Last weekend, the Cut resonated with the sound of hammers and saws as Habitat for Humanity volunteers worked rigorously in the seventy-degree weather. They took The Fence in order to celebrate the commencement of the foundation work for three Habitat homes that are being built on Rippey Street in East Liberty, which is only about a five minute drive from campus. One of the houses is being built by Carnegie Mellon's Habitat chapter.

Entitled “Framing @ the Fence,” last weekend’s Habitat events included a performance by the Off the Top improv comedy troupe and a free barbeque on Saturday. But more importantly, over sixty volunteers — including groups of students from Kappa Delta Rho, Zeta Psi Sigma, residents of local neighborhoods, and a handful of University of Pittsburgh students — came to help the Carnegie Mellon chapter of Habitat for Humanity with their construction of the frames that will be used for the walls of the homes they will be building on Rippey.

This project has been three years in the making: in 2000, The Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils offered Habitat a grant to match their fundraising 3 to 1 up to $4000, resulting in an over all attribution of $16,000. In total, the Carnegie Mellon chapter has raised over $48,000 for this project. This includes a 2001 donation from the Shadyside Presbyterian Church as well as earnings from year-round activities like bake sales, dances, car washes, and the annual Habishack Week, when the group sponsors a number of fundraising events at The Fence. Alumni have also donated generously.

During "Framing @ the Fence," five shifts of workers, under the supervision of Nate Cunningham from the Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity chapter, constructed over sixty-six walls in twenty hours. These walls will go up at the site in about three or four weeks and are being stored at Habitat’s “Construction Junction” storage facilities until that time. The construction of the homes should be completed in September, when the organization will host their annual “Building on Faith” drive, an international Habitat for Humanity event that encourages people of Christian faith to build.

“'[Framing @ the Fence]' accomplished a lot of goals for us as a chapter — this is the house we've been working towards for years,” explained Sabrina Haskell, the Carnegie Mellon Habitat for Humanity chapter’s Pittsburgh affiliate student liaison. “To be able to personally drive the nails in the walls makes real the fact that we are directly enabling a family to have a safe, decent home they can be proud of. I think the volunteers who participated walked away with that feeling of satisfaction — not to mention new construction skills!”

And Haskell says the Rippey House is just the beginning.

“As a chapter, we are currently finishing up fundraising to complete sponsoring a habitat house in Cambodia. Soon it will be time to start fundraising again for another CMU-sponsored Pittsburgh house.”

Mechanical engineering sophomore and Habitat member Michael Norman values his experience with the organization because it prompts him to look at the world from a new point of view:

“What I like most about Habitat is that it makes you think about something beyond this campus. It is so easy to get sucked into classes and school activities and forget that there are some people out there that need our help to get a roof over their head.”

According to the Habitat for Humanity webpage, “Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action…. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.” Since it was founded in 1976, Habitat has built over 150,000 houses around the world, providing more than 750,000 people with safe homes.

If you’re interested in getting involved with the Carnegie Mellon chapter of Habitat for Humanity, check out their website at http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~habitat.