Research Question

Research Question: Does Ohio University Habitat For Humanity have an impact on the community?

We approached this question by observing the community in their own setting by attending their meetings and seeing firsthand how and why they operate.

Along with attending these meetings we conducted an interview of OU Habitat's president Mattie Ropelewski so we could gain further insight to what it meant to be a member of Habitat along with where the program was heading and what they had accomplished in the past.

Through our research we discovered that Habitat has had a significant impact on the community. Athens Habitat (of which OU Habitat is an affiliate) has been a program for 23 years and has built a total of 29 homes since their creation. Not only have they built homes but communities in which their homes were constructed have seen their property values increase, sometimes as much as three-hundred percent. Overall Habitat has improved the living conditions of the community and plans to create an even bigger impact in the future.

Our question adds to this conversation because we are looking at the results of the organization along with their methods and by viewing their everyday interactions. An advantage we have is that we are a neutral party. We have the advantage of looking into the workings of the community while staying distant and being able to observe and judge without biases.

Discourse Classifications

Swales criteria for a discourse community:

1. A discourse community must have and work towards a common goal.

Habitat for Humanity has a goal of providing everyone in the world sufficient housing.

2. A discourse community must have intercommunication among its members.

Habitat implements what is called "Habbychat" where they can easily communicate about builds or other important information within their organization. They also use many other forms of communication such as meetings, email, Facebook, etc.

3. The community must provide either information or feedback.

Habitat build houses for those in need of better housing and this is their feedback. They also distribute information about their organization since they are a volunteer group and are always in need of members.

4. The community must use different genres to work towards their goals.

As mentioned before Habitat uses many forms of communication to spread information and stay organized.

5. A discourse community has an established and specific lexis.

Habitat for Humanity has a specific lexis on the build sites. Their lexicon is made up of specific tools and techniques used in construction.

6. A discourse community has a balanced threshold of experienced and novice members.

This criteria is easily satisfied by Habitat as they have experts in the executive board as well as higher up in site supervisors along with novice members who are just joining or are new to construction.

Habitat at Ohio University

Ohio University Habitat for Humanity is an affiliate of Southeastern Ohio Habitat for Humanity which is a branch of Habitat for Humanity International. 

"Looking for a hand up, not a hand out."

Total Number of Members: 100 

Total Number of Active Members: 25

How word gets spread throughout campus about Habitat: By word of mouth

Benefits of being a member:

 Seeing the joy on peoples faces

 Building character

Sincerely making a difference for a family

Democratic based

Faculty advisor

Raises money by:

bake sale

grilled cheese sale

corn hole tournament

letter writing asking for donations

Restore 

Goals for OU Habitat:

Making the club more organized through increased communication

Keeping the members actively engaged

Keeping members excited about Habitat 

Habitat Origins

Habitat For Humanity was originally started by Linda and Millard Fuller in 1976 outside of Americus, Georgia as a Christian community project designed to give back to the people.

Habitat is now a world-wide organization which has build over 600,000 homes and is essential in providing efficient housing to areas where the residential communities are labeled "sub-standard."

Vision: "A world where everyone has a decent place to live."

Habitat

Relevant Links

Habitat.org:

http://www.habitat.org/


Habitat Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKr_BW47jxY