Green Hope is home to a large variety of extracurriculars, so it is easy for a club to fly under the radar. Habitat Club tends to stay out of the spotlight, but it’s one of the most influential organizations on the housing crisis in the community, doing numerous noteworthy things.
Habitat for Humanity is a large organization that works to solve the housing crisis across America. Students at Green Hope High School started a branch of this organization called the Habitat Club, doing their part through fundraisers, build days and various other things.
President of Habitat Club, Tyler Herrick (‘25), explained the duties of the organization by saying, “Habitat for Humanity essentially operates the same way a private home developer would – except they prioritize affordability over profit. The organization has a huge land bank, and they work with the local government to buy properties, which is where we will eventually build our homes. They then work with subcontractors, material suppliers and volunteers (like us) to build the homes as affordable as possible.” At the same time, the club runs through homeowner applications and finds buyers that meet the criteria. During this process they are also running through homeowner applications to find buyers who meet a lot of different criteria, to eventually own the home being built.
A common misconception is that Habitat freely gives away the homes, which is not true. Homebuyers still place a downpayment and pay a mortgage, it’s just done in a much more affordable manner. Herrick explained what drew him toward participation in the club, “Affordable housing is an issue that has always been incredibly important to me–whether I realized it or not. My brothers and I have been lucky enough to grow up in a family where access to affordable housing wasn’t much of an issue, but throughout our lives, we have been exposed to peers who don’t share the same experience. Our mom works in public health, so we have always had very open discussions about issues facing our community, and housing is one of the largest. Because of this, my older brother, Nathan, started the Habitat Club, and I took it over once he graduated.”
Being president of this club includes a lot of responsibilities. Herrick elaborates on his duties at Green Hope, “At Green Hope, I’ve surrounded myself with other leaders who all have incredible ideas and can take unique perspectives on how to share our passion and mission with the student body.” He goes on to say that his role as president changes drastically when on build sites, “On the construction site, I am one of Habitat’s official construction leaders, which means my duties are a little bit more pronounced. Essentially, every time I bring a group of kids or even just myself to the construction site, the staff at Habitat will point at a project and tell me to take my crew and figure it out.” Because of his position, he is in charge of both the quality of work and safety of the workers.
Students under 16 are not allowed on the build sites and so one of the main struggles Habitat faces is how to get underclassmen involved. Herrick shared the creative approach that they take to make sure the freshmen and sophomores are included, “Our club is fundamentally about spreading awareness, which we do through much more than building houses. We have meetings where we learn about affordable housing on the societal level. We also host some building events with underclassmen.” Herrick explains these build events saying, “Throughout the spring semester, we’re planning on building birdhouses that will be hung on the construction site and in the Green Hope wetland. Habitat Club is meant to be a safe space where people of all ages and backgrounds can learn about the importance of this issue, so underclassmen are always welcome.”
One of the core values of habitat is to gain awareness of the housing crisis and relate this to life experiences. Herrick ended by explaining the important life lessons he has gained from his time in Habitat, “I think the most important thing I’ve gotten from Habitat is a new sense of perspective. We aren’t just building these houses for the fun of it – there are real people moving into them, and, oftentimes, we are working right alongside them to build. Through these build days, I get to hear the stories of people who have vastly different life experiences than me. I have truly come to appreciate how lucky I am.” Herrick said he has gained a sense of empathy from his time at habitat and hopes that his fellow club members have gained something similar.
Living in Cary, it’s easy to assume that the rest of the world is just as privileged. Herrick’s goal with Habitat club is to continue exposing Green Hope students to the reality of other communities.
