HOMEAID INSPIRES LOCAL BUILDERS TO CONSTRUCT HOMELESS SHELTERS

HomeAid Houston, a 501 c 3 charity of the Greater Houston Builders Association reached out to several Builder Captains to find out what motivates and inspires them to build and remodel facilities run by non-profit homeless care agencies.  These agencies and their needs are identified by HomeAid.

HomeAid met with Builder Captain Mike Dishberger, CEO and co-owner of Sandcastle Homes to explain what motivates him to partner on HomeAid Care projects.  Mike has been a HomeAid board member and has participated in HomeAid remodel projects for 10 years.

In 2013, HomeAid and Sandcastle pooled experience and resources to give back to veterans by renovating the U.S. Vets Initiative’s 1000 sq. ft. lobby. The project was underwritten by Trendmaker Homes.

Builder Captain, Mike and his crew, demoed the huge reception area and its oversized counter, provided general carpentry, installed new flooring, gave a fresh coat of paint, and added new fixtures.   This enhancement provided a more welcoming environment for the 300 veterans who live there and gave them a place to visit, hang out, read and play games.

In 2017 Mike and his team, led by Nicole Keown, purchasing manager also remodeled a transitional living facility for A Caring Safe Place, an agency that provides crisis intervention services for men living with HIV who are also victims of drug abuse, abandonment and other forms of abuse.

The team renovated the kitchen with new countertops, a backsplash, and installed new appliances.  They also repaired and replaced portions of the flooring, applied fresh paint, both interior and exterior, and made repairs to the roof and trim work.

“There are so many benefits to being a HomeAid Builder Captain,” said Dishberger.  “Meeting the people these shelters serve; seeing their faces, getting to know them and understanding what their struggles have been is both enlightening and rewarding. We’ve been able to see the facilities when they need help the most, some of them have just been old houses that need refurbishing, others are large structures.  But it is easy for us to use our connections within the industry to make the improvements.  We spend about 4 to 5 hours a week on a remodel project.  That isn’t much time away from our own operation.  A Caring Safe Place was a larger project and it took us about 2 months to complete, and it didn’t cost us a thing.

“When we attend the dedication of these projects, that’s where we feel the impact on the time and effort we spent.  The residents’ faces say it all.  It is so obvious how much it means to them that someone cared enough to become involved and make their life a little brighter.  Most of them have never experienced this type of care, involvement and attention.”

HomeAid is finalizing the details that will initiate a project for Fort Bend Women’s Center (FBWC), the area’s primary provider of free, integral support services for survivors of abuse.  It will involve adding additional housing to their Rio Bend campus, that will ultimately add four beds for domestic abuse and sexual assault survivors.  HomeAid Houston is leading the search for a Builder Captain to construct the 3225 sq. ft. one-bedroom four-plex.