World Habitat Day

​Monday, October 1 was World Habitat Day. Each year, the first Monday of October marks a re-dedication of Habitat for Humanity affiliates and partners around of the world to recognizing the basic right of everyone to adequate shelter. Here at Habitat La Crosse, we know that an important step to building a world in which everyone has a decent place to live is educating our community’s young people on housing issues. 

Because of this, we reached out to schools and one of our staff members was able to talk with two groups at the Coulee Montessori Adolescent Program the first week of October. The students and their teacher were incredibly welcoming and engaged. They learned about the various aspects of what our affiliate does—from building homes to reclaiming materials to revitalizing neighborhoods—and saw photos of some of our homeowners, volunteers and homes. One student even asked how he could help us in building homes, communities and hope himself.
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After the informative portion ended, the students had a fun and educational activity. To demonstrate how difficult it can be to find and build shelter, the students were put into small groups and given a few materials that happened to be readily available in their classroom. With newspaper, magazines and tape, their task was to build a structure in which at least one person could fit. 

​There was a great amount of creativity from these young people. Many had a similar basic idea, but where they went from there was varied and interesting to see. Some of the results were very successful and stable, and each group ended up with some sort of creative design

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More importantly, they were all enthusiastic about how difficult it was and realized how hard it would be for someone to try and find shelter all on their own. It is great to see an understanding of the crucial need for available housing sparked in young people. 

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