Students spend Spring Break serving others

April 1, 2009
By Luke Runyon
Staff Writer

When Spring Break is imminent on college campuses, most students are marking off the days until they get a break from schoolwork and a chance to lay on either the beach or a couch, depending on their budget. But for some students, there is no such thing as time off.

A group of 24 students and 2 university chaperones drove from Springfield to Mandeville, Louisiana to donate their spring break to a good cause, Habitat for Humanity.

The trip was a collaboration between student groups Alternative Spring Break and Habitat for Humanity. Both groups solicited funds from ICCB and other sources to fully fund the trip. All planning for the trip went through the UIS Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center.

Students arrived on their work site in Abita Springs, Louisiana, which is about 40 miles north of New Orleans, on March 17 to find three modestly sized houses in their infancy stages. All three were in the framing stages, waiting for helpful hands to bring them further to completion.

While most press covered the immediate impact of Hurricane Katrina on the greater New Orleans area, few stories have shown the impact of migration. Hannah Kreiger-Benson, construction supervisor at the Habitat build, said that the area was inundated with refugees seeking homes above the water level of Lake Pontchartrain.

“The hurricane left 60,000 refugees with no place to call home. Where do you think they all went? They all came up [to the Mandeville area],” said Kreiger-Benson. “Our goal now is to eradicate the poverty housing that has sprung up all over the region.”

Cited as a major problem by Kreiger-Benson is land-grabbing in the areas north of Lake Pontchartrain. “Investors come in and snatch up the land and sell it right back at an exorbitant price, which the people here cannot afford,” said Kreiger-Benson.

Looking to help in anyway they could, students picked up hammers, grabbed handfuls of nails, and slathered on the sunscreen to help rejuvenate this struggling community. The group spent most of their workdays putting together walls, raising roof trusses, and hammering up wall panels.

Jenny Plescia (far left) does her part to ensure that the Abita Springs, LA community has affordable and practical housing	Sisters Denise and Deneca Scott do some heavy lifting at the build site north of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana .

 

All of the construction was under the supervision of Kreiger-Benson, as well as 3 Americorps workers with experience in construction.

Jaleesa Earthley, president of Alternative Spring Break, found the experience particularly rewarding. “It’s fun, working with all different kinds of people, mingling with people you never would’ve before,” said Earthley.

With a background in more personal forms of volunteering such as working with the homeless population of Springfield and mentoring, Earthley had a hard time adjusting to the physical exhaustion and infrequent snacking that comes with a construction schedule. But, she said, “it was really great, and the whole group, we really bonded a lot.”

Senior Randi Brewbaker hammers a nail into paneling to protect the houses from future hurricanes.	Zach Berillo takes a break from the hard work and the heat.

Sophomore Josephine Marquez echoed Earthley’s feelings and stated that she also found it a rewarding experience. “I really liked it, because I think I lost some weight and gained some muscle swinging that hammer all day,” said Marquez.

Kelly Thompson, Director of the Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center, chaperoned the group both on site and off. Being a chaperone for over 20 college students in New Orleans is no easy feat. “My biggest concern with chaperoning a group of that size to a Habitat work site was returning home injury free, which we were fortunately able to do,” said Thompson.

Many of the Americorps and Habitat staff thanked the group several times during their stay and reminded them of how thankful they were to be receiving the help of the students. Since the trip was service-oriented, Thompson weighed in on why this form of service is so important to students. “It immerses a student for several days into another culture and community different from their own, and therefore exposes students to unique opportunities to create change and make a difference in the world,” said Thompson.

To get involved locally, contact the Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center at volunteer@uis.edu or call 206-7716. In the Springfield community, there is a Habitat for Humanity build coming up, with the first volunteer weekend being May 7-9.