Bloom Hamner

Greenies Start Work on Habitat Student Build



Greenies Start Work on Student Habitat Build

Doug Bland '19 was exact with every nail he hammered in Saturday morning.

Attention to detail is a must with these type of stakes – providing the safety and security of a home for an Asheville family. Doug and seven others from Christ School began work on the construction site of a Habitat Student Build over the weekend.

"It's just a start. But when you see your work going to real use to help people, it's a great feeling," Doug said. "We've done so many fundraisers and talked about it for so long. I'd much rather be out here sweating than sitting in a room and debating what's next."

Christ School is partnering with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and three other schools – Asheville Christian Academy, Carolina Day, and Franklin School of Innovation – to build an 884 square foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom home for the Collosso family in south Asheville. The foundation was about the only thing in place Saturday when Doug reported for work along with Charlie Tucker '20, Andy Su '19, Richard Zantzinger '20, Miles Gardner '20, and Nathaniel Carson '20. Faculty members Olga Mahoney and Steve Sandman also pitched in.

"It means a lot to be involved. The value that can be gotten out of this cannot be understated," Miles said.

"There's a lot to get done, but it's going really well," Nathaniel added. "We've made a lot of progress."

This is the fourth Habitat Student Build for Christ School and the first since 2016. Each of this year's four schools was asked to raise $13,750 before construction began. As Doug said, the Greenies chipped away at that number with assorted fundraisers throughout the 2017-18 school year.

Now in its 42nd year as a nonprofit organization, Habitat for Humanity provides housing for those who could not otherwise afford it. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Asheville is $1,171 per month.

"Becoming a Habitat homeowner would give us a place to call home that is neither temporary nor so expensive that we cannot afford to raise our family comfortably," Kerri Collosso wrote in her application letter.