Dominican College students worked with Habitat for Humanity during the week-long Spring Break to help build homes for families who are in need of decent, affordable housing.
This year, 30 students and five staff members volunteered their time in what is known as the Alternative Spring Break program. The students were split into groups and sent to three different locations: Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Asbury Park, NJ, from March 28 – April 4.
In addition to working with Habitat for Humanity construction teams to build, rebuild, excavate and renovate housing, the students who traveled to Kentucky and West Virginia explored the causes of pervasive poverty and the factors that keep families immersed in the cycle of poverty for generations.
In Asbury Park, Dominican College students looked at the impact of communities destroyed by natural disasters. Asbury Park was one of the many communities ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
Dominican College students who volunteer their time for the Alternative Spring Break are required to pay for a portion of their trip. Dominican College subsidizes the cost, and donations are accepted. The Rotary Club of Pearl River makes an annual donation in support of the Rotaract Club members who volunteer.
This is the ninth year that Dominican College students have participated in the Alternative Spring Break.