So you want to do faith-building with people from your parish? Team-building with people from your school?

How about house-building?

Habitat for Humanity Chicago is building a house named for Pope Francis as part of a larger project to build 16 homes on one block of Union Avenue just south of 119th Street in West Pullman. The house was funded, in part, with a $60,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor who was inspired by Pope Francis’ commitment to serve the poor.

The donor has given similar grants to several Habitat for Humanity organizations in different cities, said Jen Parks, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Chicago, with the charge to find local donors to match the $60,000 and teams to complete the building.

So far, about a dozen Catholic institutions have taken part in the building of the Pope Francis house, she said. They include parishioners from St. Mary of the Angels, 1850 N. Hermitage Ave., and Christ the King, 9235 S. Hamilton Ave., and students from St. Benedict Preparatory School, 3900 N. Leavitt St., and Queen of Peace High School in Burbank. Others have held fundraisers; Habitat for Humanity has commitments of about $14,000 of the $60,000 it must raise for this project.

Larry Campbell of nearby Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, 12433 S. Halsted St., has been working to get more Catholic groups involved and to integrate the Habitat for Humanity project into the neighborhood.

Parks said that’s a goal for Habitat for Humanity as well. To that end, the group has held events where volunteers have done outdoor maintenance and improvements with homeowners on neighboring blocks as they work on building the homes on Union Avenue.

Neighbors from other blocks have been invited to neighborhood meetings and to participate in the construction. Habitat for Humanity provided smoke detectors for 55 area homes that did not have them, Parks said.

“The idea is to build up the community,” she said. “We want them to know we’re in this together.”

Campbell said Ss. Peter and Paul would host a community Christmas tree lighting in conjunction with the Habitat for Humanity project on Dec. 7.

When the block of homes on Union is done, each will be owned by a family who has put in 250 hours of service to Habitat for Humanity, doing everything from construction to speaking to community groups. They also will have taken homeowner education classes and be paying off their homes — with no interest — over 30 years, enabling Habitat for Humanity to use the money to fund new projects.

The Pope Francis house is set to be the fifth of the 16 homes completed. Three are finished, five are under cons t ruct ion and eight more will be started in the spring.

“It’s been a really inspiring project,” Parks said.

On-site construction takes place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and is open to volunteers over age 16. Groups with minors must have one adult for every four teens, but construction instruction and supervision is provided, she said.

The Pope Francis house was expected to be enclosed — with walls and roof in place — so crews could work inside throughout the winter, with completion expected sometime around March, she said.

Campbell said he’s talked to about 20 pastors to ask them to send groups. Most are receptive, but a bit cautious.

“People usually say, ‘I don’t know how to do it,’” he said.

“That’s OK. It’s great when they get people who know construction, but if you don’t, they’ll teach you. And you might leave with a new skill. To me, it’s a win-win.”

For more information, visit www.windycityhabitat.org.