Last Friday, our associates across the country stepped out of their offices and off the job site for a day for our fourth annual Founder’s Day celebration, marking the day nearly 62 years ago when our founder Gerry Rauenhorst signed his first contract.
Chicago
Volunteering with Rebuilding Together of Metro Chicago, the group worked at Fifth City Child Development Institute installing the school’s first water fountain in its 51-year history, painting and organizing to bring the facility in line with state mandates.
Denver
Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, our Colorado associates worked at the 9th & Mariposa Townhomes installing windows and insulation board.
Des Moines
Helping a homeowner who’d been in the same home for over 50 years, Team Iowa installed a basement handrail and lights, fixed a staircase so the elderly resident could go downstairs to do laundry and more with Rebuilding Together Greater Des Moines. Despite accomplishing a lot on Friday, the team is continuing to coordinate the installation of eight new windows and one exterior door.
Indianapolis
With a team of ten people, the Indianapolis office volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis, landscaping five homes from soil prep to planting grass seed and covering with straw.
Kansas City/St. Louis
Our two Missouri offices met in the middle and volunteered with the Show-Me Central Habitat for Humanity in Columbia, Mo., where our current University of Missouri student housing development – District Flats – is located. The team really used elbow grease to clean the side of a current Habitat home.
Milwaukee
Volunteering with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, our Wisconsin team put the floor deck down on two houses in the city’s Washington Park neighborhood.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis associates separated into eight sites with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together Twin Cities.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
New Build – Columbia Heights
This group laid sod, completed smaller landscaping projects and built an accessibility ramp.
New Build – Northeast Minneapolis
Along with various interior and exterior projects, the group installed exterior siding and a retaining wall.
Panel Plant – Minneapolis
Working in small crews, associates assembled the wall panels that will be used to frame Habitat homes around the metro.
ReStore - New Brighton
The Twin Cities’ lone ReStore funded three Habitat homes last year. Volunteers here arranged and organized merchandise on the floor and built a pallet bench and various other repurposing projects to give shoppers additional ideas for uses of the donated materials and furniture.
REBUILDING TOGETHER
Robert's Home - St. Paul
Because of his limited mobility, Robert’s home needed critical repairs to impact his quality of life, including reinforcing his bedroom floor, repairing the garage roof and replacing the porch decking.
Bill’s Home – St. Paul
Despite losing his eyesight in the ‘80s, Bill still lives an active lifestyle. The team repaired his sidewalk, sorted and organized his possessions, caulked windows and more.
Lois’ Home – St. Paul
Lois has lived in the same home for the past 50 years, and needed help with maintenance and upkeep. The group replaced the garage roof, repaired stucco and installed a bathroom window.
Farnsworth Aerospace School – St. Paul
Volunteers at Farnworth, a charter school serving largely low-income students, helped with the flight simulator and science classes and weeded and planted in the outdoor gardens.
Phoenix
The Phoenix group volunteered with Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona alongside future-homeowner Claudia and her family. They painted, hung doors and completed other punch list items in anticipation of Claudia moving in.