Marlee

Community Service Project 

     For my community service project I decided to participate in Alternative Spring Break. ASB is a service opportunity offered by Kean University to students looking to give back during their time off from school. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into this program, having made friendships and helping a family in need along the way. 

     

     I chose to participate in Alternative Spring Break because I have always had a passion for helping others and volunteering. I grew up attending numerous mission trips in the U.S. with my youth group and saw how others’ lives are vastly different than my own. I have seen people living in difficult situations, in poverty, and struggling with mental illness; those who are extremely thankful that we have traveled to come and help, both physically and emotionally. Growing up in an environment where I was taught to put others before myself, I knew that service projects were going to play a big part in my journey and career.

     

     This year's Alternative Spring Break project was working with Coastal Habitat for Humanity. Coastal Habitat is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit organization devoted to serving the global issue of poverty housing by building simple, decent, and affordable housing for those in need. Habitat’s vision is a world where everyone has a place to live, and they work toward this vision by building strength, stability, and self-reliance in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing. Habitat owners assist in building their own homes alongside volunteers, a term designated “sweat equity,” where homeowners need to complete a specific amount of sweat equity hours and also be able to pay an affordable mortgage. Coastal Habitat for Humanity specifically focuses on assisting families on the New Jersey Coast including Asbury Park, Belmar, Manasquan, Spring Lake, and many other townships situated along the coast.

    

     My group (a total of 21 people) traveled to Asbury Park and volunteered in building a home for a mother and her four daughters. Upon our arrival, the frame of the house had been previously built and after four days of drilling, sawing, nailing, and overcoming fears of climbing ladders, the home officially had walls on the first floor!

Over the course of the 4-day project, I cleaned up construction debris, learned how to use a circular saw, simultaneously stood on a ladder while using an electric drill, and made sure ladders were secure for my teammates. We had the chance to work closely with the volunteer construction staff and created a nice relationship with Kim Sambade, the Event &Volunteer Coordinator. Kim gave us a tour of Coastal Habitat’s ReStore, a 10,000 square-foot showroom filled with lightly used and new furniture, housewares, décor, appliances, and other home items for sale, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to support repair and home builds in Southern Monmouth County.

 

Overall, I am very happy that I made the decision to apply for Alternative Spring Break. As this is my last year at Kean, I wanted to do something different; something out of my comfort zone,  and I did just that. I made many new friendships, realized I can accomplish more than I believe I can, and feel grateful that I was able to be a part of a family’s new chapter in life. I believe in a world where every family can have affordable housing and a world where no one is homeless – a world where we walk down the streets of New York City and people aren’t sleeping on the sidewalks. Maybe this is unrealistic, and maybe it is possible with the right amount of passion. Attending service projects, such as this one, are the first steps to solving a global problem, and I intend to help in any way I can.

Cougar’s Byte ASB Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtTkphMr43I