Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Maroon Edition Habitat House is a reality, and an early one, at that.
This week, Mississippi State President Mark Keenum joined Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity representatives in dedicating the residence constructed over the fall semester as a service-learning component of the univeristy's Maroon Edition First-Year Reading Experience.
During the Tuesday morning ceremony [Dec. 1], Keenum welcomed Rufus Harvey, Sabrina Randle and their three children to their new home.
"I am very honored to be here representing Mississippi State University and the several hundred university faculty, staff and students who volunteered so many hours to make this home a reality," Keenum told the group gathered for the occasion.
"The partnership between Mississippi State and the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity is wonderful and for this to be our first Maroon Edition project is a special occasion," he said, adding, "I hope this will be an annual event and am looking forward to continuing this tradition and partnership."
Also presenting them with a new bible on behalf of Maroon Edition, the MSU chief executive asked the couple to "Remember, hands build a house; it takes hearts to build a home."
To qualify for the Habitat home, Harvey and Randle completed an extensive screening process to ensure they met requirements for home ownership.
"This has been a great experience for us and we are still being blessed from this experience," Harvey said. "I am just glad to be able to have an opportunity to qualify for a Habitat home and make a better life for my family."
The family was selected from among 48 qualifying applicants. As part of Habitat's requirement for participation, the couple contributed a minimum of 300 hours work time toward the construction of their home or other Habitat projects.
Freddie Rasberry, a retired MSU faculty member now serving as area Habitat executive director, said construction costs totaled about $50,000, which will be repaid by the family in a no-interest loan over a 20-year period.
Dedication of the home marked the 42nd completed project for the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity.
"The concrete slab we stood on in October now is a home for a very deserving family," said Starkville Habitat president Flo Henley. "It would not have been possible without the help of the hundreds of university volunteers and our community partners. It is no small accomplishment in these hard economic times.
"I was continually amazed at how many people gave from what they have to help somebody else," she added. "I wish all of our Maroon Edition volunteers could be here to see all of their hard work come to fruition."
Begun Aug. 10, the project was coordinated by the campus Maroon Volunteer Center and took more than 2,000 service hours to complete. Though originally anticipated for February, the house was made ready more than two months ahead of schedule because of the volunteers' considerable efforts.
Earlier this year, the Maroon Edition program was initiated by MSU's Office of the Provost to engage incoming freshmen and others in the campus community in reading the same book to serve as a basis for intellectual and cultural discussion. "The Painted House" (Dell, 2001), another best-seller by novelist and MSU alumnus John Grisham, was selected as the first book for the common reading program.
Participation in the Habitat project was designed as an extension of the reading program.