Habitat for Humanity Presents: Act! Speak! Build! Week

If you’re planning on attending the Ben Folds concert on Saturday you might want to consider finishing your homework the next day and fitting in a good night’s sleep. According to the Gustavus Habitat for Humanity executive board, it’s going to be a big week.

From Monday, April 21 to Sunday, April 27, Gustavus will join other campuses and communities around the world to take part in Act! Speak! Build! Week, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity International.

“This is the first Habitat extravaganza week,” said Habitat for Humanity Executive Board Co-President and Senior Communications Studies Major Nicole Blake. “We’re really excited.”

Recently many Gustavus students have returned from a Spring Break of pounding nails and roofing houses at Habitat for Humanity sites in Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Junior Executive Board Member and Chemistry Major Molly Beernink traveled to Alabama. “I am looking forward to continuing that momentum [with this week],” Beernink said.

While these trips may catch people’s attention, Blake hopes to gain the interest of students who might not otherwise be involved with Habitat for Humanity efforts. For those who are “a little low on time, [this week will] give them an opportunity to help out,” said Blake.

So how exactly can students act, speak or build throughout the week? “One of the main events that we’re doing is a shed build,” said Senior Executive Board Co-President and Economics Major Sarah Miller.

Industrial Technology students at St. Peter High School are currently building a Habitat for Humanity home. The recipient of the home is a member of the Gustavus staff. From 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, all students are invited to assist in constructing the shed that will be attached to the home.

Additionally, students can take part in a five-kilometer Fun-Run at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 26. The cost of entering the run is $12. For those who bring goods to donate to the CADA House, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence in Mankato, the entrance fee is reduced to $10.

“Domestic violence is a major contributor to homelessness among populations of women and children,” said Blake, “because they must choose between staying with an abuser or leaving without means to find other housing.” All proceeds from the run will pay for Habitat for Humanity homes being built in the St. Peter area.

Beyond putting people to work and raising funds, “there is also the advocacy aspect [of housing issues],” Blake said.

The Habitat for Humanity board hopes activities will motivate students to consider the issues of inadequate housing and homelessness as well as what they can do individually to prevent it.
“[We want students to] talk about why there isn’t affordable housing,” Blake said. In hopes of facilitating reflective conversation, pictures from Spring Break trips and stories from that experience will be on display in Linner Lounge all week.

At 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, a panel discussion will take place in the Courtyard Café. Professor of Political Science Richard Leitch will facilitate the discussion, which will include local House Representatives Kathy Sheran and Terry Morrow, as well as representatives from the St. Peter Habitat Board, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and the Minnesota Valley Action Council.

This is not the first discussion Leitch will lead concerning this issue. He is currently teaching a First-year Term Seminar that analyzes substandard housing and homelessness.

On Wednesday his class concluded a three-night sleep-out intended to help the class and the Gustavus community better understand the reality of homelessness. Several signs were hung around campus with statistics to inform passerby about housing issues.

Sophomore Marianne Barau, who is in Leitch’s class, participated in the sleep-out. “I think that people should take a minute to think of what their life would be if they didn’t have all the luxuries … they do,” she said.

First-year Torrey Rollwagen has also found the experience eye-opening. “I never thought someone with a college education would ever be in danger of becoming homeless, but there is a significant percentage of people with college degrees who are homeless,” she said.

Habitat for Humanity board members hope more people will consider housing issues. “I think that a lot of people don’t realize how easy it is to have difficulty paying for housing,” Blake said.

“We hear [the word] homeless and think of a stereotype of a person that has lived on the streets their entire life and has a completely different life than people [at Gustavus] experience …. A lot of times situations that happen to [homeless people] could have happened to any of us if we had been faced with different circumstances.”

Blake and Miller spoke of the challenge in motivating individuals to care about this issue and to put effort into addressing it. While students may see these statistics, the Habitat for Humanity board wonders if they respond to them in productive ways.

Some students expressed being desensitized to startling figures like those currently on campus, or are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem and feel they cannot affect positive change.

Miller said that people may read these statistics and think, “‘Man, I wish we could do something about that,’ but [wonder] how they can make an impact on something so huge.”

“I am kind of torn between how to go about motivating people with these issues,” Blake said.
She is skeptical of how productive it is to use negative emotional appeals in order to encourage others to positively impact the issue of homelessness. “It’s a difficult line to walk. I think it is possible to motivate people [by focusing on] things that we are able to do.”

Whether or not students find it difficult to digest alarming statistics, the reality of the situation is that homelessness is a huge issue. The Habitat Board hopes that Act! Speak! Build! Week will inform students that homelessness and inadequate housing are issues that actually affect people in our immediate community.

“I think that we’re very good at ignoring things on this campus,” said Junior Classics Major Laura Luce. “People recognize social issues when they’re trendy. I’m not sure people are [very] aware of homelessness because it’s not a ‘popular’ cause.”

After learning that a substantial amount of homeless youth attend school, Rollwagon was struck by the implications of that fact. She said, “It really made me [about whether I knew] someone in high school that was homeless and just never took the time to realize it.”

“I think that it’s hard for us to understand that while homelessness does exist, substandard housing is probably more prevalent in rural areas like St. Peter,” Miller said.

Miller hopes that people realize that even if they are not seeing hordes of people sleeping on St. Peter’s streets, the area still has difficulties providing sufficient housing. “A lot of people are barely making ends meet and are one missed house payment away from getting kicked out or living in substandard housing.”

Ultimately, the Habitat for Humanity Board hopes that Act! Speak! Build! Week will make students realize that those large statistics represent a situation that they can meaningfully influence in a positive way. “Habitat for Humanity [enables] people to make a difference,” Miller said.

“A lot of organizations want your money, and Habitat will accept donations, but they have a vision of bringing communities together to build houses for other people. I hope people recognize that they can do something about it.”

Editor’s Note: The Features Editor is the Co-Events Coorddinator of the Habitat for Humanity Executive Board.

Photo courtesy of: MCT Campus

Danielle Harms