The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, which normally builds one house every semester, plans to build 10 this year—all for university employees who need decent housing.
According to The Daily Tar Heel, the project got its start when the organization’s countywide chapter noticed that 14 of the first 18 applications it received this year for homes came from families whose members include employees of the university. Called Build a Block, the project has dual goals—build five houses a semester and at the same time break down barriers among students, administrators, and faculty and staff members.
Construction begin September 11. Each house costs about $35,000 to build, and Patti Thorp—whose husband is Holden Thorp, the university chancellor—is overseeing fundraising for the project. Mr. Thorp raised the minimum pay for university employees to $25,000 a year in 2008, the article says, but in the Chapel Hill housing market that doesn’t go very far.
Jonathan Reckford, an alumnus of the university who is chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International, said he hoped chapters at other universities would take note. “Build a Block raises the bar for not only those at UNC but other universities with Habitat chapters,” he said.
