Dow Volunteers Bring New Life to an Aging Neighborhood
For more than 25 years, Dow has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help provide affordable housing to families around the world. Dow has been a highly visible partner over the years – sponsoring dozens of homes annually, supplying building products, and engaging Dow employees as volunteers at local builds. The majority have been new homes for families who – more than anything – wanted to be homeowners. But the world is changing, and so are the needs of our communities.
Each year, Dow sponsors a build in one of three local communities in mid-Michigan – Midland, Bay or Saginaw. The 2008 project took place in Saginaw, a community of approximately 83,000 people that has been hit hard by a worsening Michigan economy and downsizing in the auto industry. Today, more than 10,000 homes in Saginaw sit vacant – the result of foreclosures and abandonment.
When Habitat suggested we work together to revitalize an entire neighborhood rather than build a single new home, Dow agreed and the Dow Habitat Neighborhood Revitalization Project was born.
Dow Habitat Neighborhood Revitalization Project
Habitat had already identified a neighborhood where many homeowners had spent countless hours trying to make things better. The focus of the Dow Habitat Neighborhood Revitalization Project was to refresh and repair the exterior of the homes to improve curb appeal and the overall appearance of the neighborhood. The project was slated to touch more than 40 homes.
Coordinators knew that to accomplish a task of this size, hundreds of volunteers would be needed, so Dow put the call out to employees and community partners. The response was overwhelming as more than 1,300 people throughout the region came together to volunteer for the project. Of those, more than 700 were Dow employees, contractors and family members, representing more than 10 percent of Dow’s local work force.
The nature of the work varied significantly from home to home. Some required only minor repairs while others received a fresh coat of paint. Still others needed debris clean up and removal and a new roof. Throughout the project, the homeowners worked alongside volunteers to get the work done. Additional neighbors, who were not on the list, were pleasantly surprised when volunteers offered to lend a helping hand at their property, too. And, seeing what was happening in their neighborhood, still more neighbors decided it was time to get outside to clean up and repair their own homes.
Bliss Park, which is adjacent to the neighborhood, also received a lot of attention. The shingles on the pavilion and the restroom badly needed replacement. Volunteers worked diligently to tear off and replace roofs, paint buildings and spread gravel on the paths that wind through the park. Park improvements further enhanced the overall appearance of the targeted neighborhood and provided a great place for the project celebration at the end of the event.
There is no way to fully measure the impact this event had on the residents of Saginaw, Mich., but one homeowner’s teenage son summed it up best by saying “Mom…this used be just a house, now it’s a home.”
“Dow’s partnership with Habitat is a real source of pride for the company,” said Jennifer Heronema, external communications manager for Michigan Operations and project coordinator. “This was a great opportunity to provide assistance to families in need, and to actually work with homeowners to complete the projects. It also gave us the opportunity to give something back to our community that we can all be proud of.”
A Global Partnership
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Dow has just launched a new Web site in celebration of its successful 25 year partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The Web site, www.dowhabitatforhumanity.com showcases Dow’s commitment to Habitat and highlights some of the major milestones of this long-standing partnership.
