NEWS

House that Greeks build to help low-income family

CHAPEL HILL -- Danna Bailey and her four young children will soon get a new home, with help from fraternities and sororities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 1), members of UNC's 50 Greek organizations will work each weekend through May to build the family a house in Elfland through Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, said Jay Anhorn, UNC Director of Greek Affairs. Already, the students have raised $2,000 of their $25,000 goal for the project, Anhorn said.

Students will break ground for the project at 8 a.m. Saturday with all 50 chapter presidents on hand, as well as 25 members of executive committees for four student-run Greek governing councils and representatives of the UNC Office of Greek Affairs.

Thereafter, Bailey and the students will work Fridays from 12:30-4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m.-noon and 12:30-4:30 p.m. on the house, to be located in the Richmond Hills neighborhood near the Elfland-Cheeks School. All 2,200 fraternity and sorority members at UNC may participate. Currently Bailey and her children, ages 2, 5, 7 and 10, live in a Chapel Hill apartment. Danna Bailey believes the area is unsafe because of drug use and rocks in the apartment yard, as well as a steep drop to a nearby creek.

Sam Hudson, volunteer/partnership coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, said the high cost of housing in Chapel Hill makes it nearly impossible for low-wage working families to realize the dream of home ownership.

"These families have to decide from month to month which bills to pay -- rent, medical care or food," he said. "Many are forced into substandard housing. By partnering with Habitat for Humanity, economically disadvantaged families have an opportunity to build and purchase their own homes at low cost, with interest-free loans."

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit Christian organization that has built more than 125,000 houses in more than 80 countries, including some 45,000 houses across the United States.

Homeowners-to-be and volunteers build the houses under trained supervision. Many projects teach volunteers and homeowners new skills, develop their self-esteem and bring them new friends, Hudson said.

"Carolina fraternities and sororities have embraced community relations and service as one of their major principles since their inception," Anhorn said. "Now, UNC fraternity men and sorority women will spend many hours over the next 14 to 16 weeks to help Danna and her family."

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For more information, visit: http://www.habitat.org

Contacts: Sam Hudson, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County Volunteer Partnership Coordinator, 732-6767, ext. 15; shhabitat@earthlink.net
Jay Anhorn, UNC director of Greek Affairs Director, 962-8298; anhorn@email.unc.edu
Jenny Profet, UNC sorority project coordinator, 945-5128, jmprofet@email.unc.edu
Breck Gibbs, UNC fraternity project coordinator, mbgibbs@email.unc.edu
L.J. Toler, UNC News Services, 962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu