More than 6,000 Ohio University students participate in volunteer activities each year. They plant
gardens, organize food drives, clean up along highways, promote literacy and perform many other
services on campus and in the community.
As part of National Volunteer Week, the university's Center for Community Service is sponsoring
volunteer opportunities every day this week and honoring individuals who regularly donate their time to
various projects. Each day this week, we are profiling students whose community service efforts have
earned them recognition. For more information about Center for Community Service activities this week,
go to www.ohiou.edu/news/99-00/254.html
Habitat Volunteer Builds Homes, Family Spirit
Senior Jason Shultz knows a new home can revitalize a family's spirit.
He's seen it happen time and time again.
"Imagine not having the comforts of home," says 23-year-old Shultz, a
social work major from Bridgeport, W.Va. "I've seen what not having a home
does to people. A new home literally can renew a family and its faith."
Shultz, who has been president of Ohio University Habitat for Humanity for
two years, has helped build homes for families in need since he was a
freshman. The 40-member student group works closely with the Athens County
chapter, which - like thousands of Habitat chapters across the globe --
constructs and rehabilitates houses with the help of homeowner families.
Once completed, the houses are sold to the families at no profit and
financed with affordable, no-interest loans. The monthly mortgage payments
are used to build more Habitat houses.
"I got involved because I wanted to be in contact with people in the
community here," Shultz says. "It's important for me to balance classes
with the real world."
Shultz got a taste of reality when he served a nine-month volunteer
internship during his junior year at Goodworks Inc., a local emergency
shelter, transitional house and outreach program for the homeless.
"It was an unforgettable experience," he says. "I came from a great home,
I had a good upbringing, and I want to give back."
After Shultz graduates, he plans to attend graduate school and study
public policy, then become involved in the labor movement or work for a
public policy research firm, he says.
