Sebastian Godinez
  • Biology
  • Class of 2020
  • Ronkonkoma, NY

Sebastian Godinez volunteers with Habitat for Humanity for spring break

2018 Mar 12

Sebastian Godinez of Ronkonkoma, NY, was one of 12 students who spent spring break volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Vero Beach, Florida.

The students worked with the Indian River Habitat for Humanity, helping build and refurbish homes and volunteer in any way they could. It was a rewarding and humbling experience.

Godinez is studying Biology at SUNY Oneonta.

The first day of the trip, the students tackled a neighborhood revitalization project, wherein they repainted the home of Haydee Phillips, a widow of a veteran, and planted flowers around her house. Their work was greatly appreciated.

"Before we went to the site, one of the supervisors asked me what kind of plants to get for the gardening, and it turned out that one of the plants I picked was the woman's favorite plant," said Shannon Maurer. "She was such a kind and grateful woman and I was glad that we made her happy in that way."

In the following days, students began construction on a separate home. They built and raised wooding framing for the interior walls, began roofing work and helped put up the exterior housewrap to keep out moisture.

"We are usually not able to do roofing in Oneonta, so it was a great new experience," said club president Melissa Liebold. "The build team had so much trust in us that we were able to do almost everything they did. I enjoyed putting the walls together and it was awesome to see the completion of our hard work.

When the students arrived, the house consisted of a concrete floor with exterior walls, a garage and a roof. When they were done just two days later, there were three bedrooms - each with a closet - two bathrooms, a kitchen, a family room and a laundry room.

"Putting up the walls was symbolic to me of building a foundation for the family moving into the home to start their new life," agreed Kimberly Wallach. "I know our hard work will be there for years to come, and there is a family in need that we directly helped."

In the group's final days, the students lifted and removed pavers from the driveway of a family's home. The family had donated their belongings to the Habitat for Humanity, to be sold in its "ReStores," which are nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers that sell new and gently used furniture, appliances, home accessories and building materials to the public at reduced prices. Funds raised at the ReStores are used for Habitat's future community projects.