Residents of Charlottesville's Sunrise Trailer Court have begun calling their home "Sunrise Park." Thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville's group and University volunteers, what could have been a tragic scenario became a heart-warming story of lending a helping hand.
Sunrise Trailer Court is located in the fast-growing neighborhood of Belmont, in Charlottesville. The value of homes in the surrounding areas has risen in the last decade, and new trendy cafes and restaurants ultimately made Sunrise Trailer Court an appealing piece of property for housing developers. To avoid displacing residents of the Trailer Court, in 2004 the owner of the property contacted Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to see if it could come up with a proposal for a mixed income neighborhood. The property owner accepted Habitat's proposal and sold Sunrise Trailer Court for to them for $1 million. Construction on Sunrise Park began last spring, and residents of Trailer Court still have a place to call home.
Sarah Parish, youth united coordinator for Charlottesville Habitat, said Sunrise Park is in its first stage right now with the construction of three duplexes.
"The idea is that it will be a mixed income community, meaning that there are multiple levels of this [the project]," she said. "There are Habitat Homes, market rate homes [and] senior citizens; there are single families; there are multiple kids families. It's an extreme mix of incomes and people in general."
This kind of large scale project requires a massive volunteer effort. University volunteers come out a minimum of two days a month for Saturday builds and they also have a schedule of weekday volunteers.
Fourth-year College student Leah Gold, the University Habitat building coordinator, said it is unprecedented to have a community where no one is displaced. "At this stage we are working on a lot of dry wall," Gold said.
The Habitat Club at the University does more than offer volunteer labor. "We raise a lot of money to be a co-sponsor on a house, " Gold said. This means that the club helps pay for the construction of a single family home that Habitat selects.
Gold explained that Habitat provides a helping hand, not simply a hand-out. "Most people are under the impression that Habitat is a giveaway program and are surprised once they become involved to learn that this is not the case," she said, noting that Habitat builds affordable homes with mortgages.
Habitat Club President Brittany Olivari described in an email the work homeowners put in alongside volunteers. "In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor (sweat equity) into building their Habitat house and the houses of others," she said.
Volunteers have the opportunity to meet Sunrise Park's residents by helping facilitate the monthly community discussions taking place at Sunrise. These meetings help foster a community among current and future residents of the neighborhood by generating questions for participants and making decisions as a group.
Olivari said she enjoys the time spent on-site. "Often times you are working on a job site with them, and having the chance to hear their stories and learn more about the people we are helping makes it worth the time we dedicate," she said.
Fourth-year Engineering student Caroline Dunn serves as the Youth United representative for Charlottesville Habitat and has seen the first-hand effects of aiding residents. "They are excited and motivated and it is rewarding to help them achieve their goal of owning the beautiful house we are building," she said.
Volunteering for Habitat also allows students to connect with the Charlottesville community, Dunn said.
"The most valuable part for students I think, U.Va. students specifically, is to almost break the bubble that they have living on Grounds or around the University," she said.
Parish added that the experience gives students insight into local issues. "Allowing them to come on site lets them see more of the Charlottesville community and almost what's underneath the community in terms of what they are doing for housing, because there is a huge affordable housing crisis in Charlottesville," she said.
In addition to gaining access to different experiences, University students who volunteer for Habitat are able to work on a project considered innovative in terms of affordable housing.
"Instead of building single homes on single lots, Habitat is building mixed income communities at Sunrise," Olivari said. "Habitat purchased Sunrise, which is a 16 unit trailer park, with the promise to residents living there at the time that after the construction [was] finished, they could live in the new community if they qualified and were interested."
She added that land and housing costs in Central Virginia have risen substantially throughout the past 10 years. "By moving away from single homes on single lots, land can be used more efficiently and create stable communities in Charlottesville," Olivari said.
With the combined efforts of Habitat, University volunteers and future residents supporting this new model, Sunrise Park may be the first of many neighborhoods of its kind.
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