On Sept. 25, Wesleyan students will join in community service with Middletown residents to help begin construction on a Habitat for Humanity house located at 34-36 Fairview Ave. The broken-down duplex, which was abandoned four years ago when it was no longer functional as graduate housing, will be transformed into a single residence.
Last year, project leader Darrah Sipe ’07 and Ed Woo ’03 revived Wesleyan’s organized participation in Habitat for Humanity.
“It was difficult,” Sipe said, “because we were going through Hartford, which is kind of a Mecca for all the different Connecticut schools, and they didn’t have much room for us.”
Wanting to get more involved, fifteen students from Wesleyan traveled to Columbus, Ga. during spring break to participate in the largest build in the country.
Their job was to essentially assemble a house from the foundation up.
“Seeing your work and your friends’ work turn into a house is extremely satisfying,” said Kathleen Day ’07. “You dream of hammering, and get nasty calluses…but it’s all team-building, and character-building. Then the house-building seems almost secondary.”
Even if the building itself seemed insignificant compared to the experience, students agreed on the monumental power of watching a house go up before their eyes.
“It was incredible, since we started with a slab of cement and ended up with the outside of a house, complete with siding and roofing and doors and windows by the end of the week,” said Sasha Endo ’07.
Endo also commented on the benefits of working beside organizers as well as other students and the future owners of the house.
“It really was a chance to look at how people view charity and work and deservingness in our culture,” Endo said. “The trip made me want to work on the local projects, so there will be less a sense of going somewhere else to improve an area and more the idea of becoming more involved with this community of which we are a part.”
With that in mind, Woo surveyed the campus last year for open space that could be used to build a home. Sipe and Woo then searched for staff support, knowing they would need a concrete foundation to hold up their intentions. They found what they were looking for in Manny Cunard, director of Auxiliary Services.
“Manny was our staff liaison,” Sipe said. “He champions the cause in the Administration and helped pitch it to the bigwigs.”
With additional aid from Joyce Yarrow, the head of the Middlesex County Habitat projects, Sipe and Woo were able to persuade Wesleyan to donate the house.
Sipe is currently seeking more students to get involved with the building. Ideally, participants would go and work on the house every Saturday. She is hoping for help from RA programs, fraternities and sports teams, as well as individuals from around campus.
Interested parties should contact Sipe at dsipe@wesleyan.edu.
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