When members of the College of Mount St. Joseph football team say they're going to "raise the roof," they might be speaking literally.

Members of the team took advantage of a rare Saturday off in the fall to help build two Habitat for Humanity homes side-by-side near downtown Cincinnati.

The football players were especially helpful in raising the 16-foot walls of the houses, which had been prefabricated at the college because of site preparation delays at the home sites.

The Mount St. Joseph football team is no stranger to community service. Head coach Rod Huber asks that each of his players become involved in some type of community project each year.

Brian Harris, a freshman cornerback for the Lions, thought the experience was especially rewarding because so many football players participated.

"It was great to go as a team and to work as a team on the houses," he said. "It also was great having the (eventual house owners) there as we were working. I enjoyed it."

Harris also has volunteered in a community nursing home, and he plans to do as much community service as he can while in college.

"It's part of being a college student, first getting the opportunity to help out others and then actually doing it," he said.

The Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity is a private, nonprofit ecumenical Christian housing ministry that is dedicated to providing home ownership for families in need. Through cash contributions, volunteer labor and donated building materials, Habitat is able to sell homes to partner families on a nonprofit, interest-free basis.

The two houses were constructed by volunteers from the college and from the Westside Federation of Churches in a collaboration that is unique for Habitat for Humanity. The groups decided to work side-by-side on the houses since Westside is building its 10th house and could share its knowledge on best practices while Mount St. Joseph could provide significant muscle and many willing hands.

The Mount St. Joseph house will be inhabited by Michelle Miller and her two sons, who also worked at the site as a part of a sweat-equity agreement with Habitat.

Jason Hugentobler, a freshman safety, was pleased to make use of his previous experience doing house rehabilitation work in Cincinnati on this project for Habitat. Hugentobler also has helped out in the city's "Over-The-Rhine" soup kitchen.

If Harris and Hugentobler have anything to say about it, this won't be the last house the Lions build.

"Working together and helping each other out has brought us closer as a team," Hugentobler said. "The families who will live in the houses loved having us there and we enjoyed it, too."