Goshen College has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to help build a house for Eddie Mayorga, a Goshen College Physical Plant employee.
Habitat for Humanity has been helping people own their own homes and find affordable housing since 1976, when the organization was founded.
In exchange for Habitat for Humanity building him a house, Mayorga was responsible for putting in some sweat equity, which meant volunteering on other Habitat for Humanity projects. Mayorga will also be responsible for putting in work on the construction of his own house. When all the construction is done, Habitat for Humanity will set up a mortgage for Mayorga at a reduced cost, with no interest, making home ownership more affordable.
The project was originally scheduled to start last fall but was postponed. Bill Born, vice president of student life, explained that the reason for the postponement was a change in the federal program that was assisting with funding of the program. “It was one of those economic realities that they probably needed to tighten their federal budget lines,” Born said.
The college is raising money by organizing five fundraising events. The first event was a fundraiser over Christmas break that asked for college faculty and staff donations. The second event was a basketball game that was part of the athletic department’s “Leaf Relief” program. The event took place on Jan. 10, and all proceeds and donations collected were donated to the project.
There are still three upcoming fundraising events that have been planned. The next fundraising event will be teamed up with the spring Kick-Off scheduled to take place on Jan. 28. On that night, the college will organize a community program at 7:30 with tickets made available to anyone. Along with the proceeds from the community event, all proceeds from the regular student Kick-Off will also be added to the project fund.
Another fundraising event will take place on Feb. 25 and 26 and will partner with the indoor marathon that will be in the Rec-Fit center. All the proceeds from the event will go toward funding the project. In addition to the proceeds, Doug Yoder, head track coach, hopes to collect pledges for his running that will go toward the project.
The last event will be an AVI community brunch on Sunday, Feb. 26, when most students are gone for spring break. The event will cost $10 to attend, and all proceeds from the brunch will be donated to the project.
In an interview in Spanish with Mayorga, he expressed his thankfulness to the entire Goshen community for all the help he’s received.
The project also requires the college to organize some volunteers. The volunteers will help build walls for the house in the Union Building on Feb. 17th from 8 p.m. to midnight, and about 40 volunteers are needed. All students interested in helping should contact Isaac Fast.
