Students from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School assist in cleaning up a local resident’s yard and property.In its 25th year of serving the community, Catoosa County Habitat for Humanity is not only building affordable homes for those in need, it recently initiated outreach programs to try to assist the elderly in the community and to get more students and kids involved in volunteer efforts.
One of the first work days for the youth outreach program, called Youth United, took place recently, with students from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School helping an elderly Catoosa County resident clean up her yard by removing debris, leaves, branches and generally improving the property.
“We partnered up with the students and cleaned up her yard and property. We had at least 17 kids helping out,” said Sandra Powell, coordinator for Catoosa County HFH. “It’s [Youth United] really an opportunity to bring the community together. It gives us a different way to reach out to students and young people, as well as help those in need in the community.”
She praised the students for their hard work, adding that they managed to get finished in a single day what was envisioned to be a two-day effort.
Powell said Catoosa HFH has another project coming up in January to functionally rebuild a house that was donated to the organization. LFO students are planned to assist in that project as well.
“We’re going to completely refurbish a home for a new family,” she explained. “The house had sustained some pretty bad damage. Everything had to be taken out until we reached the floor joints. It’s going to be a pretty in-depth project.”
Catoosa’s Habitat for Humanity, like other branches, relies on the goodwill and charity of the community in order to function, Powell said, and couldn’t build or refurbish any houses without the efforts of local construction companies, telecommunication companies and financial organizations.
“We’re actively looking to grow and get the word out,” she said. “And we’re very excited about the new opportunities for volunteering in Catoosa.”
For more information about Catoosa County Habitat for Humanity, call 706-861-5858 or email habitat1@catt.org
Email Shane Foley at sfoley@timesfreepress.com.