Butler/Till’s B Corp is always in action! As a company, we’re proud to provide our employees with various opportunities for humanitarianism throughout the year. Most recently, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds affordable housing for people in need through the help of volunteers and the future homeowners themselves. Butler/Till sent two employees, Kate Hughes and Stephanie Alexander, to Asheville, NC to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity for a week. While in Asheville, Kate and Stephanie worked on framing walls, landscaping, roofing, flooring, siding, you name it!
“While we worked on a variety of projects, the most important project we worked on while in Asheville was the project of people. It was absolutely humbling to see the dedication of local volunteers and what a group of strangers with a common goal can accomplish in one day.”– Kate Hughes
Contrary to popular belief, the homes that Habitat for Humanity provides are not free. Future homeowners are selected from a group of applicants who must complete the following eligibility criteria:
- Make mortgage payments
- Volunteer 200 “sweat equity” hours per adult
- Participate in a rigorous series of classes that prepare them to be homeowners and healthy community members
This relates closely to our values at Butler/Till, specifically “giving back”—not only in volunteering itself, but also in the way Habitat for Humanity prepares future homeowners for a better life. The topics of the classes each future homeowner is required to take range from financial planning and home repair to healthy eating and exercise. Working alongside volunteers gives future homeowners not only a sense of gratitude, but also a personal sense of accomplishment for their future space.
“The piece that will remain with us is the change in our attitudes about the power of the simplest actions of giving.”– Stephanie Alexander
In addition, Habitat for Humanity’s, “We provide a hand up, not a hand out” ideology is mirrored in one of Butler/Till’s own values: “When help is needed, we step up, not out.” By empowering homeowners and creating healthy, sustainable communities, Habitat for Humanity is building a powerful organization through a sense of common good—something we at Butler/Till aspire to build as well.
