Planners of HomeAid Northern Virginia’s First Annual Golf Tournament were looking for a way to provide some fun for builders and trade partners, and they hoped a full morning of golf—along with the requisite light-hearted competition between foursomes—would also provide the perfect venue for HomeAid, builders and trade partners to connect and bond over something other than a project or luncheon.

Sure enough, the planners were proven right when HomeAid staff, board members, and a sold-out field of 140 golfers descended on Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club in Leesburg, Va., on a gorgeous October day. The enthusiastic group, along with two dozen sponsors, quickly established the event as a hugely successful, trademark event, which raised more than $40,000. All of the funds will go toward supporting HomeAid’s mission of providing quality housing for families and individuals facing homelessness.

“The Golf Committee members and everyone on the HomeAid staff wanted this to be a quality, affordable event at a top local venue in order to give back to trade partners and builders who have helped us in so many ways,” said Jason McDonough, co-organizer of the tournament, HomeAid board member, and senior vice president at Cardinal Bank. “We didn’t want to overwhelm people, especially with the Gala coming up in November. We just wanted to fill the house and have a great day of golf, and we did. We’re already excited about next year.”

Many thanks to all of our sponsors—First Heritage Mortgage, LLC, Buhl Electric, Builders Floor Service, Michael Harris Homes, John Darvish Construction Company, Century Tile, Creekstone Communities, Masonry Design, Academy Mortgage Corporation, BASF, Carrington Homes, Walker Title & Escrow, & The Roof Center. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Congratulations to the following golfers, who took home winning bragging rights following HomeAid’s First Annual Golf Tournament!

HomeAid Northern Virginia, Drees Homes, and 11 trade partners have completely renovated 12 bathrooms for Transitional Housing BARN, Inc., giving the dozen families living there, all of whom are women and children, the opportunity to start and end their days in clean, new facilities.

“It’s been an amazing project, and the moms who have seen the change from old to new are just so excited, especially because those with small children now have tubs they can bathe their younger kids in,” said Colin Davis, executive director at BARN. “These new bathrooms have made such a difference for our residents, who can welcome each day in clean, bright, and new surroundings, and the project has made a big difference for us, too. We were constantly having to make repairs and replace floorboards and drywall that were getting wet and moldy from leaks—it’s just great to have everything looking and working so beautifully now!”

Skip Causey, HomeAid board member and division president at Drees Homes, which served as the Builder Captain, agreed that the $42,500 project was long overdue.

“The rest of the BARN building is really nice and very welcoming, but the bathrooms were a big contrast—while everything was working, it was outdated and had been repaired so often that it just wasn’t an inviting place to be,” Causey said. “Gutting and remodeling these bathrooms was just our way of taking part in the great work that HomeAid does for a community that has been so good to us. It’s always rewarding to build a home, but nothing compares to working on a home for someone who is moving in after they’ve had nothing. To hear a five-year-old ask, after they’ve seen a bedroom with fresh sheets and a new bathroom, ‘Mommy, is this really all for us?” is unlike anything else I’ve done in my professional life. It’s an honor to use our experience, knowledge, and connections to help others get back on their feet.

“I’d also be remiss in not recognizing Lucky Simmons, my construction manager,” Causey added. “He took this job on himself because his supervisors had other commitments, and he worked closely with HomeAid and BARN, coordinating all of the necessary work until it was complete. This project was not without its challenges due to the age of the building, and Lucky tackled those setbacks head on.”

BARN is set up in neighborhoods of four family units of bedrooms and bathrooms, so to protect residents’ privacy and minimize disruptions, Drees and trade partners accepted the logistical challenge of working in three phases, completing four bathrooms per neighborhood and then waiting for families to move in and get settled before moving on to the next phase.

ARS
Atlantic Building Supply
Atlas Plumbing
Construction Applicators
Kellogg
Nicholas Trucking

R.C. Hawkins
Stock Building Supply
T.A.C. Ceramic Tile
Timberlake
Virginia Cleaning & Punchout

Builder Captain CarrHomes and 10 trade partners have put the finishing touches on a $15,500 project at Cornerstones, where they renovated the kitchen and made cosmetic and electrical improvements and upgrades to the rest of the home. Thanks to the following trade partners’ donations, Cornerstones was able to redirect the full value of the project toward supportive services—such as employment placement, childcare, and trust accounts—for the family who moved into the property from a shelter.

