June 2, 2005
ORLANDO - This summer student-athletes from the UCF will continue a winning tradition of service by trading helmets and uniforms for hammers and nails as they partner with HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation and Habitat for Humanity to build a home for an Orlando family. The ground breaking and first build day will be June 4 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Golden Knight student-athletes and coaches will attend this first day and work alongside the homeowners and HomeBanc volunteers until the scheduled Aug. 27 home completion.
UCF student-athletes and HomeBanc will be building this home with future Habitat homeowners Luis Ufeo and Hawa ElFahal and their five children. Originally from the Sudan, Luis was an attorney in his home country. He is currently working as a security guard to support his family as he works towards becoming a lawyer in the United States.
UCF head women's basketball coach Gail Striegler and her players will be among the first to join in working on the project. "Each week, we'll rotate 15 to 20 athletes and coaches from various teams to work on the house so that many people get a chance to work on the project," said Striegler. "It's a terrific team building experience, and in the end, we'll all share the satisfaction of having given back something to a community that's so supportive of our University.
"Years from now, I think these students will come back to Orlando and be proud to show their own families the house they helped build while they were here," Striegler added.
Members of the football team are also expected to participate in the first building day that includes building and erecting the interior and exterior walls of the house. The other dates that UCF is slated to work on the house are June 18, July 16 and 23 and Aug. 6 and 27.
Atlanta-based HomeBanc, a mortgage banking company that focuses on originating purchase money residential mortgage loans in the southeast United States, has completed 25 Habitat for Humanity homes in Georgia and Florida toward the company's goal of building 100 Habitat homes. This year's house in Orlando will be built at 1215 West Kaley Street.
Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit that, with individual and corporate support and largely volunteer labor, has built more than 100,000 houses around the world.