In an ongoing effort to supply cost-effective housing to the Syracuse community’s underprivileged families, the Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry chapter of Habitat for Humanity will break ground on the fourth student-funded home Wednesday morning.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 649 Gifford St. It will include remarks from Habitat members, the executive director of the city’s chapter of Habitat, Chancellor Nancy Cantor, homeowners of prior Habitat projects and Hendricks Chapel Dean Tiffany Steinwert.

Paul Stanley, a co-executive director of the SU/ESF chapter of Habitat for Humanity, said he anticipates a strong presence of SU administrators on hand to witness the ceremonial groundbreaking. After Cantor said she would attend the groundbreaking, other faculty and staff decided to go, too, said Stanley, who is a former copy editor for The Daily Orange.

Stanley said he sees the groundbreaking as important because it gives the project’s donors an opportunity to see the families their money is going to. The $60,000 project is being funded by Cantor, State Farm Insurance and Habitat’s fundraising events, such as September’s Shack-A-Thon, he said.

The location on Gifford Street was chosen because it was cost-efficient, Stanley said. The land had already been cleared because the homes were falling apart, he said.

‘We try and get the most affordable land possible,’ he said.

Habitat does not yet know who the occupant of the house will be, Stanley said. A family selection committee is actively pursuing homeowners to occupy the site on Gifford Street. Potential inhabitants are subjected to a rigorous process of credit checks and interviews to ensure families are equipped with the financial means necessary to submit regular payments on the interest-free mortgage, he said.

The home’s framework will be laid on-site, but Habitat will be using a separate indoor facility to construct the walls of the home to cope with the harsh Syracuse winter, Stanley said. The group has already started building the walls, and the groundbreaking will mark the beginning of the framework.

Stanley said the chapter is slightly behind schedule on construction, but a steady stream of volunteers during Habitat’s regular building hours on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. has allowed the builders to maintain a realistic five-month timeline for completion.

He said: ‘There’s never a lack of work to be done.’

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong