DBU volunteers build on-campus Habitat house_120604

Posted: 12/03/04

DBU volunteers build on-campus Habitat house

By Kristie Brooks

Dallas Baptist University

DALLAS–For the second consecutive year, Dallas Baptist University volunteers built a Habitat for Humanity house on the school's campus.

DBU Executive Vice President Blair Blackburn worked with the university's student chapter of Habitat to launch the building project in late October, and it was completed in about a month.

Students, faculty and staff volunteered daily to work on the house that was built right outside the university's John G. Mahler Student Center.

“The project has been highly publicized around campus to various DBU organizations,” explained Melissa Johnson, president of the DBU Habitat student chapter. “We had the DBU baseball team out here hammering and nailing up siding, while others worked with caulking before we added the final layer of paint. It's been a huge team effort, and it's exciting to see all the organizations work together to achieve such an enormous goal.”

Blackburn noted DBU students not only participate in the on-campus building project, but also travel during spring break to another part of the country to work on a Habitat project.

Blair Blackburn, DBU executive vice president, gives the house key to Maria Teresa Cazares, the new homeowner of a Habitat house built on the university campus.

“We believe that the fall 'on-campus' builds create an excitement and awareness of the impact Habitat has on the lives of the families who will call these houses 'home.' Last year, that excitement carried over, leading to a record number of students going on the spring break Habitat build to Tallahassee, Fla.,” he said. “This spring, our students will travel to Russell, Ala., to work with a local Habitat chapter.”

Chris Crawford, DBU director of residence life, has a background in construction and has been active in Habitat for several years. On the worksite, he was in charge of helping students get signed in and assigned to work areas where they were needed most.

“We had approximately 400 students, faculty and staff volunteer their time to build this house,” he explained. “It was great to see the students working together as a team and giving of their personal time to make a positive change in the life of a homeowner most of them will never know.”

Robert Erickson, director of physical operations and co-coordinator for the on-campus build, helped raise funds for supplies and worked with numerous contractors who volunteered their labor and donated materials for the construction of the house.

“All that I really do with the contractors and vendors is plant a seed,” Erickson explained. “God does the rest. It is such a great personal blessing for me to see God in action.”

DBU students worked on the project alongside the new homeowner, Maria Teresa Cazares, a 38-year-old single mother of three. Cazares was born in Mexico and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in December 1998.

The house was scheduled to be moved recently, and the spot outside the student center will be vacant until next fall, when construction will begin on a new project.

“Seeing the support of the university behind this project has been really amazing,” said Jay Harley, DBU Habitat sponsor and director of spiritual life. “It will be exciting to see how our chapter continues to grow as more students become aware of the impact Habitat has in people's lives.”