Home Builders Care Foundation Serving Southern Maryland

by John Johnson
Southern Maryland - This Is Living
Spring, 2001

Chip Merlin wants to counter the popular image of homebuilders as despoilers of forests and environments. Instead, he and other builders hope to demonstrate that they do care about their communities and it is through the Home Builders Care Foundation that he is doing just that. The foundation is the charity arm of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA), which includes builders in Southern Maryland. Through the foundation, the builders donate their construction skills, and materials to help numerous community organizations. Having recently completed a 100-bed homeless shelter in Rockville, the builder’s foundation hopes to establish a similar facility in this area.

“I want to stay focused on doing good deeds,” said Merlin, who recently ended his term as the foundation’s president. Merlin is vice-president of operations for K. Hovnanian in Virginia. “There are those less fortunate who are working through the difficulties that life presents, and we as builders can bring our resources to help them,” he said.

Local beneficiaries of the foundation include the Spring Dell Center and the Waldorf branch of the Tri-County Youth Services Bureau. More recently the builders assisted Lions Camp Merrick in Nanjemay, a summer facility for deaf, blind and diabetic persons. The builders replaced the gravel paths between the camp’s buildings with paved walkways. Besides improving mobility for blind campers, the new paths also improved accessibility for emergency vehicles. Charles County Asphalt of Waldorf donated 350 tons of paving material for the walkways. Foundation members raised $7,500 to cover labor costs associated with the paving. “We’re always looking to build a partnership with the building community,” said Robert Rainey president of Lions Camp Merrick. “The success of our program depends a great deal on the support that we get.”

The Men’s Emergency Shelter in Rockville, the foundation’s cooperative venture with the Montgomery County Council, opened its doors in November. The 100-bed facility replaced two overcrowded trailers on the same site. “You wouldn’t think that in Montgomery County, which is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, there would be a need for a homeless shelter,” said Bob Heier of Ben Dyer Associates, the MNCBIA’s vice president for Charles County and a member of the builder’s foundation. For this large project, the foundation recruited help from the accounting, engineering and legal professions as well as from its member builders. The donations included $1000,000 in cash and $600,000 in labor and materials. “The momentum we had was great, and we had tremendous support.” Merlin said.

With the foundation committed to a similar project in this area, Merlin is looking for the community’s help in identifying the specific needs. “We hope that 12 to 16 months from now, we’ll have identified a substantial project in Southern Maryland similar to Rockville. Now that we have that experience under our belts, it will be easier the second time.” Merlin said. Why a homeless shelter? “You see abused and battered women, you see homeless children, you see people fighting these demons in their lives, and we can help,” he said. “We need local builders to believe in out vision so we can get some participation in this project.”

“This is a great organization. It’s great to use the skills you have at work for such pure causes. It’s very rewarding,” Merlin added. “It surprised me how many people are doing good things. People are very giving of themselves. It reaffirms my faith in humanity.”