Everyone Deserves A Place to Call Home
We believe everyone deserves a place to call home. While we love transforming the lives of all of our clients by transforming their homes, one of the most rewarding experiences for our company over the past year was giving back to our community by overseeing the planning and construction of two homes in just five and one-half days for Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity. In 2014, for the second time in four years, in 2014 we chaired Merrimack Valley Habitat’s Home Builders Blitz, a nationwide Habitat for Humanity event that supports the organization’s vision of “a world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
Builders Blitz Background
As part of this nationwide event, we built two houses in one week in the Lower Tower Hill section of Lawrence, MA, continuing Merrimack Valley Habitat’s transformation of this neighborhood where they have already built more than 40 homes over the last 28 years. Working closely with a team of six construction companies,* we spent 9 months meticulously planning the details of the five day build so that it ran smoothly. Labor and materials were donated by many businesses in the local building industry so that the homes could be built by a professional team quickly and at little cost, with over 300 professionals volunteering time during the Blitz week.
*2014 Builders Blitz Lead Builders: Cote & Foster Construction, JSR Adaptive Energy Solutions, Lavallee Plumbing & Heating, Red Phoenix Construction, The Remodeling Company, Steeplechase Builders
A Hand-up Not a Hand-Out
Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity builds homes for very-low-income families in need of housing. The homes are built in partnership with future homeowners working alongside volunteers to construct their homes. At the end of the build, homeowners purchase their home with a no-interest mortgage from Habitat. Our Blitz families, educated and hard-working, both came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo after being granted asylum here. With five children in each of the two families, they were grateful for this chance to build a better life, and we were honored to be part of it by building a safe, decent home for them and their children.
Recognitions
After the project was completed, we were surprised and honored to be recognized with two awards. Enterprise Bank honored our team with their 2014 Celebration of Excellence Corporate Philanthropy Award, which celebrates a local for-profit business that has harnessed the power of their assets resources, and visibility to make a significant positive impact on their community. The Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston also celebrated our team with the 2014 Gold PRISM “Community Spirit” Award in recognition of working with our industry colleagues to give back to our local community.
Join us in giving Back to the community
To learn more about Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity and how you can get involved, please visit their website: http://www.merrimackvalleyhabitat.org/
