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TwitterDCHS Students Push ‘Comfort Zone’ to Build Habitat Home
On January 11, DCHS and Habitat for Humanity held a Celebration Ceremony enabling DCHS students to meet Maria Benitez, the mother of four, who will be receiving her new home in May. After the Ceremony, Dustin Williams, along with 28 fellow students, dismantled the framed home for transport to the permanent site in Concord Village.
Tommy Williams has seen a lot of determined individuals in his line of work. Yet, the youth coordinator for Sussex County Habitat for Humanity was still surprised last week when he saw a young man hammering away at a Habitat project with a single gray glove covering his right hand.
The single glove caught Williams’ attention and he approached the boy to inquire.
“He showed me a huge blister that had formed from hammering so much. Instead of taking a break, he put on a glove and kept going. I thought that’s dedication,” said Williams.
The boy is 14-year-old Dustin Williams (not related to Tommy Williams), one of 29 Delmarva Christian High School students who spent hours building the frame for a new Habitat for Humanity home. On January 11, the students gathered to offer a blessing for the work that they had completed. Habitat representatives praised Dustin and the other students for their hard work.
The Habitat for Humanity outreach is one of several projects that make-up J-Term, a three-week session at DCHS that encourages students to explore personal interests that range from SAT preparation, to overseas ministries, to local community service.
Dustin said that his group developed, as a theme for their project, the idea of “stepping outside of their comfort zones” to build a home for a needy family. The work was more arduous than the students expected and it pushed them physically.
For Dustin, there was no slowing down once he got started.
“I had to give my all to serve the Lord and to serve the family that will live in this home,” he said.
Following the celebration, the students broke down the framed home to relocate it to its permanent residence from Georgetown to Concord Village in Seaford. Once on site, they will brave the frigid elements to continue construction during the balance of J-Term. The home, for Maria Benitez and her four children, should be completed by May.
Benitez thanked the students and Habitat staff.
“This is dream that I have had for so long,” she said of homeownership, “and you are making it happen.”
