During public sphere week I represented Habitat for Humanity. The group is based on helping people in need get quality homes at little cost to the family. I noticed some techniques that worked for some people and some that didn’t. There were some things that we could not stop from being a problem. The reason I joined Habitat is because the organization and I have things in common. They build homes to help the community. I enjoy volunteering in my community to give back for what they have given me. I also have acquired some skills through working for a lawn and landscaping company. I have the abilities to design and build landscaping around homes. I also enjoy building things and seeing the things I helped build come together. Some problems that we faced were not able to overcome were time. Our class is at an extremely early time for most collage students. We faced a very small crowd which was mostly for people who had class around eight o’clock in the morning and others that were going to their nine o’clock classes. Also during our day of the week we had an orientation for incoming freshmen. Also, the school did not cooperate like they said they would. One would assume that the school that made the class would actually help to make the class a success. Some things that many people found affective was using flyers on smaller paper. Other groups used pamphlets to give a large amount of information. Throughout the day as I walked past the UC bridge I would see the groups handing out their information and talking with interested people. During the day I was bombarded with papers from the other classes. At first it was over whelming, but as the week progressed they found out that it did not work. The people needed to spread out and talk slowly and be friendly. Being friendly helps in numerous ways, people will react better with people being nice than more demanding. The further you were away from the other groups the more people you have time to actually interact with instead of being interrupted by another person projecting their group onto them. Overall I feel that public sphere week was a success. The groups came together handed out their flyers and gave their talks to people. Some students out of their shell and began talking with students that they normally would avoid, or be afraid to talk to. I personally enjoyed the time to get outdoors and advocate with my peers. I have made some new friends along the way and joined an organization that I plan to be in the rest of my collage career.

Habitat for humanity is an organization that’s main goal is to help the less fortunate families get nice homes by getting a community to help with volunteering and donating. I joined the group because I enjoy helping people and I have a few skills in that area of work. I feel the organization does a great job of helping people. The organization brings towns and businesses together to help one family. I feel this is a huge symbol of what the United States is about, bringing people from all different races and backgrounds to help. The organization has helped many people around the world. Habitat has been building houses since Millard and Linda Fuller founded the organization in 1976. Since ‘76 they have built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 homes worldwide(Habitat). Here at USI we are looking to build our first home on our own next year. We recently became our own chapter outside of Evansville. Habitat does good things for needy families. For families in need Habitat helps them out by building them a home that is at little cost to them. The houses are not free to the people so they are not given away. Homeowners also have to pay for homeowners insurance. Yet the home is a great place for people to live. The home is up to code and is safe for the families children if they have them. With all good things there also is people against Habitats ideas. In the area surrounding Winter Beach, FL residents are arguing that a cluster of homes, approximately 450, are planned on being built around the 65th street area which is only a few blocks from gated communities and other upper-class housing. The residents believe that this community will turn out much like another one of Habitats projects. The people against the housing development say that crime will increase like the ones around the other community did. The people did not take care of their homes so the values of the homes in surrounding communities decreased. Many of the people living around that community are upper scale people believe that the housing development should take place in another area that is surrounded by similar priced homes, not their million dollar homes(Clustering). Habitat works hard in their screening process to make sure the people who are receiving these homes are hard working families and they try not to allow the community to fall apart because of the development. I am a proud member and believe that they do great things for the community. Habitat works on bringing communities together by building and remodeling homes. They should continue to do these great things for another 50 years. Please help out your community and join Habitat today!










Habitat, "The History of Habitat." Habitat for Humanity Web.26 Apr 2009. http://www.habitat.org/how/historytext.aspx.
People against Habitat Clustering, "Does Clustering Work for Habitat?." Web.26 Apr 2009. <http://www.noclusterhabitat.com/Home_Page.html>.