March 31, 2008

Purdue Student Habitat Chapter to celebrate completion of house

Gerri-Ann Cornell, who will live in the home with her two sons, Matthew, 4, and Bailey, 1, will be on hand along with student volunteers, organizers and sponsors when the house is blessed during a special ceremony at 4 p.m. The Habitat for Humanity home is located at 119 Kinkaid Drive in the Bristol Park subdivision in Lafayette.

Approximately 200 students in the Purdue Student Habitat Chapter have been working on the house, said Daniel Guildenbecher, a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Carmel, Ind. He led the group's participation in the Gus Macker tournament to raise money for the house and has worked with students, members of the Lafayette Rotary and the homeowner through the winter to frame the house.

In addition, Guildenbecher said volunteers from other groups, including the Purdue Alumni Association, Society of Women Engineers, Black Graduate Student Association, Phi Delta Theta fraternity, Biomedical Engineering Association, Office of the Dean of Students, Association of Multicultural Science Students, Valparaiso University Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International and the Purdue Science Student Council have been involved in the project.

Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette has enabled community volunteers to build more than 155 houses since the organization was formed in 1985. Habitat plans to build another 15 homes and renovate four older homes this year.

Eighty percent of the Lafayette Habitat budget comes from private sources such as churches, individuals and businesses. The newest house was made possible through the support of State Farm Insurance and the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament last September. Donors for the tournament included Basham Rentals, Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, Lafayette Real Estate Marketing Corp., Mar-Jean Village, Arni's and the Lafayette-West Lafayette Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Federal HOME funds, allocated through the City of Lafayette Redevelopment Office, are used for land acquisition and infrastructure development. No federal money is used for the house itself.

Through volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and renovates houses with the help of the homeowner families. When a house is completed, the person buys it, interest free. For each house built, Habitat allocates a portion of the funds raised to build at least one more house in a developing country.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Daniel Guildenbecher, (765) 404-5370, dguilden@purdue.edu

Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette, (765) 423-4590

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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