During the week of March 22-26, 19 students and faculty advisor, Paul Clawson, will pick up their hammer and nails to build houses in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity Logo

The volunteers are ready for whatever may come their way and they won't know the condition of the houses or how many they will be building until they arrive in Winston-Salem. Construction may include a variety of things such as building walls, installing sub-flooring, preparing drywall or gutting homes.

Team members are looking forward to seeing the radical change in the lives of the families they are helping. "It’s nice to see outcome and see that what we were doing was actually helping," said Carly Brant, project coordinator. "We aren’t just there filling in spots."

The team has been preparing for this Spring Break trip since October, 2004. They have held a number of fundraisers to get money for transportation, including a doughnut sale. The group was also able to earn $350 by selling t-shirts at Walmart on March 12.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian organization designed to alleviate poverty housing by building and renovating houses for homeless people and families in need.

Berea College started its own chapter for Habitat for Humanitiy in 1990. Since then, groups from Berea have built houses from New York to South Carolina and beyond. Volunteers are not only busy during spring break, but also during the year, building and renovating local houses.