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John Wieland Homes Honored for 'High Five' Hurricane Relief
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John Wieldand Homes and Neighborhoods donated the profits from the sale of this and four other popular homes to provide hurricane relief for the first responders of Hurricane Katrina. The company raised $1 million. |
John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, a builder based in Atlanta, was honored by the National Housing Endowment — the philanthropic arm of NAHB — for its “High Five for New Orleans” Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
The company, which builds an average 1,600 homes annually, donated the profits from five of its homes built in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Raleigh, Va. to the rebuilding project. In addition, Wieland Company employees donated more than $70,000 for immediate relief efforts directly after the disaster, which the company’s charitable arm, Second Mile, tripled.
For its efforts, the company 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. The award was presented during the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. earlier this year.
John Wieland is giving the donation to the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, which was founded in 1995 to support New Orleans Police Department operations.
“I had an opportunity to tour the devastation personally in New Orleans and the scale of it was truly unbelievable,” John Wieland said.
Wieland focused on rebuilding instead of relocation — so that first responders could stay in the cities they serve.
While visiting New Orleans, Wieland and several employees noticed that the trailers set up for police officers could not be used because the electrical hookups had never been completed. The company paid one of its electricians to go to New Orleans to provide electricity to 37 trailers.
“We believed this was an important and timely project for our company to undertake,” Wieland said. “We felt a real call to focus on the first-responders — the people who stayed on the job there and saved lives and lived under hardship.”
“We are honored to be recognized nationally for an effort that has meant so much to our company, employees and trade partners who have contributed to making this undertaking a success,” said Karissa George, the company’s director of diversity and community relations.
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John Wieland Homes enlisted the help of its employees and trade partners when providing relief for Hurricane Katrina victims and first responders. |
“The National Housing Endowment is honored to bestow this award to John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 1992 NAHB president. “Ensuring that the first-responders had a roof over their head allowed these incredible service people to focus on the things that mattered — saving lives. The charity of this company, and its dedication to providing for the providers, is an utmost example of how the housing industry is bettering our communities.”
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, visit www.nahb.org.
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