Students from Roanoke College assist in building the 19th annual R-House project’s home

Salem, Virginia – Every year, students from Roanoke College collaborate with Habitat for Humanity to construct a home for a resident of the Roanoke Valley. This Wednesday, they will relocate the home to its permanent site on Bullitt Avenue.

“I’m excited and I’m nervous, and it just still feels not real, but I guess once I’m actually seeing it being set, then it will feel more real,” said Nahdijah Hunt, who purchased the home.

Hunt will reside in the house with her family as a first-time homeowner.

During their summer orientation, over five hundred Roanoke College freshmen labor on the house. The college has collaborated with Habitat for Humanity for almost two decades. The house they are moving into will be Roanoke College’s nineteenth.

“The mission and vision of Roanoke College is service to community and partnership in the community being part of that collaborative process, and so, we like to show that to them right off the bat, so this is what we believe in this is something we are passionate about as an institution, and we are gonna do it with you,” said Director of Civic Engagement Jesse Griffin with Roanoke College.

Griffin was instrumental in bringing the Habitat for Humanity program to Roanoke College.

According to Habitat for Humanity, this chance has made it possible for them to establish a long-lasting collaboration.

“When Roanoke College came to us and said, ‘Hey, we wanna work through a whole freshman class,’ that was just a unique opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, let’s do it,’ and then as it’s grown, now we’re not even talking about a whole freshman class. We’re talking about a whole college cycle,” said Construction Director Brian Clark with Habitat for Humanity.

December is when Hunt’s house will be completed.

“I’m very excited. I somewhat was still in play mode, but now that I’m actually seeing it all in process. I’m very excited, scared but nervous but excited,” said Hunt.

She completed work on four or five different homes with Habitat for Humanity after submitting an application for the program in June.

Giving those with the group a place to live is fantastic, according to Clark.

“On any given day, it’s hot out here. We’re dirty with construction. It can be just construction, but when you see the family at the end of the process, you’re seeing the hope and the dreams that they’re realizing for themselves for their children, for their extended family, for maybe their friends,” said Clark.