Lexi Louis – Opinion Columnist

Gustavus Habitat for Humanity is a great organization in my opinion. It works to build affordable homes for families in need, it advocates to lessen poverty and homelessness and it provides practice with cooperation. Their service is done at a local and national level. This is an important organization, and it should be preserved because of its positive impact.
In the Gustavus Habitat for Humanity organization, there are events held during alternative fall and spring breaks. The 2020 Spring break trip sites (which were canceled due to COVID-19) were located in Beaumont, TX, Hattiesburg, MS, Tucker, GA, Newland, NC, and Georgetown, DE. Over 75 students are sent to Habitat for Humanity affiliate sites every spring break. This is a part of the alternative break program and Habitat’s national Collegiate Challenge program. It is a wonderful opportunity for volunteering.
After spring break, Gustie’s participant in Act! Speak! Build! week, which is Habitat’s time to shine on campus. During the week, there are educational events, volunteer options, and fundraisers. There are also options to work on Habitat houses in St. Peter, Mankato, and Belle Plaine.
In 2019, 15.6 percent of residents in St. Peter had an income below the poverty level. The Habitat for Humanity organization helps lessen poverty by providing places for those in need to live. Habitat for Humanity helps with these uncertainties by decreasing the levels of stress, depression, and emotional and physical hardships. In the United States 2019 Census Bureau, the poverty rate was 10.5 percent. There were 34 million people in poverty.
More than half of the population of the world lives in urban areas. The available housing in these areas has decreased, making it hard for those to find a place to live. A big obstacle in trying to provide everyone affordable housing is access to land for shelter. A third of those living in urban areas across the globe lack access to secure housing.
At some point in their lives, housing insecurity affects nearly half of adults. In order to cover their rent or mortgage, more than half of all adults say they have had to make at least one trade off. Habitat for Humanity builds affordable places to live for those in need, repairs and improves homes, helps prevent disasters, helps recover from disasters, and it advocates for better laws and systems to be implemented.
I built a virtual Habitat for Humanity house using a CAD software. When I built the house, there were certain dimensions and materials used to fit the criteria of a habitat for humanity home. One of the criteria was for the home to be around 900 square feet. The average Habitat house in the U.S. is 1,200 square feet. Some of the parts of it were difficult to figure out. Knowing where to put the rooms, appliances, and furniture was a challenging building aspect. It was rewarding to learn about the characteristics of a habitat house.
Building a Habitat for Humanity home is rewarding. It provides practice with cooperation, teamwork and it displays strong compassion for the community. Habitat as an organization helps to shed light on poverty and homelessness and it helps create new laws and systems to help those in need. Cooperation, teamwork and compassion are vital skills for life and jobs. All of these skills are utilized in building a Habitat home. Gaining experience with these skills firsthand improves them dramatically.
Some may say the effort of building a Habitat for Humanity home isn’t worth it, and the organization doesn’t impact the world enough. Although it takes between 250 and 500 hours to build a Habitat home, the effort is worth it. When people come together for a good cause, the time it takes to complete the task doesn’t matter as much. Providing secure and safe housing for those in need makes the world a better place. The organization helps a large number of people in the world. In the year of 2020, Habitat for Humanity helped more than 5.9 million people build or improve their homes. I think this number shows how much they have helped people, and how many people have dedicated themselves to helping their cause. The helpers display kindness and awareness towards others.
With the conflicts of urban housing, the poverty rates in the U.S. and across the globe and homelessness, Habitat for Humanity is an essential organization that immensely helps with these negative problems. Its goal is all around positive, its mission provides shelter, the organization raises awareness, its awareness leads to new systems and laws, and its goal sets an example of how people can come together for a positive task.