UC Celebrates Building Futures by Building Homes

“This is always a wonderful occasion for me because it has gotten to be a habit at the University of Cincinnati, where we partner with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity and we build something very special.” – Mitchel D. Livingston, UC Vice President for Student Affairs & Services

A brief morning shower did not halt the hammering at the site of the University of Cincinnati’s fourth partnership with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity on Saturday, the day of the formal kickoff for the project that will result in a new home for UC doctoral student Custodio Muianga.

Muianga’s family, UC student volunteers and representatives of the partners in the project all came together to celebrate the construction of the three-bedroom, two-story home at 2556 Haven St. in Avondale, just two doors down from where UC dedicated its third home built in partnership with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity last spring.

Tom Salzburn, executive director for Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity, said that only 38 percent of the population owns homes in Cincinnati, compared with 68 percent home ownership nationwide. He said Cincinnati ranks as the fifth-lowest city among comparable metropolitan areas in the U.S.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Salzburn said. “We must all speak for those who have no voice. We must all remove any obstacles that stand in the way of God’s children having a simple, decent place in which to live. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live.”

Mitchel D. Livingston, UC Vice President for Student Affairs & Services, acknowledged support of the partners including the commitment of funding from Fifth Third Bank. “We partner with Habitat for Humanity and we build something very special. It’s not just a house, it is a home. It’s not just a home, it’s for a family. And it’s not just for a family, it’s for our community. What we do in this relationship not only defines what we do for this community, but it defines the kind of university that the University of Cincinnati is becoming for the future,” Livingston said.

Annmarie Thurnquist, director of renovations for UC Construction Management and chair of the UC/Habitat Steering Committee, recognized the first volunteers to begin work on the project – a group of first-year UC Honors Scholars who worked at the site as part of their experience for their service-learning English class. The so-called “blitz weeks” got underway two weeks before classes began.

Thurnquist said the UC/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity partnership exemplified UC|21 goals of placing students at the center of the university. “When we talk about placing students at the center, the students are the people who build this project. To the blitz week students, we want to say thank you – you have made a tremendous difference,” she said.

UC doctoral student Custodio Muianga has agreed to invest 500 hours of his own “sweat equity” into the home in return for an affordable, interest-free mortgage. Muianga, his wife, Edite, and their three children will see the completion of their home in the spring. Muianga thanked the volunteers for their efforts in helping families secure homes. “To get a home is a human necessity,” he said.

The UC/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity project is sponsored in partnership with Fifth Third Bank and the Messer Construction Co., with support from University Dining Services. In addition, Cincinnati Zoo volunteers will be working at the construction site in November as part of the zoo’s “Community Giving” program.

More on UC’s previous partnerships with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity:

2005-2006 Academic Year: The dedication of Megan O’Malley’s home on Haven Street

2004-2005 Academic Year: Janie Cunningham celebrates completion of her home on Winkler Street

2003-2004 Academic Year: Janie Cunningham’s sister, Sylvia Smith, becomes the first homeowner in the UC/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity partnership

UC/Habitat for Humanity Web site