Across the city of Tuscaloosa, homes are being rebuilt and repaired after the devastating effects of the April 27 tornado. UA students are helping out with relief efforts by collaborating with Auburn University to build a home for a family that lost their house in Tuscaloosa.

The project, House United, was scheduled to be held in Baldwin County, Ala., during the month of June as a joint Habitat for Humanity build with Auburn University. However, due to the tornado the build has been relocated to Tuscaloosa and rescheduled for July 18 through 22.

Wahnee Sherman, director of the Community Service Center, said House United is a new opportunity for students to get involved in helping families in Tuscaloosa. The idea is to have students from these two rival institutions come together to do something positive in the state of Alabama. Despite being rivals on a football field, the two institutions will come together to make a positive impact.

Caroline Dorning, a graduate student at the University of Alabama, is assisting with the project and helping to make sure everything administratively works out.

Dorning said House United is a great way to support the community and help rebuild Tuscaloosa. It will be a vital part of helping provide a home for a local family, while strengthening ties with students from Auburn University.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to help a person in the community who is in need,” she said. “It is also a great way to inform those in Tuscaloosa about what the local branch of Habitat for Humanity does and how they can get involved. This collaboration is one way of showing that community and good will go beyond school rivalries. It is a benefit to get to work with students from another school to help those in need.”

Though many students left immediately following the tornado and have been gone for the summer, the Community Service Center has created numerous events and opportunities to get involved with during the upcoming school year. Sherman recognizes that many students want to make an impact and a difference in the community.

“With initial service days, as well as weekly service opportunities starting a few weeks after classes begin, we will be working to give students the chance to get involved in the Tuscaloosa community,” Sherman said. “Opportunities will exist in a variety of nonprofits across Tuscaloosa to assist with storm recovery, as well as assisting with systemic problems that face our community.”

Incoming new students can sign up right now to be part of a new initiative called Crimson for a Cause, Sherman said. New students will arrive to campus early and be able to engage in meaningful service in the Tuscaloosa community working in one of three areas: senior services, poverty and youth.

Afterward, any student can help out with tornado relief efforts by participating in the Ripple Effect service day, which will take place the day before classes start, she said.

“We will have three other service days that students can participate in called Hands On Tuscaloosa,” Sherman said. “These service days will be a joint project between the CSC, SGA, & HRC to give students a chance to immediately be involved in recovery efforts in Tuscaloosa when they arrive on campus. There will be other opportunities throughout the fall semester for students to be involved in rebuilding efforts with Habitat for Humanity and other groups. We know that UA students will come together to help make a positive impact.”