Many thanks to Brookfield Residential and nine trade partners, who also completed a $23,600 project at the Alexandria Women’s Shelter (AWS), which helped make residents feel more in command of their surroundings through improved organization and storage systems; provided a more welcoming atmosphere through cosmetic improvements and structural updates; and increased security at the home with new door locks and a closed circuit television system. Additional funding by United Way and the Van Metre Foundation, each of which provided $10,000, will help support AWS programs and services for residents. The project marked the first time HomeAid partnered with the City of Alexandria and the Women’s Shelter. Thank you!

Special thanks to the following trade partners:

Read more about both of these projects in the August issue of Building Hope.

Supporting your favorite charity should be fun, and Kendra Scott, a specialty store known for its kaleidoscope of beautiful accessories made of natural stone, as well as customizable jewelry, has teamed up with HomeAid Northern Virginia to host a Kendra Gives Back Party on Thursday, November 19, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The event will be held at Kendra Scott’s Mosaic District location, at 2920 District Ave., Suite 125, in Fairfax/Merrifield, Va., and 20 percent of all sales will benefit HomeAid. Shoppers can also enjoy “sips and sweets” throughout the evening.

Please make plans to attend with colleagues and friends, and remember that your purchases will not only help you with your holiday gift shopping, but it will also support our mission of building and renovating homes for the homeless.

Kendra Scott, founded on a philosophy of “Family, Fashion, Philanthropy,” has grown in its commitment to “what matters to you, matters to us” by giving back to national charities, hometown crises, local organizations, and other charitable efforts through these shopping events; in the past year, the company has donated $1 million and 50,000 pieces of jewelry.

Women in the Building Industry (WBI)—a women’s professional group founded by NVBIA members—has committed to joining our effort of putting together “Welcome Home Baskets,” full of household items and cleaning supplies for the formerly homeless individuals and families moving into our finished projects.

WBI will be collecting items from members, as well as accepting donations from non-members, from now through their fall social event on November 13, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., at Sunset Hill Vineyard in Purcellville, Va. The event is open to members and non-members and will help prospective members learn more about this growing group of women who regularly gather for education and training, community service, and networking.

“When we learned about these welcome baskets, Lauren Duvall, co-chair of WBI’s community service committee, explained, “we realized it would be the perfect way to incorporate our desire to give back and participate in charitable giving, while also expanding partnering opportunities between NVBIA and HomeAid. Each of our members is posting a flyer within our individual companies, and we’re hoping to assemble multiple baskets right after our event later this month. It makes us feel good knowing that we can help make the move-in process easier, especially for those who might not have the resources to purchase all the things you need when you first move in to a new home.”

HomeAid talks regularly with caseworkers to determine exactly what their clients need most, and we have a long list of recommended items: Please contact Christy Eaton if you would like to coordinate a basket drive at your workplace, neighborhood association, or any other group. Many thanks to WBI for your contribution!

HomeAid and Stanley Martin Homes are closing in on the dedication of our biggest project of the year—a new, 5,000 square foot home for Youth for Tomorrow (YFT), which will provide a safe and secure home for pregnant teens, young mothers, homeless and runaway youth, and survivors of sex trafficking. We’ll celebrate the completion of the project at HomeAid’s 14th Annual Gala and Auction on November 7; stay tuned for the project’s official dedication, which will be held in December.

In anticipation of the completion of the Youth for Tomorrow home, we’ll be highlighting some of the 125+ trade partners who worked on the enormously important project. The project represents a new life for hundreds of girls over the coming years, along with an estimated $750,000 investment in the community, nearly 70 percent of which were donated by Builder Captain Stanley Martin Homes and its trade partners.

Total Development Solutions (TDS) and team members from PRK Drilling and Blasting, Concrete Pipe and Precast (CP&P), Water Works Supply, Inc., and Luck Stone, played an integral role at the start of the project, installing approximately 650 linear feet of sewer/water lines, as well as providing the building pad for the new home. The installation of this infrastructure took about a month due to exceptionally rocky conditions below grade, which required blasting of the building pad and the entire trench, from pump station to the building pad.

