UHCL is set to house the first student chapter for Bay Area Habitat for Humanity
After Hurricane Harvey hit Texas last August 2017, Mehrshad Keivan, a biology major with specialization in pre-health, was having a hard time finding volunteer opportunities while trying to build friendships with people who have the same passion for volunteering.
When Keivan reached out to Bay Area Habitat for Humanity (BAHFH) for volunteer opportunities, Jess Holland, the safety and volunteer manager at BAHFH, mentioned that UHCL did not have a student chapter.
UHCL’s chapter of Habitat For Humanity (HFH) started in spring 2018 with Keivan, HFH President; Arthur “Duck” Nguyen,HFH Vice-President and biology major with specialization in pre-health; Jamie Garges,biology major with specialization in pre-health; Sean Nguyen,HFH secretary and biology major with specialization in pre-health; Ashley Leija, HFH event coordinator and marketing major minoring in biology; Damian Garcia, HFH treasurer and business management major; Mehrtosh Keivan, HFH public relations coordinator and biology major with specialization in pre-health; and Holland.
“Having a Habitat for Humanity club here would be really good, and we wanted the work to be really student-driven and have a community here that knows each other, that can go out and volunteer together rather than a couple people going out on their own; we wanted to build a family,” Kevian said.
The six co-founders along with Holland started the student chapter at UHCL and are still currently recruiting members while awaiting Habitat for Humanity International to officially recognize the club as a student chapter.
“I’ve had personal experience with housing poverty during my childhood; no child should experience such tragedy,” Nguyen said. “Once the opportunity arose for us to create a Campus Chapter here at UHCL, we immediately took it!”
Once The UHCL student organization gets approved through Habitat for Humanity International, the club will become the first student chapter for Bay Area Houston Habitat for Humanity.
“Involving the younger generation really helps with strengthening our following of volunteers and our mission for years to come,” Holland said. “There are also different aspects of Habitat that we need different people for.”
UHCL HFH currently has 23 active members and is always looking for volunteers to come out with them twice a month on Saturday’s. Students can also volunteer at the HFH Restore and/or intern at The HFH office.
“I like how one doesn’t need construction experience or the financial means to help out,” Leija said. “We hope that our efforts make a difference because there is nothing more beautiful than feeling right at home.”
Meetings are currently held once a month online or as needed. Students can join the club for $25 a semester or pay $35 for the entire year. Students can also earn honor cords depending on the total amount of points a student receives from volunteering.
Student chapters are guided by four functions: direct service, fundraising, advocating and educating. Student chapters help set the general foundation of HFH’s work and related events to campuses by organizing volunteer opportunities, educating individuals on campus about the community in relation to Habitat for Humanity, and fundraising to help support local habitat opportunities within the community
UHCL HFH has their next build scheduled for Oct. 20. The overall mission of the event is to bring together the faculty and staff of UHCL while volunteering their time to give back to the community. All students and staff are encouraged to come out to La Porte from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. to help. The build will be located at 505 N 4th Street, La Porte. Interested students and faculty must sign up to volunteer for this build through Volunteer Hub.
“So far in 2018, we have had 1,580 volunteers complete 16,674 volunteer hours,” Holland said.
Bay Area Houston Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit home builder that has been helping families since 1991. BAHFH has been around for 27 years and has built over 162 homes 一 over 80 of those homes have been in La Porte alone. BAHFH has also assisted 18 families with financial assistance and has completed 12 critical homes repairs.
Applicants qualifying for Habitat homes must have a housing need and be unable to purchase a home through conventional means. Habitat does not give out homes, but it helps people buy homes.
The slogan, “Hand up, not a hand out,” means that Habitat homes are sold to families and are not given to them free of charge. Qualified applicants must have the ability to pay back a 30- year, zero-interest loan and be willing to put in a total of 300 hours of “sweat equity.” One hundred of those hours have to be completed by members of the household. The remaining 200 hours can be completed by extended family and friends.
For more information contact UHCL HFH through social media and email. For more general information about BAHFH and upcoming volunteer events, visit their website at bahfh.org or by following them on Facebook.
