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Five HBAs Honored for Community Service Projects
 The National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of NAHB, recently honored five home builders associations for initiating a variety of community service projects last year that provided assistance for families and residents in need within their communities.
The community service projects honored include providing flood assistance in upstate New York; renovating facilities for incarcerated mothers and their babies in California; renovating an abandoned apartment building to house the homeless and disabled in Maryland; providing “no-cost” assistance to elderly residents in Florida; and a Builders Blitz in Alabama.
“These may be tough times for the housing industry, but tough times haven’t dampened the charitable spirit of this industry,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “The Association Excellence Award for Best Community Service Project honors the great contributions our members are making every day in the neighborhoods in which they live and work.”
Each of the HBAs received the endowment’s 2007 Association Excellence Award (AEA) for Best Community Service Project, which includes a $1,000 donation that is directed to the charity of their choice in recognition of their service.
The winning HBAs include:
- Southern Tier Home Builder & Remodelers Association
Endwell, N.Y.
Winner: 250 members or less
Members donated surplus supplies to help more than 200 families after a bad flood struck their community in upstate New York.
- Builders Industry Association of Southern California — Baldy View Chapter
San Bernardino County, Calif.
Winner: 251-500 members
Working with the California Institution for Women on its “Bonding Mothers and Babies” program, members renovated a 7,000-square-foot prison facility where incarcerated mothers will be able to bond with their newborn babies for up to 15 months instead of having the infants immediately placed in foster care. Members worked with inmate volunteers on the project.
- Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association
Silver Spring, Md.
Winner: 501-750 members
Members renovated a vacant, dilapidated apartment building to house eight formerly homeless and disabled individuals. The renovation, which cost nearly $900,000, was accomplished through a public-private partnership involving the HBA’s Home Builders Care Foundation and the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless Home First Program.
- Lee Building Industry Association
Ft. Myers, Fla.
Winner: 751-1,000 members
Through the association’s Builders Care program, members identify and help elderly and disabled residents with much-needed construction services at no cost. The HBA program helps many individuals who have fallen through the cracks and been denied assistance through other programs.
- Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders
Birmingham, Ala.
Winner: 1,000 or more members
The HBA partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham for the Home Builders Blitz. During the blitz, seven builder members built seven homes for seven families in Ensley near Birmingham, Alabama.
For more information, visit www.nationalhousingendowment.org.
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