|
SARES-REGIS Honored for Rebuilding in New Orleans
|
|
 | |
|
These volunteers from the SARES REGIS Group, including suppliers, vendors and staff, rebuilt this home damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The home owners are on the right. |
SARES-REGIS Group, a builder based in Southern California, was honored by the National Housing Endowment — the philanthropic arm of NAHB — for helping rebuild two homes in New Orleans for low income residents as part of Rebuild 1000, a campaign to rehabilitate 1,000 homes along the Gulf Coast damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
|
|
 | |
|
Bill Albert and Ron Dyer of SARES-REGIS’s multifamily development and construction division. |
SARES-REGIS Group was awarded the 2006 Hurricane Katrina Relief Honorable Mention National Housing Endowment Builder Achievement Award for Outstanding Community Service — which includes a $1,000 donation to be directed to the charity of its choice — during the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.
SARES-REGIS is giving the donation to Rebuilding Together Orange County, an organization that brings together volunteers and communities to improve the homes and lives of low-income home owners.
Twenty-one SARES-REGIS employees traveled to New Orleans to rebuild two homes owned by elderly and disabled low-income home owners. They put on new roofs, added siding and repaired the interiors of both homes. In one, workers built a new kitchen.
“These were modest homes in New Orleans,” said Bill Albert, president of SARES-REGIS’s multifamily development and construction division. “They were on higher ground and spared from the floodwaters, but they were badly damaged by the high winds and rain.”
The repairs were completed three days before Thanksgiving.
Rebuilding Together’s efforts in New Orleans represented the first institutional initiative to renovate hurricane-damaged homes owned by needy people along the Gulf Coast.
“We believe in the goals of Rebuilding Together and are eager to assist in improving the lives of people who are desperate for help,” Albert said.
The two homes assigned to SARES-REGIS were slated for repair by Rebuilding Together before the storms hit, so the families were already known. The hurricane, however, made the need for quick action critical.
Skilled construction volunteers from Maryland helped the SARES-REGIS volunteers.
|
|
 | |
|
The SARES REGIS Group volunteers designed and built a porch for the home. |
“We are particularly appreciative of the investment of skilled workers who will make a difference in this rehabilitation work of New Orleans,” said Patty Johnson, the president of Rebuilding Together. “Bravo to SARES-REGIS Group for leading the way!”
“The National Housing Endowment is proud to honor the tremendous charity and effort of the employees of SARES-REGIS,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “Reading through their application, it was filled with letters from the families they helped on the Gulf Coast.”
“This is the perfect example of one person, one company truly making a difference in the lives of others. It’s an inspiration to home builders across the country, and serves as a model for our industry,” he said.
|
|
 | |
|
SARES REGIS Group volunteers wanted to complete the homes in time for Thanksgiving, so teams worked round the clock for seven days to get the jobs done. |
Twelve Others Honored With Builder Achievement Awards at IBS
 Twelve other builders were honored with gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention Builder Achievement awards during the presentation at the builders’ show.
For the complete list of the winners and a description of their projects, click here.
The awards were established through a grant to the endowment by Isaac Heimbinder, chairman of Potomac, Md.-based BuildTopia, a provider of Web-based construction management software for home builders.
For more information on this award, please visit www.nahb.org.
|
