CEREMONY POSTPONED: UC Set for Sixth Building Project with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity

Due to inclement weather, a Dec. 6 kickoff ceremony for a University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity partnership has been postponed.

UC student, faculty and staff volunteers will join a family in building a home better adapted for the physical challenges that occur when using a wheelchair. Future homeowner Tyann Edwards uses a wheelchair after being paralyzed from the waist down following a car accident 22 years ago.

Joined by family, friends and fellow members from Liberty Missionary Church, Edwards will join UC volunteers in investing 500 hours “sweat equity” to purchase the home with a 25-year, interest-free mortgage payable to Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity. UC volunteers will work at the site on Saturdays with the goal of completing construction by the end of spring quarter.

The UC student-inspired design updates for the home evolved from a competition sponsored by Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity, the UC Center for Community Engagement, the UC Institute for Community Partnerships, the Office of the University Architect, the UC College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and the UC Community Design Center. UC architecture students were challenged last year to incorporate attractive, effective, affordable designs into Habitat homes to accommodate people with disabilities.

The competition was created around the following criteria in designing such a home

• Livability – The design should support the comfort of its occupants in ergonomics, thermal comfort, visual quality and accommodation.
• Accessibility – The design should exhibit clear and innovative means of accommodating and serving a resident with a physical disability.
• Sustainability – A design that includes reduced energy use and environmental impact.
• Affordability – The design needed to stay within Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity’s philosophy of building simple, affordable housing.
• Feasibility – The design needed to take into consideration that the home would be built by non-professional volunteers.
• Sociability – The design needed to “fit” into the neighborhood.
• Beauty – The design needed to be recognized for its formal integrity and aesthetic quality.

The design plans were judged by a faculty member representing the School of Architecture and Interior Design, a representative of Habitat for Humanity and a community member with a disability. The winning design by a team of DAAP students – architecture student Zach Fein and interior design major Julie Fowler – will be implemented into Edwards’ home. The students worked at the Community Design Center to develop the plans.

Regular UC/Habitat volunteer Mike Benkert, a graduate student in architecture and graduate of the University Honors Program who earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture from UC last spring, helped introduce basic sustainable affordable design strategies into the project. The updates to the three-bedroom, one bath ranch-style home include a handicapped-accessible concrete ramp that is integrated seamlessly into the landscape, an idea that is also going to be added to the home under construction next door. A slightly vaulted ceiling opens up the interior of the home. Overhangs on the south side of the home provide for additional shade in the summer and increased wall thickness will provide for additional insulation, lowering energy bills. The design also incorporates modified cabinets and a larger bathroom.

UC freshmen in a service-learning Honors English course began pre-framing the home at a site on campus two weeks before fall classes got underway. Following that service experience, under the instruction of Beverly Brannan, a field service instructor for English & Comparative Literature (McMicken College of Arts and Sciences), the students are continuing their coursework in the classroom – writing about their experience on the Habitat build as they reflect on the meaning of community.

UC commits to the funding and to supplying the volunteers for its annual builds with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity. Each year the partnership must raise $78,000 to build these homes.

The UC/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity partnership is supported by Fifth Third Bank, the Messer Construction Company and UC Athletics, with support from University Dining Services, which provides Saturday lunches for the volunteers. Every year, as many as 175 UC student, staff and faculty volunteers dedicate around 1,700 hours alongside a qualifying family to build a home.

UC/Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity Web site

UC Student-Run Habitat Happenings Blog

Make a Gift to the UC/Habitat for Humanity Build