Senior Fine Arts major Lisa Emery began her school year with a goal. She wanted to set up a collegiate chapter of Habitat for Humanity (HFH). She began in October setting up a table every Monday afternoon in the campus center to recruit students for local builds as well as an alternative spring break in Florida. She posted fliers and contacted local HFH affiliate Amy Gould, who helped her set up USM days for house building.
When sign-up for the HFH alternative spring break rolled around last December, only one student was interested. Because of this the trip was cancelled.
Emery decided to dedicate her time recruiting others to share in the fulfillment of service activities because of her experience participating in the 2002 Alternative Spring Break build with HFH in Florida.
Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization that builds approximately 125,000 homes a year in 80 countries. These homes are sold for no profit to families in need. The families who receive homes from HFH assist in the construction of the house and are exempt from paying interest on the mortgage.
Though a trip was in the works, Emery’s plans did not pan out.
For two years prior to this school year, successful alternative spring breaks were set up in Florida for HFH as well as in Utah for wilderness excursions. Previously organized by Andrea Thompson McCall, assistant dean to the Office of Dean of Student Life, and Tina Aldrich, coordinator of Portland Campus Recreation and Fitness, these spring breaks were successful excursions.
“All the other schools around us are involved in this volunteerism,” said Emery. St. Joseph’s College in Standish, University of Maine at Orono and Bowdoin College are involved with HFH, said Gould, and the University of New England is in the process of applying for a collegiate chapter.
“It’s almost shameful,” said Emery, frustrated with students’ lack of interest in HFH.
“When there’s something that you believe in, it’s real hard to understand why other people don’t want to get on board,” said Thompson McCall.
In light of the non-development of HFH’s alternative spring break, Aldrich and two students created a survey for future service-related spring break opportunities and polled over 100 students. They questioned students about cost, location, and willingness to fundraise before planning a spring break that would generate more interest from the student body.
Though HFH was among the top three options in survey responses, Emery said the possibility of creating a USM chapter of HFH is slim because of the apparent lack of interest.
If interested in participating in the building of a HFH house, contact Amy Gould at 772-2151.
Christy McKinnon can be contacted at [email protected]