Habitat
for Humanity has a mission, vision, and purpose which are inherently linked to sustainability. The organization’s mission is to bring people
together to “build homes, communities, and hope” (Habitat for Humanity, n.d., para. 1). These actions can help the people involved
develop a sense of place through community attachment (Cross, 2001, p. 8). In particular, the people benefiting from
the homes are likely to cherish these homes (and the associated land), fostering
care for their surroundings. Moreover,
Habitat for Humanity’s vision is to create a world in which “everyone has a
decent place to live” (Habitat for Humanity, n.d., para. 2). This vision
is sustainable in that it strives for social equity and improvement in the quality
of life, which helps not only the current generation, but future ones as well
(Robertson, 2014, p. 4). Further evidence of the Habitat
for Humanity’s sustainability initiatives can be seen in its commitment to the
United Nations’ New Urban Agenda, which aims to secure affordable housing and
land tenure, as well as encourage community development (Habitat for Humanity, 2016, para. 3).
My
experience working with Habitat for Humanity certainly made me feel a sense of
community. Our group worked together to
install insulation and siding for a house in downtown Fort Myers. Moreover, the importance of volunteers to the
work done by Habitat for Humanity made me feel that my contributions were
meaningful. While we had two supervisors
who were much more experienced in building houses, they split up the work in a
way that made each group member’s contribution valuable. For instance, there was a period of time
where one of our supervisors was on a ladder, installing panels of siding, and
I stood at his side handing him nails. I
asked if he needed me to do anything more, but he was content with just having
me hand him nails in a timely manner.
While I was a bit puzzled at the time, looking back on it I realize that
even such a seemingly trivial action can help increase work efficiency by
removing the need for multitasking.
Through
this service learning project, I discovered that, while I am certainly not an
expert at building houses, my academic focus in mathematics lent me some useful
insight. Geometric and spatial reasoning
helped me determine nail placements, as well as suitable overlap of siding
panels and dimensions for fiberglass sheets.
Of course, I checked my measurements to be sure, but having some
intuition helped set me on the right track earlier than I anticipated. I have no doubt that such skills will prove
useful for me in the future, whether in a familiar or new context.
With
that being said, I could see myself volunteering with Habitat for Humanity
again in the future. While the work was
not easy, I felt it was meaningful, and this outweighs any short-lived personal
discomfort I may have felt at the time.
Taking a closer look at what Habitat for Humanity does lends further
support to my convictions; not only did I find the work to be ultimately
satisfying on a personal level, but as a whole I find the organization to be
quite commendable, which is an equally important factor, as I feel reassured
knowing that my work is contributing to sustainable efforts.
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References
Cross, J. E. (2001, November). What is sense of place? Paper presented at 12th
Headwaters Conference, Western State College. Retrieved
from
Habitat for Humanity. (2016, October 3). Habitat for
Humanity's commitments to
reduce poverty and foster more sustainable cities.
Retrieved from
Habitat for Humanity. (n.d.). Our mission, vision and
principles. Retrieved from
Robertson, M. (2014). What is sustainability? In Sustainability principles and practice
(2nd ed., pp. 3-9).
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