As college students, finding affordable housing off-campus is often a struggle, however, Habitat for Humanity’s new campus chapter is here to help.
According to Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Joel Downey, Starkville is ranked around the 73rd percentile of the nation for the cost of housing, while ranking in the 92nd percentile for the state.
“Pretty much only the coast is more expensive than Starkville,” Downey said.
While students have trouble finding affordable living off campus, there are also Starkville residents who cannot afford their housing, Downey said. Starkville’s Habitat for Humanity chapter has helped these residents for many years. 
“The affiliate itself is 32 years old,” Downey said. “It is pretty rare for a non-profit to survive 30-something years.”
While the city’s affiliate has been around for three decades, junior elementary education major Abbey Ragan became passionate about starting up a campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Ragan became involved with Habitat for Humanity this year and said she built relationships with everyone at the Starkville affiliate. Although she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Ragan said she wanted to serve the community even more.
“I asked if I could help out more and be a part of it beyond what they had,” Ragan said. “The current vista at that time was trying to see if there were any students who wanted to start a campus chapter, so I got connected with him. We started talking about what it would look like. I just took it and ran with it. I knew a lot of people who were wanting to get involved in some form or fashion.”
Ragan serves as the president of the campus chapter, alongside a board of four other students. Each board member serves as a leader for one of the five different teams in which students can volunteer.
The home-builders team will focus on building the Habitat for Humanity Restore. This store will consist of furniture, clothing and other items. All of the proceeds raised through the restore will go toward the campus chapter and Starkville affiliate’s project expenses.
Along with the home-builders team, the fund-builders team will focus primarily on raising awareness for Habitat for Humanity and creating many different fundraising opportunities.
While the fund-builders team needs to be creative for fundraising purposes, the media team will primarily focus on making blog posts, videos, flyers, bumper stickers and any other form of advertisement. There will also be a behind-the-scenes team for those who would like to gain accounting, clerical or administrative experience.
“All five teams are very unique and have these different purposes and ways for students to get involved,” Ragan said.
Meggan Franks, who is assistant director of the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement and oversees the Maroon Volunteer Center, helps students find their passion to make a difference for the community. Students who would like to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity or any other organization can get all of the information they need through the Maroon Volunteer Center.
“You (can) go to the Maroon Volunteer Center website at mvc.msstate.edu and click on ‘events’ to browse current volunteer listings, or click ‘login’ to access the MSU OrgSync calendar to register and view more information on volunteer events, including agency information,” Franks said. “Volunteers can view information on over 80 different local non-profits and volunteer groups. They can also log hours to earn volunteer awards.”
Those who volunteer will gain knowledge and help build the Maroon Edition house. According to Downey, the Maroon Edition house first started 10 years ago when the campus first participated in the common read program. The student body was encouraged to read “The Painted House” by author John Grisham. The Maroon Edition house is a tradition sponsored by both MSU and Habitat for Humanity.
“Since that time, we have had almost 3,000 students volunteer to build nine homes through Starkville Habitat, completing over 27,000 volunteer hours through the Maroon Edition Habitat for Humanity project alone,” Franks said.
Habitat for Humanity takes part in two different builds each year. In the spring, the Apostle house is built, and the Maroon Edition house is built in the fall.
“The fall house is the house reserved for Mississippi State students, staff and faculty volunteers,” Downey said. “A lot of classes will want their students involved. The university is a great resource. We’ve had engineering students who have drawn grading plans for us and just a whole bunch of different projects students do.”
According to Ragan, carpentry or social skills are not requirements to participate.
“You can be whoever you are and still get involved, be passionate and still have a place in Habitat for Humanity’s chapter,” Ragan said.
While the campus chapter is still getting started, the Starkville affiliate and MSU are currently working on the next Maroon Edition house for a local family.