Habitat on the S.U. Quad

The Syracuse University chapter of Habitat for Humanity built shacks on the quad to raise money and awareness for the organization.

Jim Armstrong, co-executive director of S.U.’s Habitat for Humanity, said 18 student organizations built 12 shacks to decorate and live in for two nights and three days.

Each organization is required to raise $1,000 for Habitat for Humanity by December 1. Armstrong said Habitat for Humanity would help the organizations come up with ideas and run fund raisers to achieve this goal.

Armstrong said the Shack-a-thon will help raise $15,000, which would go straight towards the chapter’s build at 619 Tully St. The organization is about $20,000 short of having enough money to finish the project by their projected date in May, said Armstrong

The issues of poverty and substandard housing are very real in Syracuse. More than one in three people in Syracuse lives below the poverty line, according to the 2007 U.S. Census.

Armstrong said he hopes that students who experience what it is like to live in substandard housing for a few days will understand what it is like for people for whom substandard housing is the only option.