Jason Barlow

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.

Homeowners on Saturday got a big surprise. Not only did about 200 GCU students descend on their homes to complete landscaping and painting projects, but some of them also received household goods from the University’s new CityServe warehouse. Students fanned out into the neighborhood this weekend to work on home improvement projects at nine homes. The renovation blitz was part of Serve the City, the first Serve the City since COVID hit in spring 2020. “It’s nice to see everyone out here doing it (volunteering) for the same reasons: to show the love of God to others,” said one of the student volunteers, Brooke Alaniva.