UMHB students learn as they serve through Habitat

Posted: 5/04/07

UMHB students learn as
they serve through Habitat

By Jennifer Sicking

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

BELTON—When Sherman Wilkins participated in a University of Mary Hardin-Baylor outreach program his first year, he “fell in love” with the idea of voluntering with Habitat for Humanity. Never mind he didn’t know much about using a hammer and saw.

“My first day on a habitat job site, I was clueless on what services the different tools functioned for,” said Wilkins, a senior from Hamlet, N.C., who is now president of the UMHB Habitat for Humanity chapter. “During every scheduled volunteer build, Habitat provides supervisors to oversee the construction in which they educate inexperienced individuals on the proper technique for the use the tools.”

UMHB students generally volunteer two or three different times a month at Habitat for Humanity building sites in Belton and Temple. As part of the university’s Reaching Out program, in which students spend a Saturday working with different organizations in the area, 23 students recently built sheds for two Habitat homes.

Heather Gates, a junior from Rockwall, spent part of the day operating a circular saw, but as a Habitat member, she also helped less-experienced students with the project.

“I tried to get the other people involved to see what our club is about,” she said.

Nathan Wilson, Habitat project supervisor, has managed several projects involving students.

“They’re awesome,” he said. “They’re enthusiastic. They have a positive attitude and they don’t mind working.”

For Gates, working on Habitat homes in high school helped her become interested in the program and join the college club.

“I like to build and work with my hands,” she said. “I think about the family and how much it means to them. The family is out there working, too, and they appreciate it because we’re not just giving it to them.”

Gates and Wilkins said they also learn skills from the experience for whenever they become homeowners.

“It’s important, because one receives the chance to not only build a home from scratch and learn handy techniques which can be used around one’s own home, but most important, one receives the chance to build a relation in Christ with the future homeowners and the volunteers that come out for the build,” Wilkins said. “This is why I enjoy helping with the program … lending a helping hand to others.”