News

Habitat for Humanity 2016 Trip

By Rebecca Dolloff ‘19

Habitat for Humanity is an international, Christian organization that builds homes for people in need, despite religion or race. They construct homes all over the world with the help of willing volunteers. This was the thirteenth year that Professor Taylor (commonly known as JT by students and faculty) and his wife, Becka Taylor, have lead the Roberts Wesleyan College Habitat for Humanity mission trip over February Break where Roberts students volunteer their break to building a house with Habitat. This year, the two were joined by eight Roberts students: Brooke Wilson, Ashley Monast, Chelsea Touchstone, Emma Geiler, Ashley Exner, Taylor Isselhard, Sara Goutremout, and myself. The group started out early Saturday morning and headed down to Bunnell, Florida where we’d be building a house with Flagler Habitat for Humanity.

Our team worked between 6 and 7 hours a day for four days alongside other volunteers, including retired couples who spend their winters volunteering with Habitat (called Care-A-Vanners), families that have received Habitat homes in the past and wanted to help out others who were once in their situation, the project manager, and even the future homeowner, Courtney! It is not always the case that teams gets to meet the homeowner, so it was a special treat that we were able to work alongside Courtney all week and bond with the person whose home we were building.

We started the project with just a cement slab which was the foundation of the house. In four days we were able to build and put up the interior walls and the exterior walls, sheet the entire house (nailing in about 4,000 nails by hand in just one day), wrap the house, straighten the walls and even put on the trusses which is the first step in building the roof. When the final day of building was over, the construction manager, John Knox, who oversaw the construction on the site and worked with the team all week said that in the past eight years he’d been doing this job, no team had ever gotten so far along on a house in just one week.

It was a large accomplishment that was only achieved thanks to the patience and guidance of the incredible Care-A-Vanners (Helen & Gord and Tom & Diane), experienced volunteers on site, and the willingness of everyone to work hard and give forth their best efforts. The chemistry of the entire team was consistently positive and cheery, and it made it apparent that happy, helpful attitudes can produce an incredible outcome. An example of this positivity was how John would never tell us students that we did something wrong. He would simply walk over, look at whatever was clearly incorrect, and remark in a thick southern accent, “Well now that’s interesting!” Even the Director of Programs, Joanna Folsom, who organized our groups’ coming kept the light, playful spirit alive, asking to be called ‘Princess’ and having the wonderfully royal personality to go with it! Every single member of the team felt like family.

As a member of the team myself, I would just like to encourage anyone who might be interested in joining the Habitat team next year to do it! Not only is 70 degree weather in the middle of winter a complete enjoyment, but the experience is like no other. It was honestly a week that changed my life, and the relationships I have made from it are very dear to me. There is something to be said about working alongside others for a common cause.

Here are a few quotes from some of the students accounting for their experiences during the trip: “I went back again for a second time because of how life-changing the opportunity was; to serve along people who love to build and bless a home for a family in need.” –Taylor Isselhard. “It is an amazing opportunity to form life-long friendships, learn new things, and most importantly serve those in need.” –Ashley Exner. The following is a quote from JT regarding the trip and why he and his wife have served so passionately with Habitat for the past thirteen years: “Becka and I are servant leaders at heart and so passionate about giving back to the community. We find so much joy in working alongside Roberts students each year to bless a deserving family in need of home. It has been such a remarkable part of our experience at Roberts for 13 years; one that we would not trade for anything!”

The team would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support while preparing for and throughout this trip. It was a complete pleasure to represent the Roberts Wesleyan College campus while doing God’s work in Florida.

If you have any questions or interest regarding next year’s trip, feel free to ask JT or any of the team members about their experiences and how to get involved. We are more than happy to answer! Taylor_jason@roberts.edu