2011 Community Service Award Winners
MidSouth Building Supply
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The Home Builders Care Foundation (HBCF), the 501 (c) (3) Non-Profit Community Outreach Program affiliated with the Maryland National-Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA), announced its winners of the 201q Community Service Awards last evening at the association's January dinner meeting. The award is presented annually to individuals or organizations affiliated with the local home building industry in recognition of significant contributions to the community through unselfish efforts and dedication in support of projects that help the poor and disadvantaged in our communities. Two Tom Sawyer Awards, one Directors’ Award and one Community Builder Award were presented by HBCF President Hugh Carroll.
The first award of the evening, a Tom Sawyer Award for in-kind assistance, was presented to MidSouth Building Supply. MidSouth played a key role on a renovation project for St. Ann’s Infant and Maternity Home in Hyattsville MD. For 150 years, St. Ann's has been caring for the poor in our Nation’s Capital. Today St. Ann's operates three residential programs and a community day care center and serves over 300 people each year. Their Children’s Residential Program provides care for infants and young children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. This past summer, Home Builders Care led a renovation of the Children’s Wing to help make the facility look and feel more like a home. Before the renovation, there wasn’t much common space in the dorm-style wing and the kitchen dated back to 1961. Construction plans called for a wall to be knocked down and the kitchen expanded to not only improve the dining area, but also serve more as a gathering place for older children. The bulk of the project called for new cabinets, countertops and flooring. The project received a tremendous boost when MidSouth, a local distributor and long-time MNCBIA member, made a key 100% in-kind donation of upgraded kitchen cabinets and countertops. The next Tom Sawyer Award was presented to the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), Washington DC former players’ chapter, a group of gentleman with whom builders have had the pleasure to work side-by-side with at St. Ann’s. HBCF and the local NFLPA chapter came together in 2011 with Touchdown for Homes, a new nationwide charitable outreach program of the National Association of Home Builders and the NFLPA that aims to bring together local home builders’ associations and former NFL players to strengthen communities by building or renovating homes for children or families in need and veterans. The Touchdown for Homes program launched in Washington DC with the St. Ann’s project and members of the former players’ chapter were excited to play a key role. As Calvin Snowden, president of the chapter who played defense for the Cardinals, Bills, and Chargers, said, “Every child and every family should have a safe, comfortable place that feels like home, whether it is temporary like here at St. Ann’s, or a permanent home to call their own.” With Spain Musgrove, a former Redskin, coordinating chapter volunteers, the players helped lay flooring, install cabinets and paint. The Directors Award, recognizing an MNCBIA member who helps broaden the vision of Home Builders Care, was presented next to Newport Partners, who helped spear-head HBCF’s first energy-retrofit project. The project was for Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a Washington DC nonprofit that seeks to improve the lives of homeless, runaway and disconnected youth in the nation’s capital. Each year, over 1,500 youth and 5,000 of their family members receive shelter, transitional living, counseling and a wide range of support from Sasha Bruce. By lending their energy expertise, Newport helped HBCF’s HomeAid Washington DC chapter obtain the first $40,000 of grant funds from a new national Environmental Sustainability Program (ESP) funded by a grant from the Walmart Foundation to HomeAid America. The purpose of the Walmart ESP grant program to HomeAid is to retrofit existing shelter facilities with energy efficient upgrades, allowing the service providers to reduce their operating costs on energy by 40%. In the case of Sasha Bruce’s REACH program, this amounted to $5,000 a year. Additionally, Newport helped secure an in-kind donation of $10,000 in sophisticated monitoring equipment from the US Dept. of Energy to study the future energy use of the home after project completion. The final award of the evening, the Community Builder Award, was presented to Miller and Smith Homes, who undertook a whole house renovation for the Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children (CSAAC) in Gaithersburg, MD. CSAAC is the largest provider in the nation to serve individuals with autism exclusively with comprehensive programs from early childhood through retirement. CSAAC homes provide individuals with an alternative to living in an institution or in their parents' homes, and allow residents to exercise independence as adults. The $90,000 renovation included adding a third bedroom and a third full bath to accommodate a new resident. Additionally, the kitchen and two existing baths were completely redone, whole house worn-out carpeting was replaced with more durable flooring, and other improvements were made to enhance the dignity of the home. To complete the job, Miller and Smith secured the services of over 20 subcontractors and suppliers, and in-kind donations to the tune of over $58,000. The cooperation, dedication and spirit of these 2011 Community Service Award Winners are excellent examples of why the Home Builders Care charitable construction program succeeds in helping end homelessness by improving the lives of at-risk individuals and families in our communities. |
