CINCINNATI – April 6, 2009 – Even weather cooperated, as the sun shone down on the Te’Anna and Curtis Jones III family and the friends and supporters who joined them at the dedication of their new home in Price Hill on Sunday afternoon, April 5. The newly-constructed house was provided by Habitat for Humanity through the hard work of sponsors such as Cincinnati Christian University (CCU), whose campus is just down the street.
In addition to a ceremonial presentation of a house key from Habitat for Humanity, CCU President Dr. David Faust provided an official welcome to the neighborhood.
“Worthwhile endeavors usually are the result of two key ingredients: leadership and teamwork,” Faust said. “Building a Habitat house one block from our campus has provided an exciting opportunity for CCU’s students and staff to work alongside our neighbors.”
The home dedication culminated a project that was more than 18 months in development, as CCU first began discussing how it might sponsor a project of this magnitude with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.
Citi Foundation and Westfed Coalition joined as sponsors and all three organizations participated in a week-long blitz build in August 2008 that jumpstarted the project, getting all the exterior walls and roof trusses in place.
Since then, CCU students and staff have been participating as workers at the site each weekend. In total, approximately 175 CCU student and staff volunteers donated an estimated 1700 hours to the building project and other volunteer assistance to Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.
CCU also donated $25,000 to the effort.
“It is important for us as students to get involved in our community,” said Tim Captain, one of the CCU student volunteer workers, “and that is what Habitat is all about. Getting to work alongside our new neighbors was an incredible experience. It is something that we did together, as a community.
“This project has been a tangible way for us to share our love for Christ with our new friends,” he said.
CCU has a commitment to serving others in the Cincinnati area, offering more than 40,000 hours of community service each year. In addition to the project to build the Jones’ home, CCU continued its partnership with Cincinnati Habitat by hosting a Habitat banquet on its campus and providing volunteer workers to assist with that event as well. Next up for CCU is the school’s annual Community Service Day April 15. Hundreds of faculty, staff, and students will spend the day working together off campus. Their efforts this year will be focused on local city parks.
Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate substandard housing by building simple, decent, affordable homes to sell to low-income families in need. Cincinnati Habitat works in equal partnership with families, volunteers and donors building a sense of community as well as affordable housing. For more information, visit www.cincinnati-habitat.org.
About Cincinnati Christian University: .CCU is a private Christian university that has been located at 2700 Glenway Avenue in Cincinnati’s Price Hill neighborhood since its founding in 1924. Today, almost 1,100 students study at one of CCU’s colleges: Cincinnati Bible College, Cincinnati Bible Seminary, and the College of Adult Learning. CCU is accredited by three national accrediting organizations. It has been accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education since 1966, North Central Association’s Higher Learning Commission since 1989, and the Association of Theological Schools since 2004. CCU is also a member of the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities. For more information, visit www.CCUniversity.edu.