service projects.

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Following the debriefing of the plan for the day, everyone grabbed a pair of work gloves and got started.

Sara Kullins and three other students began shoveling topsoil from a large heap into wheelbarrows and moving them to the areas of the yard that were uneven or sandy. After the topsoil from the wheelbarrow was dumped, someone would rake the topsoil out to make it even.

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There were also many broken tree branches and debris that needed to be cleaned up. Kullins and Alisa Batcher moved several tree trunks so that they could be chopped into wood chips.

Meanwhile, another group was putting up a fence. Alexa Rinaudo got her hands on some power tools and the Perlins lifted the wood fencing into place. Lauren Goldman and Laura Rooney focused on digging holes for the fence posts with a handy tool called a “post hole digger.”

Carson, a volunteer from AmeriCorps, spoke to the group for a little while about what he does with Habitat for Humanity and answered some questions about AmeriCorps. Carson explained that the mission of AmeriCorps is to create and expand programs that bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. By providing full-time members to community organizations and public agencies, AmeriCorps supports a broad range of local service programs that engage thousands of Americans in intensive service to meet critical community needs.

After a quick 30-minute lunch break, the group went to work, finishing up the fence, leveling off the pile of topsoil and getting rid of the ditches.

“As I took a step back and looked at everything we got done in our short amount of time there, I felt a wave of accomplishment flood over me," Kullins said. "I know I can speak for all the other members of our Habitat for Humanity Club when I say that we not only had a fun time on this trip, but that it felt great to make a difference in this family's life.”


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