Nov 13 2006
After a week of sawing, hammering and hard work, Whirlpool and Habitat for Humanity will officially dedicate the inaugural Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks project on Friday in the Nashville neighborhood where 10 new homes were built. The 10 new Habitat for Humanity partner families will be presented with house keys and mortgage agreements at the event's dedication ceremony beginning at noon.
Whirlpool, Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity International and 300 volunteers from around the country began construction on the 10 homes Nov. 5. The Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks initiative was created by the company to raise awareness of the affordable housing crisis and to help eliminate substandard housing in the United States.
"Lives have been changed, both for the volunteers and the new homeowners," said Jeff Terry, director, Corporate Commitments for Whirlpool. "Everyone here helped to make a difference in this community, and we are grateful for their efforts this week."
In subsequent years, Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks will recognize an outstanding Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the United States and its relationship with its local community by holding a similar weeklong building blitz.
The new homes in the Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks project were built in the Providence Park neighborhood, Nashville's model all-Habitat subdivision and one of the nation's largest contiguous all-Habitat communities.
The more than 300 volunteers who descended on Providence Park for the Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks project included 100 Whirlpool employees from across the country, 100 volunteers from national Habitat affiliates and 100 volunteers representing the Nashville community. From start to finish, the group raised walls, raised roofs, landscaped, painted and performed all other tasks to complete the 10 homes in just five days. Construction of a single Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity home typically takes eight days spread across four weekends.
"Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks is really about bringing people together from all over the country to build homes in partnership with deserving families," said Terry. "If we can help bring people to experience the life-changing work of Habitat for Humanity, hopefully everyone will go back home with an urgency and energy to continue Habitat's work in their home town and around the country."
Whirlpool is one of Habitat for Humanity's largest corporate partners. The company donates a refrigerator and range to every new Habitat for Humanity home built in North America. Every year, thousands of Whirlpool employees volunteer their own time to Habitat builds around the country. The partnership began in 1999, and Whirlpool plans to support every new Habitat home built globally by 2011, either through product donations, cash or home sponsorship. The company is making an additional $1.5 million commitment to fund this year's build in Nashville.
"Affordable housing is critical to forming stable communities," said Chris McCarthy, president and chief executive officer of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity. "The Whirlpool(R) Building Blocks project not only helped raise awareness of the problem here in Nashville, it took a bold step to help solve it."