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RIT students, staff help Habitat for Humanity build homes

James Brown WXXI

Rochester Institute of Technology students, staff and faculty have again joined Flower City Habitat for Humanity to build houses -- or at least start them -- on campus.

In the second year of a partnership, about 200 people took shifts Wednesday building parts of houses in a parking lot near RIT dorms. The two houses will eventually be reconstructed on Jay Street in Rochester.

Flower City Habitat for Humanity CEO Matthew Flanigan said these houses are bigger than most they build.

“These are five-bedroom houses, so that’s a good size, usually our houses are about three bedrooms, but these are for two families with special needs and or large families,” Flanigan said. “One of the families has nine children.”

Megan O’Neil, an RIT student and president of the campus Habitat for Humanity chapter, said it’s about paying it forward.

“There might be a time in in the future where I might need help from other people, and I feel that right now, I have the chance to give back, so I should,” said O’Neil.

Flanigan said he plans to unveil the final product during a gala event at the Main Street Armory later this month.

James Brown is a reporter with WXXI News. James previously spent a decade in marketing communications, while freelance writing for CITY Newspaper. While at CITY, his reporting focused primarily on arts and entertainment.