SUMTER, S.C. — It’s Spring Break for the handful of Southern Utah University, but some students have come to Sumter where they’re trading their swimsuit and sunglasses for a hammer and nails.
“That's probably the number one thing why I'm here,” Addi Mikkelson, a senior nutrition people, shared about why she traveled over 2,000 miles from Utah to spend her spring break building a house to help Sumter Habitat for Humanity.
“I love to serve and no matter where it's at, right? Because when you help others, you really are learning for yourself how to be a better person and then you get to make new connections and everybody in the end feels good. And so I really love the aspect of serving,” Mikkelson smiled. “My favorite part definitely is the service. And also making connections with people I wouldn't have otherwise, you know, because people can bless your life. But you have to put yourself in those situations in order to meet them. And so I definitely think the people here's the best part.”
Theresa White is the Executive Director of Sumter Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable housing for low income families. The yearly Collegiate Challenge invites students to the area to help with the effort.
“The Collegiate Challenge is the best time of year,” White shared. “They are growing and doing good for others. And you know, I don't have to be at the beach, I can be doing something good with my time.”
They’re serving with help from community partners like What The Food Truck Owner Stephanie Miller, who is helping provide meals.
“When Sumter wants to, it comes together as a community and takes care of people,” Miller said. “I thought it was pretty cool that these kids took their spring break instead of going to, like, Myrtle Beach or Charleston or Panama City and they're coming to Sumter to build a house. So I wanted to kind of reward that sacrifice and come and bring the food truck and feed them and love on them a little bit.”
It’s a sentiment Donna Hebert with Sumter Board of Realtors echoed, prompting her group to donate food yearly to the students who visit.
“I think my favorite part is meeting the students and finding out a little bit about their history, where they came from, what their future holds for them and how they are having Habitat at their heart,” Hebert shared.
The students also get to stay at local churches in the area for free while they’re here.
The community coming together to support this effort is helpful, says Nate Brock, the assistant pastor at Jehovah Missionary Baptist Church, which prepared a home-cooked dinner for the students.
“It means a lot. I have done overseas missions trips. I’ve gone to Kenya, Uganda, the Dominican Republic and I've also gone to South America, so I know what the hospitality of the people who are hosting you feels like. And that's great.”
“That says a lot about the Sumter community,” White agreed. “Sumter’s small, so having a community that supports, you know, folks who aren't from here, or a local organization, I mean, that really shows that they love the community, that they want the community to grow more. And to know that we're doing something good.”
Over the next few weeks, Sumter will also get visitors from Boston College and Indiana University.
The particular house the students are working on was assigned to a family that has been in the Habitat program, but has since withdrawn. White says the organization hopes to have a new family selected “within the next month.”
To get a house, White says people fill out applications and must meet certain criteria to be eligible.
“One of our core requirements are that they have to be in the 30 to 80% of area median income, and then they also have to have a need for housing. They have to have the ability to pay an affordable mortgage and a willingness to partner with us,” White explained. “We're a hand up, not a handout, so the families have to come to the worksite and help build their home alongside the partners or the volunteers who are here building.”
If you’re interested in learning more about Sumter Habitat for Humanity, you can visit HabitatSumter.org.