Traverse City Record-Eagle

Region

September 17, 2010

NMC students help build Habitat homes

BY SHERI McWHIRTER smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Local college students have a new assignment: build homes for those who need them most.

Northwestern Michigan College students recently worked on components for a new Habitat for Humanity home that will be constructed on South Airport Road. It's NMC's second Habitat project, a partnership that's expected to expand, said Ed Bailey, NMC's technical division director.

"This is the beginning of a very long relationship," he said. "We hope to build multiple walls and structures that can be assembled on-site when the weather breaks."

NMC students first waded into a Habitat project over the summer, and helped build portions of a house in Leelanau County's Maple City. Housing components will be constructed at NMC's M-TEC building off Parsons Road, then assembled at the building sites.

A new partnership between NMC and Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region is a natural fit, Bailey said.

"It gives our students a sense of purpose. They are doing something for the community and they're learning. It gives it some meaning and is a way to put the students' work into practice," he said.

Habitat for Humanity builds and renovates homes for low-income residents using almost all volunteer labor, and the new owner also must put in hundreds of hours of work. The owner then buys the home for cost and with a zero-interest mortgage.

The new link to Traverse City's community college is enormously beneficial to the local Habitat group, said Pam Doty-Nation, the nonprofit's executive director.

"Not only does it give construction students the opportunity to learn these advanced building techniques ... it also saves us time because they can construct walls indoors," she said.

And NMC students' work saves Habitat money because volunteer laborers require supervision on the work site, but construction students will be supervised by their college instructors, Doty-Nation said.

Adjunct instructor Devin Hill said the project allows his students a chance to learn more than just carpentry techniques.

"Building trade opportunities go beyond nails and wood. It's about being involved in the community and building something for somebody. Let's do real stuff for real people," Hill said.

In previous years, construction students at NMC built walls and structures that were later disassembled so the materials could be used by the next batch of construction students. This way, what the students build is for more than just practice, Hill said.

"If we can help people, we're building stuff anyway," said NMC student Kip McPherson, of Traverse City. "It feels good to do good for others."

Text Only

Latest News
Life

Sports

Business

Record-Eagle+
Unlimited access to Record-Eagle.com
 Subscribe Sign In