The Spectrum

Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Contributed Photo Many students choose to spend their spring break not lounging around in the sun, but helping others.

The members of Habitat for Humanity have exciting plans this spring break with trips to New Mexico, Florida and North Carolina to help build houses from the ground up for families in need already lined up.

This trip is the largest the school has seen so far with 55 people going on the three different trips, according to the Service Learning Center who sponsors Sacred Heart's chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

"We did our first trip back in 1995, and since then we've been to Baltimore, Boston, Delaware and Alabama," said Phyllis Machledt, advisor for Habitat for Humanity. Miguel Colon, staff member and student advisor for the North Carolina trip, said they will be constructing houses from the foundation up, installing windows and doors, and much more.

"We'll be working with a construction crew and the future homeowner as well," said Colon.

The work started on Monday and will continue everyday until Friday. The North Carolina trip will take place in Wilmington where the group will be part of a team building ranch homes that were destroyed by hurricanes for low-income families. The Florida group will work in Fort Meyers building ranch homes for victims of hurricanes as well, said Machledt.

"The best part of the entire week last year, for me, was when we built all the walls and had to raise them into place," said Lauren Corso, sophomore, Trumbull who is a student leader for the North Carolina group. "It's one of those things that you never imagine that you will have the opportunity to do, and it's such a gratifying feeling."

Corso said "you are blown away" by the things the group is able to accomplish in a week.

In contrast to the North Carolina and Florida trips, the New Mexico trip will consist of the group building homes using Adobe bricks, which is a new form of brick. The advisor for this trip will be Machledt who said they'll stay in a church in Arroyo Seco, which is about 8 miles from their worksite in New Mexico.

"We will be building adobe houses, lots of building in the mud!" said Kaitlin Mulqueen, sophomore and public relations chair for the club. "We will be working up in the mountains and apparently the sky is the prettiest blue you've ever seen. Nothing like working on a house in a beautiful scene like that, but I think the part I'm most excited about is building with the adobe bricks."

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