The Lowell House community—already the second largest on campus—is about to become 22 units bigger.

After nearly a year of planning, Lowell House kicked off a groundbreaking partnership with Harvard Habitat for Humanity last weekend, sending 10 undergraduate volunteers to build affordable apartments in an effort to revitalize the local community in Dorchester, Mass.

Lowell is the first House to form such a partnership with a Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) community service organization.

And this is only the beginning of the project, as volunteers plan to spend three more weekends this semester and four next fall working in Dorchester at the Arrowhead site, named after its triangular shape.

Lowell volunteers will again venture to the site tomorrow and Sunday to continue construction on 22 units of low-income housing, a commercial area and a public playground.

The House has also committed to host a slew of fundraisers for the project. In accordance with national Habitat guidelines, each project partner must donate a certain amount—Lowell will raise $20,000 while Harvard Habitat and Boston Habitat will donate $10,000 each. Members of Lowell have already started fundraising, drawing $3,000 in a date auction held last Saturday night.

Lowell House Committee (HoCo) co-chair and project volunteer coordinator Stephanie L. Safdi ’05 says this partnership aims to foster House community.

“We’re bringing together everybody in Lowell House on some sort of level, whether it’s helping to build a house or coming to one of our fundraisers,” says Safdi. “We’re hoping if it’s successful, it can be modeled at other Houses as well.”

IF I HAD A HAMMER

Engaging other Lowell residents outside the project’s core planning group will be a major challenge, says Nadia L. Oussayef ’06, a volunteer coordinator.

“It’s great to have a few people dedicated to the project, but we need more than that. We need the whole House to get involved,” says Oussayef, who is also a Crimson editor.

Oussayef admits that last weekend’s turnout was “a little sparse.”

Lowell and Harvard Habitat can send a maximum of 21 volunteers any given day—with the goal being that the House sends two-thirds of the workers. Last Saturday, Lowell only sent 10 volunteers to the site and on Sunday, it canceled its trip.

Oussayef and other organizers say they hope the experiences of the volunteers that did attend will spark interest in the project.

“It was great. Getting away on a Saturday morning for a cause and having such different people come together and accomplish what we did is very gratifying,” Janice C. Jun ’06 says.