Since 1999, Trinity students and teachers have dedicated countless hours to building homes and offering hope to families in need. Through their efforts, they’ve helped Habitat for Humanity’s vision of affordable housing for all become a reality, one house at a time.
Despite some challenges, Habitat for Humanity is working to help low-income families achieve homeownership, driven by its vision of a world where everyone has access to affordable housing.
“Trinity provides the majority of our volunteers and is one of our financial sponsors,” Winter Park Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Courtney Kropp said. “We would not be where we are today without them!”
Even with high volunteer turnout helping move projects along efficiently, uncontrollable factors still delay the building process. In recent years, Habitat for Humanity has faced roadblocks in purchasing land in Winter Park due to the housing market in the central Florida area becoming increasingly competitive, outpacing wages. According to the Orlando Sentinel, housing costs have increased more than wages in Central Florida. The median monthly home price in Central Florida was $395,000 in June, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, the highest price on record.
“In recent years we have struggled a lot when it comes to finding land to build our homes due to the increased cost of land in Winter Park,” Kropp said.“We rely on donations from community members to help us purchase land.”
Support from the community is what keeps Habitat’s efforts alive. Through the organization, students have the opportunity to give back to their community while making memories.
“Habitat is a great way to get out and help your community while having fun doing it… you can get your friends to come with you and you can go out for lunch on Park Ave,” junior Owen Raffa said. “It’s a super fun and rewarding way to help those in need.”
Trinity’s volunteers have an opportunity every weekend to help build, making a significant impact while also making up a large percent of the volunteers.
“Every Saturday, they have the ability to go out and build at the houses, and [students] come out for around three hours to work on it,” Habitat for Humanity club sponsor Emily Massey-Burmeister said.
Through volunteering often, club members can help speed up the building process, allowing for families to get their houses sooner.
“You’re able to put in up to 10-12 hours every month and I went with 15 to 20 kids there, [so] that’s a total of 60 hours at work put it in very single weekend,” Raffa said.
When working at the build site, a volunteer will never find themselves short of a task to complete. With a wide variety of jobs and activities, volunteers are constantly engaged.
“It depends on how far along they are in the development,” Raffa said. “I’ve seen kids build the structure of the house with hammers and nails. The kids paint because that’s a safe thing to do… Pretty much anything at any development stage of the house, there’ll be something for the kids to do.”
Raffa enjoys volunteering because of the impact it makes in his community. The work he does feels fulfilling, and each day he works is an accomplishment.
“The most exciting part is knowing that the work I’m doing is making a difference in the lives of the family,” Raffa said.
Habitat for Humanity has left a long-lasting footprint in our community, giving lives stability and lifting people from poverty. Through the long-lasting partnership with Trinity, Habitat’s vision will continue to live on.
“I think that Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful organization that helps provide home ownership for people that might not have the ability to have that,” Massey-Burmeister said. “I think it is an incredibly worthwhile organization to be a part of, and there’s nothing more important than you could do than give back to the community around you.”
