UC, Habitat for Humanity ink P5-million deal

University of Cebu (UC) and Habitat for Humanity Philippines, a non-profit housing organization for the low-income generating families, officially formalized their P5-million partnership through a signing ceremony on February 8, 2019.

Margarita MoranFloirendo, Habitat for Humanity Philippines board member and ambassador, felt elated that UC has partnered with the organization.

“The youth is one of the leading voices in supporting our advocacy. We are grateful that University of Cebu is one with us in furthering our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live,” she said.

“Through this partnership, we will encourage more students to actively engage in community development and spark the spirit of volunteerism and genuine concern for those in need,” she added.

UC will support Habitat projects within the province in the next three years, including building new homes, youth empowerment through formation of campus chapters in university campuses and youth leadership training through the Habitat Young Leaders Build Leadership Academy.

The Leadership Academy is a two-day leadership training program that teaches young people to create a community vision tree, identify community issues, and implement a project to address the issues. This program is designed to give equal opportunity to all the youth to gain leadership skills while creating future socially conscious leaders.

“Part of our vision is to give hope and transform lives of communities,” UC Chancellor Candice Gotianuy said.

“We look forward to working with Habitat Philippines in making that a reality,” she added.

Also present in the signing were Atty. Manuel Elijah Sarausad (head, Legal Affairs Office AWG Group), Ofelia Mana (UC vice chancellor), Yummy Jalijali (Habitat for Humanity Asia-Pacific Resource Development), and Jose Rosel (Habitat Philippines Resource Development).