While most students caught up on their favorite television shows, and spent nights out with friends during spring break, students from the College of Engineering spent their break volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. The team of engineers helped paint, caulk, install flooring and facing and landscaped for the house of a family in need in Statesville, N.C.
Trevor Bloomfield (MSE), Daniel Lawrence (BSE), Alexis Oleshytsky (BSE), Kiran Vasudevan (CBE) and Mickey Whitzer (MEM) pitched in to help a single mother of two complete the final touches of her family’s home.
Ever since Oleshysky saw others helping out on MTV’s Real World, she was sold. “I’ve always wanted to do this. Instead of wasting spring break, I want to do something important. Something that will help people,” said Oleshysky.
Her peers shared the sentiment. “It’s a really awesome experience,” says Bloomfield. He explained that a few of his friends have gone on similar trips to provide aid and he hopes that this will be the first of many for him.
After finishing up work on the first home, the team moved on to assist a Habitat for Humanity community under their program, Homeowners Assistance and Neighborhood Development. The HAND Up program’s purpose is to serve the elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners by maintaining and preserving their residences. The program’s aid spans from serious and critical repairs (new roof, handicap accessibility, structural damage, etc.) to aesthetic touch-ups (outdoor painting, yard work, etc.).
“I did this for two years in high school,” Vasudevan said. “You learn a lot about yourself.”
