Habitat for Humanity

GCU and Habitat for Humanity are about to reach yet another important milestone. Since the collaboration began seven years ago to restore homes in the Canyon Corridor, the west Phoenix community partners are nearing 1,000 repairs for 400 families. And that partnership has come back strong this year after GCU and Habitat paused repair projects during the pandemic. The initiative will be celebrated Thursday, Habitat Night, at the men’s basketball game.

The Honors College has grown so much in the last eight years, one day dedicated to service events wasn’t enough. This week, it hosted its first Commitment to Service Week, providing an opportunity for multiple Honors clubs to volunteer at nonprofit organizations. “We just wanted to integrate service much more heavily and integrate this initiative into the college this semester,” Honors College Program Manager Anya Cofrancesco said. “We just decided to go big and make this a huge campaign. It’s been incredible to see their (students) compassion and just rolling up their sleeves and getting into the community.”

When COVID-19 struck Arizona last spring, the University paused many of its community initiatives, including its most visible one — its partnership with Habitat for Humanity to renovate homes in the Canyon Corridor. But after a 12-month hiatus, about 50 GCU students and staff on Saturday fanned out into the neighborhood to work on renovation projects at five homes as part of Serve the City. It was a pared down version of the semiannual event to keep in line with COVID-19 protocols. It also was a triumphant return to doing what GCU does best: help its neighbors. “It’s just really cool to be able to slowly bring back things that we really look forward to doing under normal circumstances,” said senior finance major Jacob Norgord while painting one of the homes. “It just helps us feel like we’re one step closer to hopefully being back to normal, even if that is with masks or whatever it might be.”