Roxbury High School students building modular Habitat for Humanity home on campus
The staff and volunteers at Morris Habitat for Humanity are used to breaking new ground. But this time, they are breaking new ground without a shovel.
Despite interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, select Roxbury High School students are making progress on an unprecedented project in New Jersey: constructing a three-bedroom modular home right on campus.
When complete, two sections of the construction will be moved to a permanent location in the Landing section of Roxbury for a qualifying family in need.
The project began in 2019 when teacher Frank Caccavale approached the Morris Habitat affiliate about partnering on a modular home build as a hands-on learning experience for students in his Structural Design and Fabrication course.
"We had worked with Habitat on some small things in 2018, but we knew there was a way that we could scale up," Caccavale said. "It took several months to go through architect plans, funding, those types of questions."
He was not surprised to find willing partners at Morris Habitat, which has built 123 dwellings and is now operating in other parts of the state after merging with Habitat affiliates covering Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties.
"Morris Habitat for Humanity is very committed to always finding ways to get more people into homes," Caccavale said. "They are willing to do something creative if it means getting another family into a safe and decent place to live."
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the project early on, but Caccavale said progress on building the home has accelerated. This week, siding is being installed on the exterior and plumbing is being installed inside.
Seventeen students began the work last school year. Another 17 are on the job now.
"I think it's really cool I'll be able to drive past this house and say I built that house for those people," student Corey Smith said.
A family has yet to be selected for the home, Morris Habitat CEO Blair Schleicher Wilson said. Applicants selected for a home project are required to put in at least 500 hours of "sweat equity" work on the home before they take ownership. Wilson said the selection will be made in February or March.
The move is tentatively scheduled for May, by which time interior walls, doors, plumbing, electrical wiring and even windows should be installed.
A crane will hoist the two sections onto flatbed trucks for the 6-mile trip across town to Edith Road.
"The kids will then come out on the site with other community groups, finish sometime in July, and the family will move in August-September," Wilson said.
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Caccavale said the students also are absorbing lessons that go beyond practical design, engineering and construction skills. And the community is responding as people see the home coming together.
"I really feel this is a schoolwide and communitywide service project, not just me and my students," Caccavale said. "The whole community is getting interested in what we do. The kids who are actually in the class are really starting to understand what we're doing is for a purpose. It's for a family. We have to do it correctly, not just good enough."
The students also have taken to writing notes and signing their names in spots that ultimately will be covered up, but may be discovered someday in the distant future.
"This is really amazing and awe-inspiring on so many levels," Wilson said. "I have had the opportunity to speak with many of the students. This is a class that is giving them hope for the future, hope for today. They are inspired by creating something real and tangible. And the cherry on top is they are helping someone less fortunate than themselves."
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Roxbury NJ students building Habitat for Humanity home on campus
