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Star Home Builders Honored for Building Homeless Shelter
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At work at one of the computer workstations in the new Light Homeless Shelter in Winder, Ga. The shelter was built by Star Home Builders and members of the Barrow County Home Builders Association. | Star Home Builders, a single-family home builder based in Winder, Ga., was honored by the National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of NAHB, for leading an effort to build a much-needed homeless shelter in Winder, the county seat of the nation’s 20th fastest growing county.
Star Home Builders was awarded the 2006 Gold National Housing Endowment Builder Achievement Award for Outstanding Community Service — which includes a $10,000 donation to the charity of its choice — during the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. last month.
Star Home Builders chose The Light Homeless Shelter, the shelter the company helped build, to receive the donation.
Star Home Builders is the second builder to receive this prestigious award that honors builder, developer and remodeler members of NAHB for their exceptional philanthropic endeavors. Desert View Homes, of El Paso, Texas, won the gold award in 2005 for creating a social services organization and a building trades educational program in El Paso.
Taking the Lead on a Needed Project
Winder opened its first homeless shelter in 2004, but the city soon realized that the facility did not have the capacity to serve its homeless population. More than 100 people were turned away from the shelter during its first year of operation for lack of space.
Then, when a homeless man died from exposure while living in a tent behind a local store, Winder’s mayor made a personal appeal to the area’s building community, the Barrow County Home Builders Association, for help.
Star Home Builders answered the call on behalf of the HBA and took the lead on the project. And in particular, Tiffany Hudson, a Star Home Builders superintendent, made the shelter her personal mission.
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Tiffany Hudson | Helping Becomes Personal
“My father was actually committed to the project first,” Hudson said. “He was the one who recruited me. He wanted me to get involved and experience, first-hand, the joy that comes from giving and from doing something good for others in need.”
As the project’s superintendent, Hudson was responsible for getting material, labor and capital support contributions from subcontractors, the HBA and others in the community.
“Once the project was started, it became very personal,” Hudson said.
Initially, the city and building community planned on improving the existing shelter, but it quickly became apparent that much more work ― and a much greater commitment in time and resources ― would be needed. Instead of improving the existing shelter, they set about building a second shelter.
After more than a year-and-a-half of overcoming numerous obstacles and devoting 12-hour work days without weekend or holiday breaks to the project, the new, 40-bed Light Homeless Shelter was completed.
The $300,000, 5,000-square-foot shelter — the first of its kind in Winder — provides a roof and hot meal to 25 to 30 people every night. Shelter staff and volunteers also serve meals through the shelter’s soup kitchen to another 30 to 40 people nightly.
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Saying a prayer before serving a meal from the Light Homeless Shelter kitchen. | In addition to basic shelter needs, the Light Homeless Shelter also provides classes, counseling and other resources to help residents and others in the homeless community improve their lives.
Residents can take classes on money management, job skills and anger management in a large, central meeting area that is part of the shelter. There is also a computer learning room with six computer workstations. The computers, like the bedding and furnishings in the shelter, were all donated as a result of the builder’s efforts.
“The biggest thrills I got out of this project were the times I was surprised by the generosity of others,” Hudson recalled. “Tell someone you need 40 pillows and three hours later you’re unloading them.”
Winder’s first shelter is still in operation. It houses families and women with small children in need of shelter.
And Hudson is still involved, even though construction has been completed. She sits on the Light Homeless Shelter’s board of advisors and frequently consults with its director about fundraising efforts and day-to-day operations.
“I feel strongly that everyone should give,” Hudson said. “Large or small, material or time, we should all share what we can and be grateful for the lives we lead.”
“The actions of our members have a meaningful impact of their communities each and every day,” said Gary Garczynski, chairman of the endowment and 2002 NAHB president. “Star Home Builders is a true example of how one dedicated builder can tangibly improve the lives of others through their service.”
“This award shines a positive light on a builder bettering his community, and at the same time provides a source of inspiration for others and delivers a positive message about our industry,” Garczynski said.
 Twelve Others Honored With Builder Achievement Awards at IBS
Twelve other builders were honored with 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.
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