A WORLD WHERE EVERYBODY HAS A DECENT PLACE TO LIVE

By JADE CURTIS

On Saturday November 17th, members from the Community Service Club (CSC) at  Washingtonville High School volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh was founded in October of 1999 by a group of dedicated volunteers who shared a desire to revive the neighborhood's of Newburgh and help local hard-working, low-income families help themselves create stability and self-reliance. Habitat Newburgh is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating, and preserving homes.

In an effort to help, students demonstrated their hard-work by demolishing houses. Students and other volunteers were provided with the proper equipment to begin the demolition, and were thoroughly successful.  Volunteers removed flooring both upstairs and downstairs in the home, and  removed old ceilings as well.  The goal of this project is to build and improve places to call home.

JADE CURTIS FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY

Member of the CSC, senior Mary Gannon, volunteered her time on Saturday. She expressed, “Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity was an incredible experience. I think a lot of people feel the need to go to Guatemala and build houses or improve schools in order to make the world a better place, but people don’t realize that they can start right in their community.” She went on to say, “I am happy that the work done through Habitat has an immediate impact on people in our community.” Everyone can do something to make it possible for another family to have a decent place to live. 

Those who volunteered were nothing less than satisfied with their success. CSC member, Julia McNeilly, stated, “I would define my experience volunteering for Habitat Newburgh as inspirational and eye opening.  It made me realize that there are people in our community that don’t have a home, and that I have the ability to help improve their situation.” She added, “The whole experience is awesome and all the people are so welcoming because you get to spend the day with friends giving back to the community.” It is so important for anybody who was the opportunity to volunteer to participate. The experience is exhilarating and helps open the eyes of those who are more fortunate.

There are countless volunteer opportunities through Habit Newburgh where individuals can directly affect those they serve. A decent place to live can remove barriers for opportunity, success, and health that might have been part of a family's life for years, if not generations. Research also indicates that families who own their own homes spend more time and money to improve their neighborhoods and take a more active role in the community.

There will be another opportunity for students to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in early spring. Students must be 16 years or older and have a signed permission slip from a parent.  Parents are welcome to volunteer as well.  A little bit of help will go a long way!