Press release from Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity:
For the fourth year, students from local schools raised $55,000 in sponsorship funds and volunteered to build a house with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Asheville Christian Academy and Christ School first sponsored a house together in 2013. Two years later they were joined by Carolina Day School for the second Student Build house, and the following year Franklin School of Innovation joined the initiative. This past year, students from these four otherwise competing schools came together again for months of learning, fundraising, and building an affordable home for future homeowner Kerri Collosso.
“The Student Build House is one of my favorite build projects,” Beth Russo, Asheville Habitat Development Officer, said. “Seeing high school students, who often don’t know about the affordable housing problem in our nation, transform into leaders who build and fundraise is wonderful. It fills me with hope for the future.”
Even before the house began construction last year, students were already fundraising and learning about affordable housing through workshops with Asheville Habitat staff. Students raised money at school sporting events and came up with fundraising initiatives of their own. At Franklin School of Innovation, some teachers have integrated housing issues into their curriculum, particularly focusing on gentrification in Asheville and the resulting barriers to homeownership that many people face.
Last week students gathered in Arden to dedicate this year’s Student Build House with the homebuyer, the Collosso family (view the photo gallery here). This month, the Collosso family will purchase their 2-bedroom, 884 square foot home, thereby marking the completion of Habitat’s Arden community on Jon Kraus Way that began construction in early 2017. Countless partnerships, volunteer hours, and donor dollars helped 21 families achieve strength, stability and self-reliance through affordable homeownership.
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