Members of the Greek community gathered Saturday to build a house for Habitat for Humanity and kick off their annual Greek Week.
Students arrived early Saturday morning to a slab of concrete — soon to be a house for Baton Rouge resident Lakesha Maiden and her two children.
Maiden, her nine-year-old daughter and her two-year-old son have been living with Maiden’s mother for most of their lives, but at the end of this week-long project, the family will move into their new home.
“I’m nervous and excited,” Maiden said as she helped the students shovel gravel and put up walls.
Maiden — with a red scarf in her hair and a seemingly permanent smile on her face — talked about her plans for the new house.
“My living room is going to be red, and my kitchen will be black and white,” Maiden said.
Maiden said she had been out shopping recently, buying things for her new home.
A mental-health technician, Maiden had to earn this chance to have her own home.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge’s Executive Director Ann Ruble said, “A common misconception is that Habitat for Humanity gives away houses.”
To qualify for a Habitat for Humanity house, a person must contribute 350 hours toward helping to build other Habitat houses and take 40 hours of classes to learn about being a responsible homeowner, Ruble said.
“This is a hand-up, not a hand-out,” Ruble said.
Even after occupants move into their houses, they will spend the next 20 to 30 years paying off a no-interest mortgage loan, Ruble said.
Maiden said she will spend this summer settling into her new house and will continue volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in the fall.
Katie Prados, a biological sciences senior and member of Delta Gamma sorority, said the Greek Board of Directors split up the sororities and fraternities and assigned them to different shifts throughout the week to make sure there were always students working on the house.
Erica Martin, an international trade and finance sophomore and member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, said only a few participants went through training as group leaders. It was up to the group leaders to help the other students.
Most students working on the project came in with very little experience, Martin said.
Lauren Simpson, an elementary education sophomore and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, said she thought the Habitat for Humanity project was an improvement over former Greek Week activities.
“We wanted to come out and make a difference with the Greek community,” Simpson said.
Lauryn McDermott, an elementary education sophomore and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, said she thought the activity was a great way to meet other people from different Greek organizations.
Groups wishing to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity must raise more than $50,000 to sponsor a house. The Greek community raised almost $80,000.
That money pays for supplies and specialized labor, including electricians, plumbers and construction workers to put up Sheetrock. The rest of the labor is volunteer, Ruble said.