Not many high school students would want to spend their Saturdays supporting their community. But for these students, it’s their calling.

Next Saturday, six high school student volunteers from the Cardinal Corps are assisting in the construction of a new home as part of Lawrence Habitat for Humanity’s latest project.

The homes are intended for new families to Eudora with moderate income, Habitat Executive Director Erika Zimmerman said. Habitat is looking for volunteer help and has had success with the high school and Chamber of Commerce. 

Douglas County was awarded a grant for $400,000 by the Kansas Housing Resource Corp. to fund the implementation of new moderate-income homes in both Eudora and Baldwin. 

There will be four new homes built in Eudora: three on Stevens Road and one near Spruce Street & West 10th Street, Zimmerman said. 

Cardinal Corps President Mackenzie Mayer has already seen productive change in the community by way of more student engagement within the school and sporting events. Now she wants her team to reach out to others in need.

“We want to change the culture to be something more positive,” Mayer said. “And do some hard work for people who need it.”

The Cardinal Corps has four branches, and each tackles issues for how students can positively change their school and their community. This volunteer project focuses on student-to-community involvement.

This year, the students wanted to challenge themselves and find a new way the Cardinal Corps could affect change in their community. 

“Most of our community involvement comes from fundraisers with Gambino’ Pizza and or Barbwire Barbeque,” Mayer said. 

Promotion for the project is circulating in the school thanks to Cardinal Corps student-to-community Vice President Parker Hurla. The goal is to find more students outside the corps willing to aid in their mission for a better community.

“They want to help their community in a way that will last,” Hurla said.  

Hurla’s role is to find new students eager to help and join in on the engagement. Hurla is in charge of scheduling dates and, with the help of his teammates, creates wavers for anyone under 18 who still wants to contribute.

“I think a lot of people are ready to enjoy that experience,” Hurla said.

The project is a partnership between Douglas County cities in an effort to help smaller communities grow and create lasting partnerships with neighboring cities.

“I think it is great that we can get our neighboring communities to help us out,” Mayer said.

The grant was divided evenly to both cities. In March 2021, Douglas County also contributed $50,000 toward the project in match funding that was evenly split, said Assistant County Administrator Jill Jolicoeur.

Due to the county’s small size, it was uniquely qualified to apply. 

“It was a great opportunity to see if the county could use state and nonprofit resources to be part of affordable housing solutions outside the city of Lawrence,” Jolicoeur said. 

No families are set to move into any of these homes at this time. Zimmerman said the announcement of these new homes has not attracted as much attention as she hoped.

“There has been a fall-off in interest, and that could be due to lack of advertising,” Zimmerman said.

With the project only just starting, there is still little buzz about it in the community. Zimmerman said there would soon be an online ad on Habitat’s website with an application for interested families. 

Reach reporter William Crow at [email protected].

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