Seton Hill University has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity since 2003. The dedication of these students, faculty and staff members has led Setonians to many places, allowing them to form connections that have left lasting impacts on their lives.

"They all seem to come together as one great family, and they know that they’re there for a bigger, better cause."

“There is something special about this hill and what it does to people,” says Darren Achtzehn, who is the Food Services Director and Habitat for Humanity Advisor at Seton Hill. “The faces change, but the actions do not. In my entire career, it has always amazed me – these students don’t just meet expectations, they exceed them. The common denominator is that they are here, at Seton Hill. They’re learning something here that instills in them a need to foster relationships bigger than what they have around them.”

Darren, along with Seton Hill’s Coordinator of Service Outreach, Marissa Haynes, took a group of students to Virginia during the 2019 January term. “These folks are ‘closers’ – they don’t want others who come behind them to be responsible to fix something that they’ve built or done,” Darren says of the students that he has worked with. “They all seem to come together as one great family, and they know that they’re there for a bigger, better cause.”

These service trips have touched the lives of many, prompting the start of an additional Alumni Habitat for Humanity trip. Former Seton Hill students who have graduated and moved into the working world are giving up their vacation time to join in and help out.

“These students come together with such great tenacity and know that they’re making an impactful difference. But they also know that they’re not going to see the end of any one of these projects. They recognize that life is like a puzzle – sometimes you don’t have all of the pieces, and those that are missing are meant for others to find. The way their stories intertwine with others becomes very special to them, and they should be proud of the great contribution that they have made.”