“The coordination between the civil engineer, utility companies, and TDS and its team was seamless,” said Mike Cleary, corporate vice president of purchasing and quality for Stanley Martin Homes. “The whole team was just outstanding, and Rick DeMerle, vice president of business development at TDS, provided the needed leadership, experience and guidance.”

The biggest challenge, DeMerle agreed, was bringing sewer lines in because of the extremely hard rock so close to the surface, which required very precise blasting around existing utilities and buildings. After initial meetings with the Prince William County Inspection Branch and Prince William Service Authority, the installation was accomplished with approximately a dozen men, heavy excavation equipment, and rock drilling equipment, along with special mats to protect the existing buildings from damage caused by flying rock during the actual blasting.

“We have been supporters of HomeAid for quite some time,” DeMerle said, “but this is the first time we’ve had the opportunity to get our hands dirty and do what we do best—build something. Most of our 260 employees live in the Northern Virginia area, so it was nice to be able to provide help on such a worthwhile project in an area where our people live, as well as to give back to the industry and the community.

“We’ve also worked with Mike for years, and once we learned he was going to be involved, it gave us the confidence that it would be a well-handled project,” he added. “Stanley Martin Homes’ Eric Schneider is the project superintendent and did an amazing job coordinating the trades and clearing obstacles. We enjoyed working on this project a great deal—it was a great experience, start to finish.”

TDS has been developing land for residential builders, and local, national, and commercial developers for more than 17 years. As part of their parent company KT Enterprise, a Chantilly-based commercial landscape company, they started as a construction management team and grew into one of the largest residential full service site contractors in Northern Virginia.

Heritage Contracting is a long-time partner for HomeAid, and provided all of the framing labor for the Youth for Tomorrow (YFT) home, as well as the installation and labor of the interior hardware finishings, such as bath accessories, shelving, and door hardware.

“Heritage has participated in every one of our volunteer efforts,” said Mike Cleary, corporate vice president of purchasing and quality for Stanley Martin Homes, “and they’ve been involved from the start with HomeAid Northern Virginia, too. Jim Stagi and Scott Akers, owners of the company, are always on the front line and personally involved with these projects, ensuring that the level of quality and performance meets the highest standards. They’re incredibly committed to serving the community.”

Heritage dedicated a crew of five to eight men over two weeks during the first phase of involvement, and then additional manpower during the second phase to install the interior finishes.

“We got into new home construction in 1996, and when HomeAid was founded in 2001, it was a no-brainer to get involved,” said Stagi. “Even when the building industry was at its worst during the recession, HomeAid and its partners kept providing to those who needed it far more, and it was a huge opportunity for our company to help give back in the same way. My wife also serves on HomeAid’s board, and we already work with many of HomeAid’s partners—and when we’re already affiliated with the Builder Captain, it’s a natural way to participate. YFT has been a ‘wow’ project—it’s been an honor to work on a brand new, gorgeous home, that will serve YFT for generations.”

Heritage Contracting works in the metropolitan D.C. area, providing highly trained craftsmen to design and build for custom builders, homeowners, and production builders.

Van Metre Companies Foundation, for your enormously generous (and impressive!) donation of $37,000, raised at the Fourth Annual Cornhole Challenge! Held on October 10, the event took place at the Brambleton Town Center in Ashburn, Va.

“We chose HomeAid as our benefactor because of the strong ties we have had with the organization over the years,” said Kevin Rabil, operations manager for Van Metre Homes. “Having sponsored multiple HomeAid projects, Van Metre truly believes in their mission of improving living arrangements of those in need.”

Over the last two years, Van Metre has raised more than $67,000 for HomeAid through its Cornhole Challenge.

Individuals

Lenwood Johnson
Scott Shelton

Companies

Academy Mortgage
ADI Construction
Bateman Custom Construction LLC
Bob Narod Photographer LLC
Bohler Engineering
Butler Brothers Corp
Capital City Builders LLC
Cardinal Bank
Carson, Ashley & Associates LLC
Creekstone Builders Inc.
Dunhill Builders, LLC
EYA Foundation
Farms and Acreage, Inc.
Geotechnical Solutions, Inc.
Glacier Development, LLC
Golden Rule Builders Inc.
GreenBuilt Homes
Hubert Construction LLC