As a young girl, Victoria Robertson and her family received the gift of a house from the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity. Ever since, the sophomore secondary education mathematics major has an interest in giving back to her community.Now Robertson will have the opportunity to volunteer for the organization that helped her, by joining the Point Park University Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, a student club newly recognized by United Student Government (USG).”I think [Habitat for Humanity] does really wonderful things for so many families, and I just want to give back because they helped us,” said Robertson in an interview in the Point Café on Thursday.Habitat for Humanity is an organization that works to provide good housing for people who need it throughout the world. Its local affiliate, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh, strives to help local families by building houses and restoring old ones.Some Point Park students with a passion for helping others came up with the idea to start a campus chapter while on the University’s alternative spring break trip last March.The club’s president, Laura Carmody, was one of the students who spent a week building houses with the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in San Francisco, Calif. Carmody wanted to continue that work back in Pittsburgh.”I was introduced to [Habitat for Humanity] in high school and fell in love with it,” said Carmody, Sophomore sport, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major, in an interview in the Lawrence Hall lobby on Tuesday.The Point Park University Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter is in the process of being officially recognized by Habitat for Humanity, but they are already holding weekly meetings on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. and making plans for future events and activities.”We want to have a lot of educational events that [inform] the campus and the public about substandard housing and homelessness and advocate for changes in legislation,” Carmody said.The club members also hope to hold fundraising events to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, along with volunteering opportunities and activities to raise awareness about homelessness.One event the club hopes to carry out in the fall is a sleep-a-thon, where club members sleep outside in cardboard boxes to spread awareness of homelessness while passing out information about Habitat for Humanity and its mission.”We definitely want to have a lot of fun events that get the campus involved but also educate about substandard housing and Habitat for Humanity in general,” Carmody said.For now, the club is focusing on gaining more members and getting established as an active group on campus. The club members plan to have a presence at the activities fair in the fall to attract new members.Robertson found out about the club through a flyer pinned to a bulletin board on campus, and she decided to go to a meeting. Because of Robertson prior experience with the organization, she knew this was a club that she wanted to be a part of because the Habitat for Humanity home in Braddock, Pa.”I want to get involved. I want to volunteer as much as possible. I want to have an impact on somebody,” Robertson said. “I think our group and the members we have are really dedicated and really into it, and I like that about them.”Junior business marketing major Anna Berish volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in the past, so she decided to continue her work by becoming the build chair for the Point Park University Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter. Berish responsiblitiees include planing and organizing builds, which are volunteer opportunities to build houses for people.Berish thinks the club will be beneficial to students as well as the Pittsburgh community.”[Habitat for Humanity] is a good organization because it seeks to do something obviously for someone else, but within that it also strives to have the people helping have their own type of special experience, which I think is unique to most organizations,” said Berish in an interview in the Lawrence Hall lobby on Wednesday.The club will be partnering with Point Park’s Community Service Club to volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore located in Edgewood, Pa., on April 27. The store sells donated, inexpensive home improvement goods and is run mostly by volunteers like the Point Park students who will be there on Saturday.Opportunities like this will allow students to give back to their community in a tangible way.”Obviously, there are a lot of ways to volunteer on campus …but [the Habitat for Humanity group] is a special one in the fact that it’s going to be constant, it’s well known and you know what you’re going to be doing,” Berish said. “It’s a good chance to make a difference.”For more information about the Point Park University Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter and to find out how to get involved, contact the group at [email protected].