This holiday season, while most students are yearning for new clothes, the latest iPod or a PlayStation 3, a local family's wish to have a roof over its head might go unfulfilled.

Every year, students from the Ross School of Business raise money and build a house for an underprivileged family through Habitat for Humanity.

This year, the project hasn't gone smoothly.

The University's two Habitat for Humanity chapters raise between $25,000 and $30,000 each year. They combine that with a contribution from the Huron Valley chapter to fund the construction of a new home.

The Huron Valley chapter usually arranges about $25,000 worth of cash and materials in donations from various sponsors.

This year, the students raised their share of the money.

The Huron Valley chapter did not.

Sarah Stanton, executive director of the Huron Valley chapter, said every year the money "comes in pieces and parts."

This year, the puzzle didn't fit together.

The money just didn't come in, Stanton said. Some sponsors gave their funds to other organizations instead. Others simply ran out of money to give.

"Every year there is a certain amount of struggle," she said. "Eventually, we'll get the house built."

Damon Dance, president of the University's Ross Habitat for Humanity Builders Chapter, said that after realizing that Huron Valley would be unable to provide support early this fall, the University chapters asked the Eastern Michigan University chapter for help.

The EMU chapter made a verbal commitment, restarting construction.

However, EMU did not honor the agreement because of concerns that the partnership would not be in its best interest, Dance said.

Representatives from EMU did not return calls for comment.

It's not clear where the money to finish the house will come from. The main problem, Dance said, is that a family is already assigned to the house.

Kristina Diamantoni, a member of the executive board of the Business School's chapter, said the family will have to wait a lot longer to move into the house. They plan on finishing by April or May.

Diamantoni is the classified advertisement sales manager for The Michigan Daily.

Normally, a house is finished by mid-December, but in this case the mother and her three children will likely have to wait until spring to move in.

The exterior of the house is done and closed for winter, Dance said.

"We can stop building until funds are raised, possibly in the spring, or we can continue building with the hope of finishing in the next month if funds become available soon," he said.

The chapters are collaborating to try to figure out how to raise the additional money.

"We are working on possible loan scenarios with the intent of payback by April 2007," Dance said.

Typically, the money raised by students comes from a silent auction held during the winter term. Donations from various companies including Northwest Airlines, Whirlpool and Calphalon are auctioned off. Donations also come from faculty, staff and students.

Members of the Business School chapter said one solution is to use the money raised during the upcoming auction to finish this year's house.

Another option would be to find donors in the spring, Dance said, but he questioned the consequences of using the money for next year's house. It would likely result in the loss or delay of another house somewhere, he said.

Dance said the house needs to be finished as soon as possible.

"It's now or never," he said.