May 05, 2017 05:19 AM EDT By Anne Collins, UniversityHerald Reporter

This week on Ho Plaza, Cornell students have been assembling wood into trusses, the support structure for a house's roof as part of the Cornell Habitat for Humanity's new project. The trusses will be used to build affordable housing in Tompkins County for families who lived in substandard housing.

Chuck Newman, construction manager for Habitat for Humanity said there will be two families that will live in the house. One of them is a single mom with two girls, which Newman said is his hero. The other family is Moroccan and Muslim. Newman added that both families are working poor but are also amazing people who work hard and do amazing things.

Newman oversees the Truss Days project for both Tompkins and Cortland Counties. It is an annual event where Habitat for Humanity members builds trusses over the course of a week. Newman said the Cornell Habitat members raised money to buy the materials and Ithaca College also got involved in the project, which allowed them to build 11 more trusses, a total of 22 trusses from Cornell and IC, The Cornell Sun reported.

Apart from Truss Days, Cornell also supports Tompkins County Habitat for Humanity throughout the academic year. Student volunteers help with local building opportunities and improvement projects through weekly work trips and winter and spring break trips.

Cornell Habitat for Humanity members also seek to educate the community on the importance of accessible housing by increasing awareness through advocacies. They teach families in need about the importance of affordable and safe housing.

Elbert Mets '17, chapter president said he decided to join the Cornell Habitat chapter after he learned how homeownership positively correlates with outcomes, such as children's educational achievement. Member Ankit Rana '19 said the best reward was also seeing the smiles, appreciation and excitement of the families after completion of the major projects.

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