U of M students put an end to board-em

A group of University of Memphis students put a creative twist on a seemingly dull, dirty day of service this weekend.

Saturday morning, 12 U of M and high-school students and a handyman from Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association worked together to board up an abandoned house at 360 S. Camilla. But instead of hammering plain, old plywood over the broken glass, they painted the boards to look like actual windows.

Honor Student Council's Philanthropy Chair and senior biomedical engineering major, Thien-Chuong Phung, organized and participated in the event. Phung has worked with MIFA previously, building wheelchair ramps and assisting with the renovations of homes. This is the first time he has boarded a house, he said.

"I enjoy doing these weekend projects because of the experience of observing others' faces," Phung said. "People are surprised because you're a complete stranger to the neighborhood yet here you are hard at work on a Saturday."

After years of neglect, the two-story house had several broken windows and some loose, rotted boards.

Phung said the last owners lived somewhere in California but were impossible to find.

U of M graduate and MIFA Handyman, Patrick Howie, said designing the boards to look like windows will keep the South Memphis neighborhood looking nicer.

"When people drive by, they won't even be able to tell it's abandoned," Howie said. "And also since we are minimizing damage, the house can be resold."

The boards are installed tightly to prevent people from entering and committing illegal activities, Phung said.

MIFA's overall vision is to unite the diverse community to address the problem of poverty. Boarding up abandoned homes is one of many projects the organization sponsors to improve the City of Memphis.

Howie said that with the help from the Urban Art Commission, the City of Memphis' Division of Housing and Community Development and other grants, MIFA aspires to do similar projects throughout the entire Memphis area.

"If this project shows a decrease in break-ins, home repair costs and law enforcement calls, we hope to use this house as a model for all of the City of Memphis to use," Howie said.

The students who spent their Saturday working on the house said they got more out of the job than a brush up on their painting, climbing and hammering abilities. Sophomore nutrition major, Paige Lewis, said that the experience helped her with teambuilding skills.

"Everyone here has been a real pleasure and shared ideas openly," Lewis said. "It makes me happy to get my hands dirty. Memphis needs students to get more involved like this."

Aaron Blackstone, a freshman economics and political science major, said that with his majors, planning is a significant factor. He said this project helped him think about the planning involved with infrastructure improvements.

"Our project demonstrated a key way to preserve property value and the neighborhood," he said. "There's a drastic difference between seeing regular plywood on windows and these painted boards. It gives a completely different feel."

The U of M group consisted mostly members of The U of M Helen Hardin Honor's Program, but others were also present.

The Helen Hardin Honor's Program has recently participated in other volunteer work around the city, including volunteering at the St. Jude Children's Hospital marathon, participating in cleaning efforts at Shelby Farms and assisting with an event at the Children's Museum of Memphis.

As far as future volunteer opportunities are concerned, the Helen Hardin Honor's Program plans to gather students together to build wheelchair ramps sometime in February.