Many young people in Saline County who want to make a difference have found a new cause to champion — Habitat for Humanity’s Youth United program.
On Nov. 16, members of Habitat Youth United of Saline County dedicated the fifth house they have built since the program for young people was started in 2004.
“They built their first house in 2006,” said Karma Herzfeld, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Saline County. She said members of the local Youth United program build a house every other year.
“This year’s house was a 900-square-foot, two-bedroom home located in Habitat’s Partnership Village at Market and Woodlawn streets,” Herzfeld said. “It was built in partnership with its owners, David and Torrie Jones, and their 7-year-old son, Aydin. As a family, they had to contribute 450 hours of sweat equity in building the house.”
Habitat’s Partnership Village contains 30 homes that the local nonprofit organization has built on the 12-acre plot.
“We expect to finish building in the village within the next five years,” Herzfeld said. “Then we will see where we will go next.
“Our Youth United group was the first to fully fund a Habitat home [in the central United States]. They did this through their fundraising efforts.”
She said the Youth United program involves students ages 5 to 25. The four goals of Youth United are as follows:
• To involve youth in their community;
• To engage youth in Habitat’s mission of eliminating poverty housing;
• To foster teamwork among diverse groups of youth; and
• To develop youth leaders.
Herzfeld said the young people meet during the school year to work on fundraising projects, then build the house during the summer. Youth United Build 2014 was held June 7 and June 9-13.
“We had partnered with the First United Methodist Church’s youth group to do fundraising,” Herzfeld said. “Then the youth began to work with us in building houses. The Youth United program grew from that partnership.”
Herzfeld said “hundreds of youth” have come to help with the Youth United program since its inception in Saline County.
“Some have even come from out of town to help build the houses,” she said.
The day before the dedication, approximately 50 members of Bryant High School’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps gathered to lay sod in the yard of the Joneses’ home.
Students in the Habitat Youth United club at Bethel Middle School in Bryant meet each Friday to make items to sell at craft fairs as a way to make money to help with expenses of building the next house, which is planned for June 2016. Hollie Hughes, administrative and volunteer coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Saline County, has a child at the school and helps coordinate the club’s meetings.
During a club meeting in November, visitors found students making pine-cone birdseed Christmas ornaments to sell at the First United Methodist Church Alternative Giving Fair in Benton.
“I think it is really good to be involved in this. It’s really helpful to people,” said Katelyn Fuller, an eighth-grader at Bethel Middle School.
“I really like helping everyone. It’s fun to do crafts,” said Madison Hughes, a seventh-grader.
Hollie Hughes said representatives of Habitat for Humanity of Saline County often go into the schools in the county and explain the Youth United program to the students. That’s how Christina Moore, a senior at Benton High School, found out about the group. She is now the president of the local Youth United club.
“I am a member of the National Honor Society and needed a community service project,” she said. “I got involved and have been a member for two years. I worked building the house all summer. It’s a good thing.”
Hollie Hughes said Habitat for Humanity “has a hard time finding families.”
“People just don’t seem to know about us,” she said. “We want to get the word out about Habitat for Humanity.”
Those who rent or live with relatives and meet certain guidelines may be eligible to become a homeowner through Habitat for Humanity. According to www.hab
itatsalinecounty.com, the first step is to attend an application meeting. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library, 1800 Smithers Road in Benton.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Saline County, call (501) 315-5434 or visit www.habitatsalinecounty.com.