Construction in the Community the Project that Gives Back.

Each year my company participates in community build project called Hearts and Hammers. The concept is familiar to each of you, the all volunteer organization partners with Community Leaders, Churches and Code Enforcement Officials to identify homeowners in need and they in turn partner with Hearts and Hammers and our volunteers to provide some assistance. The is a great way for construction companies, architectural firms and our partners to give back in a way that makes since. We typically have access to the people, materials and generally possess the know how to assist in this kind of community project.

Over the decade or so I have participated with Hearts and Hammers we have worked on a number of these builds, we generally start out with a introduction to the property and the homeowner. At some point a walk is scheduled to determine what needs can be met. Over the next couple months materials are acquired, volunteers are recruited and a schedule is set.

The next part is a miracle, my team is but one piece of this puzzle. Hearts and Hammers normally is coordinating 35-60 of these project homes to occur over two weekends at the same time in September. Generally we have around 40 volunteers show up on our project house each of the two Saturday's and we spend the day scraping, removing/replacing rotten wood, caulking, priming and repainting, building decks or porches, planting and cleaning all around the house. The transformation is amazing and this is occurring on around 50 homes at the same time.

In most cases the home owners have never been touched in this way before and are simply in awe that so many people would turn out to help them with no expectation of reward or repayment. And the volunteers are equally benefited in ways I could not have realized prior to being a part of a team like this. There are very few team building exercises that allow individuals to get in the trenches with each other and sweat, solve problems and see a positive result in the course of a day. When you add to this the opportunity to share this experience with your partners in the industry you are getting a double dose of community in action.

So how does your organization give back to the community?

What team building exercises do you participate in to create a family atmosphere within your company?

How does this added dimension of community add value to your employees?

J. Hughes

Project Superintendent

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