Students in Apollo High School’s Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) collaborated with area realtors and their affiliates to raise $6,760 for Habitat for Humanity and Aid the Homeless.
Program director Melody Wallace said students and realtors had half of the time to design signs and sell raffle tickets as they had planned because of inclement weather. Last year, the JAG program built birdhouses for one month, and realtors had two weeks to sell raffle tickets. This year, the students created porch welcome signs in two weeks, and realtors and their affiliates had just one week to sell raffle tickets.
“There were certain elements, such as the weather and virtual days that impacted our timeline and impacted the time we had to design and advertise the welcome signs,” Wallace said. “I am so incredibly proud of the students for working hard in the allotted time and realizing that what they were working for was so much bigger than what they could see at the moment.”
Wallace said the switch from birdhouses to welcome signs was driven by a desire to create a product that was both functional and creative.
“As unique and fun as they were to build, the birdhouses started becoming more like dioramas,” Wallace said. “They were beautiful, but they lost their function. So this year, we decided to pivot to welcome signs — something people could actually use while still giving students a chance to express themselves artistically.”
The inspiration for the project came from JAG National, which originally encouraged students to support Habitat for Humanity. That mission has since evolved to focus on aiding the unhoused.
“My students have been amazing in taking the lead,” Wallace said. “They saw a post from Jessie Schartung, reached out to her, and made blankets. They invited Harry Pedigo to speak, then served a meal at the Pitino Shelter on President’s Day. These kids really got involved.”
Students also held interviews with realtors and selected partners they believed would be most effective in selling their signs. Each participating partner — ranging from realtors to title companies and Aid the Homeless board members — was given 100 raffle tickets to sell.
“The students actually interview them, and they choose their realtor based on who they think would do the best job selling,” Wallace said. “This year, we expanded beyond just realtors. We had new faces and new organizations supporting us.”
Aid the Homeless President Stephanie Rhinerson shared a story with students and those in attendance about an individual in the community who had been living in his car while trying to get back on his feet.
“Aid the Homeless will be able to use the funds that we raised to get his first month’s rent and utilities paid,” Rhinerson said. “And he is going to be able to lay his head down on a pillow in his own room at night instead of figuring out how to be comfortable in his car.”
Rhinerson said the impact of the students’ work is real and local.
“If you are wondering where this hard work is going and where this money is going — it’s to help individuals just like him be able to live a better life in the town we live in,” Rhinerson said. “Just being able to see you take control and be leaders and do this project with so much pride and hard work means so much to Aid the Homeless, Habitat, and our community.”
