Students build houses and relationships with Habitat for Humanity

In one Liberty student’s eyes, working on a Habitat for Humanity house over spring break was just as much about building relationships as it was building a home.

Junior and Lynchburg native Tristan DeWitt spent Thursday and Friday of spring break working with other Habitat for Humanity volunteers constructing a house for a Lynchburg family.

He and other Liberty students involved in Liberty’s Habitat for Humanity club worked alongside other Habitat for Humanity volunteers in what the club’s faculty leader Alison Pettit called a “blitz build.”

Pettit got DeWitt involved in the Habitat for Humanity club, and now he is one of the student leaders.

“I always had a heart to serve, and I enjoy working with my hands,” DeWitt said.

DeWitt explained that he grew up working around the house with his father.

“I can finally use some of the stuff that my dad has taught me to help other people,” DeWitt said.

DeWitt said their group finished pre-constructed walls the Saturday before break and then brought them to the build site Thursday during spring break. Friday, after the foundation was ready, they put in the floors, and Saturday they started putting the walls up.

Pettit said that now the windows are installed, the roof is being finished, the walls are up, and they are now working on the inside of the house. She said that although most houses take about four months to build, this house will take less than two months.

According to DeWitt, getting to talk to the people he is working with helps pass the eight-hour work days. He said that a lot of the volunteers are experienced older adults, many of whom are retired and shared their lives’ experience with the younger volunteers as they worked on the site. DeWitt also said that all the Liberty students who came were native to Lynchburg and many of them already knew each other.

“Seeing the other volunteers interact with the crew that was already there was really breathtaking, and it was really cool to see how all these people (with) completely different backgrounds come together to volunteer their time to build a house for a family we don’t even know,” DeWitt said.

DeWitt said that, as with most Habitat for Humanity builds, the family they are building the house for was required to work on the house with them. DeWitt said although he did not get to talk to the family, those who did were excited for this new start in their life.

“We were trying to share our testimonies and stuff and be like ‘Hey, we’re loving helping you, and we want to be here with you for as much of the journey as we can,’” DeWitt said.

According to Pettit, another large role the Liberty Habitat for Humanity club played was raising $50,000 to build the house. They started fundraising in June of 2016. She said Sodexo was their biggest fundraising partner.

“When we weren’t building, every couple of months we would go to a Habitat site just to kind of get the experience of building things, but now that fundraising has kind of died down, we are now 100 percent working on the build,” Pettit said.

According to DeWitt, who helped fundraise before he got involved with the build, fundraising is the hardest part.

“One of the biggest things that we stress in Habitat is that we are not just fundraising, but we are seeing the project all the way through,” DeWitt said.

DeWitt said that not only does working with Habitat for Humanity allow you to serve others, it also builds life experience.

“I have learned so much more, not only about myself and what my skills are with a hammer or drill, but I can also say that I’ve earned life experience (from the retired volunteers),” DeWitt said.

DeWitt said he enjoys the build, especially because of the interactions he and the other students have with everyone there.

“I love seeing some of the members that are very quiet finally start opening up and talking to everybody,” DeWitt said.

According to DeWitt, he got to build more than just a house.