Rebuilding the future

• Photo courtesy of Rebuilding Together.
• Photo courtesy of Rebuilding Together.
• Photo courtesy of Rebuilding Together.

The words "Super Bowl" conjure up the typical thoughts of football, fans, parties and expensive commercials. However, while Super Bowl XXXVIII hype was high in Houston, this year's Super Bowl host city, there was a different kind of event going on not far from Houston's Reliant Stadium.

The event featured demanding physical activity, but it wasn't running or tackling. Those involved showed a lot of heart but not because of a gutsy football play. There weren't any fans to cheer on the participants or any trophies given. But the volunteers for Rebuilding Together's Kickoff to Rebuild 2004 experienced their own unique sense of accomplishment.

Rebuilding Together is an organization devoted to improving communities by repairing and preserving low-income homes throughout the year, often focusing on homeowners who are disabled, elderly or have children. Rebuilding Together previously was known as Christmas in April when Patricia Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Rebuilding Together, Washington, D.C., founded the national office from her basement 15 years ago. At the time, she was executive director for the Washington, D.C., affiliate. The name of the organization was changed to Rebuilding Together in 2000.

"Before it went national, there were 13 loosely organized programs operating," she says. "Now, there are 257 affiliates across the United States."

The event

Kickoff to Rebuild is an annual event sponsored by such organizations as NRCA; Rebuilding Together; The Home Depot,® Atlanta; The Family Handyman magazine; and Sunstate Equipment Co., Phoenix, that consists of rehabilitating housing for two or three elderly, low-income or disabled community members. The event is held two days before the National Football League's (NFL's) Super Bowl in the Super Bowl's host city.

John Dollar, vice president of Marton Roofing Industries Ltd., Houston, donated labor and was joined by West End Lumber, Houston, and TAMKO® Roofing Products Inc., Joplin, Mo., which donated materials, to complete three rehabilitation projects in Houston's Third Ward during Kickoff to Rebuild, which was Jan. 30.

While Dollar and his crew made roof system repairs, hundreds of other volunteers from companies such as IRWIN Industrial Tool Co., Huntersville, N.C., and The Home Depot helped in other ways. Volunteers replaced cabinets, floors and siding and made safety modifications, among other tasks.

After structural repairs were made, NRCA Executive Vice President Bill Good, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and celebrities such as NFL player Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap arrived to help with painting, landscaping and more.

Although some volunteers were veterans of Kickoff to Rebuild, Dollar and his crew were rookies. Marton Roofing Industries had been involved with other charity organizations, but they never had been part of Kickoff to Rebuild.

"We do several community projects every year, ranging from churches to child-protective services facilities to food banks," Dollar says.

Dollar became involved with Rebuilding Together through NRCA, which finds a company willing to provide roofing labor for Kickoff to Rebuild.

"NRCA and the Super Bowl host cities always have done a fabulous job finding people to do the work," Johnson says.

The kickoff

When NRCA approached Dollar to ask for his company's assistance, he was excited to help.

"We usually help community groups," he notes. "We're not in the residential business, so it was nice to help families for a change. Kickoff to Rebuild was a good way to get into a community project to help homeowners."

Dollar says he doesn't know how Rebuilding Together chooses which houses to repair because there seemed to be many possible candidates.

"I could have driven through the Third Ward and picked out a few houses that were in just as bad shape," he says.

In fact, the organization turns to communities when deciding which houses should be repaired and renovated. Rebuilding Together tries to locate a neighborhood near where people will be for the Super Bowl. Then, the organization works with a neighborhood group that refers them to houses and homeowners who would be good candidates for the event.

"[The neighborhood groups] play a crucial part because they know who truly needs help," Johnson says.

Also, Rebuilding Together picks houses that usually are within a block of each other because, as Johnson explains, "we want to have an effect on a neighborhood and have visible transformation in that neighborhood. We want to maximize everyone's time so they don't have to spend a lot of time traveling [from house to house] when they could be helping."

The labor

The three projects chosen for this year's Kickoff to Rebuild required various types of roofing work. The roofing workers ended up repairing one residential roof system; tearing off, reroofing and replacing a deck on another roof system; and performing roof system repairs on a third house.

A unique and unexpected project was approached when Dollar and his crew also volunteered to do repairs for a long-time resident of the Third Ward who owns a tire store. The store was practically transformed.

"The tire store was not originally on the agenda," Johnson says. "John, out of his great spirit of generosity, volunteered to repair its roof system. In the beginning, we didn't know he would do as much as he did. I think he was inspired by what he saw in that neighborhood."

"It wasn't a 'residential' job by definition, but the roof needed significant repairs," Dollar says. "We demolished the existing roof structure, framed it, installed a new deck, reroofed it and built the owner a porch for his store. We also hauled off about three tractor-trailers full of tires to get rid of them. The tire store had a hodgepodge of jobs to do, and we ended up doing a little bit of everything."

Marton Roofing Industries has about 125 employees. Dollar estimates he had about 12 workers at the tire store project, five workers at the reroofing project and two workers at the roof system repairs. He had a superintendent who assigned the projects and a division manager who helped the superintendent. With able hands and a team he could trust, Dollar says the execution of the projects was smooth.

"We coordinated the manpower and equipment needed for the projects with minimal interference," he says. "The only challenge was that there were times the guys would have to go out to the sites on the weekends if they couldn't get there during the week. But it was scheduled well and pretty much went off without a hitch."

It also helped that Dollar's employees were more than willing to help.

"The people we employ always are up for a challenge," he says. "Getting them involved was not difficult. In fact, it was one of the easiest parts."

The finished product

The volunteer work was done over the course of a month. The workers started in the third week of December 2003 and finished around the third week of January, about a week before Super Bowl XXXVIII.

"The tire store took the longest, about three weeks," Dollar says. "The reroofing phase took about three or four days, and the repairs took about a day or two."

"We were pretty much finished with our work when Bill Good got down here," he explains. "Our work had to get done because it couldn't be half-finished when the volunteers came to work."

The homeowners appreciated the hard work.

"If you show up and give them a roof, they're pretty happy," Dollar says with a laugh. "They were grateful. They were older people and unable to physically perform the work themselves. They were just gracious, grateful people."

Giving back

Although she described Kickoff to Rebuild as a "successful event," Johnson says it can be difficult to spread the awareness of the prevalence of low-income housing and the need for help.

"It can be a challenge getting people to focus on the growth of low-income housing in our country," she says. "We don't always have a Super Bowl to provide high-profile opportunities to help."

"We want to make sure the world knows how important this is and realizes the roofing industry is taking steps to help people who have significant needs," she continues. "One of the things we recognize is there is no reason to fix up a house if a roof continues to leak. Roofing workers are one of the most important tradespeople we have on job sites."

There are many potential rehabilitation projects across the United States, and several roofing contractors are willing to get involved. Johnson estimates Rebuilding Together will rehabilitate 8,500 homes this year.

Although Dollar doesn't necessarily consciously think about the positive effect of charity on the image of the roofing industry, he believes the roofing industry, and all industries, always should encourage the presence of charity.

"We do stuff like this just to do it and don't really focus on whether we are representing the industry," he says. "In the back of our minds, we think about it, but that's not why we do it. I personally think that no matter what industry you're in, if you're fortunate enough to have a successful business, you ought to give back to the community."

Krista Reisdorf is associate editor of Professional Roofing magazine.