About 15 students and volunteers gathered at the home of Mary Cox on May 1. The 59-year-old Cox relies on an oxygen tank to assist with her breathing. She suffers from chronic back problems and spends time in a wheelchair. Cox became a candidate for the construction of a ramp through her church, Cathedral of Christ the King. The ramp is the first of 12 construction projects the UW-Superior students planned for completion throughout the summer.

'Where the rubber meets the road'

This isn't the first time Dr. Bruce Kibler's "Principles of Management" course partnered with Habitat for Humanity. During the fall 2009 semester, students presented efficiency suggestions and a business plan to the Western Lake Superior Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors as part of the course's first academic service-learning requirement.

Habitat for Humanity Director Daryl Yankee said he and Dr. Kibler wanted to engage students by adding a physical portion for their second venture. "It's where the rubber meets the road, you know. You can have a great idea for anything, non-profit or for profit, but at some point the idea has to go from the head to the hammer in our case."

A growing partnership

Students were assigned to handle every aspect of the project from getting funds to gathering candidate names. Dr. Kibler lent his hand and got in touch with a friend who happened to be a pastor at Superior's Cathedral of Christ the King. The Reverand Andy Ricci says his church gathered donations the weekend before the project was scheduled to begin.

 "The final number is going to be $2,400. It was all raised over one weekend. I got up. I mentioned it. I put a basket out back. People gave it to me and we deposited it. It was really fun." The church ended up raising enough money to help one of its own, Mary Cox.

 'Stinkers'

Cox says she had no idea her congregation was coming together for her. "I missed church that day and my friend called me, 'You better come to church,' coming to church knowing that they were going to do it and I didn't know. They kind of did it behind my backâ€Â|stinkers."

 'Nobody loses, everybody wins'

UW-Superior marketing major Jamie Hebb says she's happy to give back. "I really liked working with Habitat. I'd do it again on a Saturday afternoon, instead of just doing, you know, sitting around the house or cleaning or what not. You know you can get out, you can help somebody like Mary. She's been in and out of the build site and you can just tell that she really appreciates that we're here, because otherwise, she'd have no way to continue to get in and out."

Ricci said his church raised enough money to fund another Habitat for Humanity project as well. "People were great. They just stepped up and said, 'Sure, this is a wonderful idea. I love it.' It's going to help university kids with some practical skills. It's going to help Habitat do part of it's mission effectively and well. It allows us to reach out to people. It allows somebody from within our community to continue to have access to her home. You know, nobody loses, everybody wins."

"Principles of Management" is part of the Academic Service-Learning program at UW-Superior. Academic Service-Learning enables students to apply concepts and skills they learn in the classroom and give that knowledge back to the community.