Some students who want to give back through service decide to give their time to building a house for a family with Habitat for Humanity projects.

The Birmingham office of Habitat for Humanity has developed a close partnership with students here on campus through the Community Service Center.

“Habitat for Humanity is one of our most asked-about programs.” Hillary Moore, the director of public relations and marketing for Community Service Center, said.

“We have had about 50 to 80 students to volunteer in the spring and in late August,” she said.

The purpose of Habitat is to provide decent shelter for those families that meet the criteria.

“The families must have lived in substandard living, be able to repay a 0 percent interest mortgage, and be willing to partner with them,” said Julie Howard, volunteer development coordinator for Habitat for Humanity Greater Birmingham.

The families partner with Habitat by contributing 300 sweat equity hours in the building of their own house. The individual is responsible for 150 of those hours, while they can get help with the other 150 through volunteers from their church or other places, she said.

“Some of the way our connections are made with college campuses are often initiated by the students,” Howard said.

“There are two different kinds of ways to be involved with Habitat,” she said. “One is more official, where you file paperwork, have members and pay dues and the other is students clubs that volunteer.”

Moore said the partnership with Habitat has been overwhelmingly successful. So popular, she said, that at some points they have had to scramble for transportation when going to work on a project.

“The students do a variety of things and specifically whatever the project leader needs them to do,” she said.

A group in August worked with laying the framing of the house and other different building activities, she said.

The community service Center hosted an informational meeting on the alternative fall break trip to Waveland, Miss. to aid in the reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday.

“We will take the trip to aid in some of the reconstruction efforts there because even five years after the Hurricane there is still a lot of work to be done there,” Moore said.

“I began volunteering with Habitat when I got to UA and like to do it,” said Leigh Pettry, a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering who has volunteered on three Habitat projects.

She said she enjoys working with her hands and ultimately helping the family who will be placed in the home.

“When you go work on the project, sometimes you get to meet the family, and sometimes they have the family’s background there so you can read about them,” she said. “It is great to get to know the people you are helping.”

“Our office in Birmingham is ranked number six out of 1,500 Habitat affiliates in the country and that is mostly because of the number of volunteers we have,” Howard said. “We could not do what we do without the students that help.”

Today, Habitat for Humanity has built over 350,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.75 million people in 3,000 communities with safe, decent and affordable shelter.

At the end of the year, if all goes according to plan, the Birmingham location will have successfully completed 50 homes for families.