Delaware banks help Habitat for Humanity

Banking rivals help Habitat for Humanity
Dozens of employees volunteer for Community Build Day
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006608100325

By DWAYNE STEWARD
The News Journal
08/10/2006

Dan Walls uses a crane to hoist sheetrock up to Lee Mullins,
both of Marjam Supply Co. of Newark. The men joined other
volunteers to help build homes for Habitat for Humanity.

Nicole Johnson, 28, of Wilmington is raising her two young children in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment, and she never thought she could afford to live anywhere else.

But by the end of this year, with the help of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County and Delaware-area bank employees, she will own a four-bedroom, $100,000 home without paying a penny of interest or a dollar toward a down payment.

Around 80 employees from Wachovia, Citigroup, Bank of America and the Principal Financial Group volunteered for six-hour shifts Tuesday and Wednesday to help put up siding and drywall and wire electricity in homes in Middletown for the fifth annual Community Build Day. Each bank will also donate $5,000 for the construction of Johnson's home.

Community Build Day is a national event sponsored by the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade organization representing banks and other financial services firms.

"It's a blessing what these volunteers are doing," Johnson said. "When you pay rent, [the apartment] is not something you're ever going to own but with this, it will be mine. I'll be able to afford my home and keep my home."

Forty-two volunteers participated Tuesday, helping to push production ahead of schedule, said construction supervisor Deborah Gestwicki.

"We got tons done today," she said. "There's just only so much you can do with the 10 or 12 that come regularly. Today our workers tripled in number."

Johnson's home is part of a 12-house development by Habitat called Faith Way, eight of which will be ready by the end of the year, said Joanne McGeoch, a Habitat spokeswoman.

"We pay $100,000 to build the homes, which is what the homeowners pay," she said. "There is zero interest and no down payment." Johnson said the settlement should be finalized and she should be moving in by January at the latest.

The volunteers included Middletown residents hoping their helping hand would have an effect on improving the community.

"I live right down the street, and I think it's great," said Lisa Kaufmann, a Bank of America financial analyst. "We are all competitors, yet we're able to do stuff like this. We're coming together for the good of the community."

Lisa Kaufmann from Bank of America (left) and
Wendy Kurtz from Citigroup were among volunteers
from area banks who came to help.

Others, like Tracey Flowers, found fulfillment on a more personal level.

"I have small kids and we always talk about how we have things that many other don't," said Flowers, a Middletown resident and Principal Financial product developer. "I plan to bring them by here and tell them, 'This is what mommy did today,' to teach them to appreciate what they have."

The Financial Services Roundtable has conducted 120 community builds across the nation, surpassing their theme this year of "50 Builds in 50 States."

"There really is no way you can engage with your customers on a personal level if you are not out there doing things like this in your area," said Shannon Finney, a Roundtable spokeswoman.