They built it

Nearly 300 students, faculty, staff, alumni and University friends volunteered to construct an affordable house in Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood.

The five-week project was a partnership between the University, Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and Boaz and Ruth, an agency dedicated to successful prisoner re-entry, community revitalization and cross-cultural dialogue.

The collaboration is “an important part of Build It, the University’s largest sustained community-engagement initiative coordinated by the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement,” said Cassie Price, CCE community initiatives and program coordinator who oversaw the project.

Over the past three years, Build It has sponsored approximately 80-110 students per week in Highland Park, providing services for Reach Out and Read Virginia, Hotchkiss Community Center, Chandler Middle School, Overby-Sheppard Elementary School and Boaz and Ruth. Students read to children in pediatricians’ waiting rooms, served meals, tutored and coached youth athletic teams, among other activities.

Lisa Redden, '11, takes a measurement at the Highland Park construction site.

Chris Genualdi, '09, cuts a board to length as he works on the home’s first floor.

Betel Aklilu, '11, and Cassie Price of the CCE paint the house’s foundation.