On a hot sunny Friday, nine of us from the law firm of Bachus & Schanker put aside our normal work dress attire for work jeans, hard hats and our signature lime green t-shirts to volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity build in Denver, Colorado.
We all have busy schedules and more than one of was stressed out about being out of the office for entire day with deadlines looming and who knows what’s happening to our in-boxes. But knowing that our hard work was helping a deserving family step closer to owning their own home made every hot, sweaty moment worthwhile.
The Habitat families we helped
In what has become a Bachus & Schanker tradition – this is the third year that our firm has participated in a Habitat for Humanity build; we are encouraged to volunteer for this build by founding partners J. Kyle Bachus and Darin L. Schanker as part of the firm’s corporate culture of giving back to the community. We spent the day honing our hammering and gluing skills. We worked along side our Habitat supervisors, Habitat volunteers, AmeriCorps volunteers and other volunteers like ourselves who just wanted to make a difference.
The subfloor is done!
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As the day worn on we became more confident of our “hammering” skills as the number of nails we pounded passed from the hundreds to the thousands. There’s something very gratifying watching the progress of a home you helped build take shape. As we pounded nails for the subfloor and then built and erected walls, it was fun trying to imagine where the kitchen would be, where the bedrooms would be. Would they put their kitchen table by this sunny window? Would the children run up and down this imagined hallway?
Melissa with glue gun in hand.
Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is a world-wide organization that provides affordable housing to those in need through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials.
Mallary, Sammer and Brittain taking a break.
A job well done!
-Habitat is not a giveaway program. In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor (sweat equity) into building their Habitat house and the houses of others.
-Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable loans.
-The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses.
Up goes another wall!
On a hot sunny Friday we helped build, not just a house, but a home—full of dreams of a new beginning for a deserving family.
