Whirlpool And Dayton Ohio Habitat For Humanity Volunteer To Build 10 Homes In One Week

Building Blocks event, presented by Whirlpool, engages people from around the country to raise awareness of and help eliminate substandard housing

DAYTON, Ohio (October 27, 2006) –  A Xenia Township man, along with Whirlpool and nearly 300 volunteers nationwide, will participate in a weeklong build that will result in the completion of 10 homes on one block in Nashville, Tenn., later this year.

Greg Hoertt will join approximately 100 other Habitat for Humanity volunteers from across the country, 100 local Nashville volunteers and 100 Whirlpool volunteers as part of the inaugural Building Blocks program sponsored by Whirlpool.  Hoertt was chosen to participate in the build because of his commitment to Habitat and the local Dayton community.

The Building Blocks program, sponsored by long-time Habitat supporter Whirlpool Corporation, is designed to raise awareness of and help to eliminate substandard housing in the U.S.  Each year Building Blocks will recognize an outstanding Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the U.S. and its relationship with its local community by holding a weeklong build in that affiliate’s community.  This year’s build will be held in Nashville Nov. 4-10.

Whirlpool is one of Habitat for Humanity International’s largest corporate partners and donates a refrigerator and range to every new Habitat for Humanity home built in North America.  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 support the build in Nashville. 

To identify Hoertt and the other national volunteers, Habitat for Humanity International and Whirlpool selected 100 Habitat for Humanity affiliates it deemed to have demonstrated high standards of excellence.  Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity was one of those selected and asked to nominate an individual who demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to his or her community for the Building Blocks event.

“Greg Hoertt was a natural choice,” said Ann Charles Watts, executive director of Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity.  “His contributions to the Dayton area and Habitat for Humanity are remarkable.  I can’t think of anyone more deserving to participate in this worthwhile event.”
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Hoertt and the other volunteers will raise walls, landscape, and paint and perform other tasks for the weeklong build. Construction of a single Habitat for Humanity home typically takes eight days, spread across four weekends.

“I feel honored to have been chosen for the Building Blocks event,” said Hoertt, who has been a Habitat volunteer for five years.  “I look forward to my trip to Nashville to help build 10 homes in partnership with 10 deserving families.”

A probation officer with the Montgomery County Ohio Adult Probation program, Hoertt initiated a program to bring community service volunteers to work with Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity. Every week, for the past five years, Hoertt has worked alongside this group, giving them, and our Habitat homeowners, something to be proud of. His commitment to Habitat’s mission recently led him to take vacation time to travel to Baton Rouge to assist in the rebuilding efforts.

The 10 homes in the Building Blocks project will be built in the Providence Park area, Nashville’s first all-Habitat community and the nation’s largest contiguous all-Habitat community.  Providence Park was started in 2002 by the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity and now has more than 81 Habitat homes.  The Building Blocks project will be the largest multi-home build in the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity’s 21-year history.

The home that Hoertt will be building is for a family that fled Iraq over 5 years ago. Abdul and Hana and their three children has always planned on staying in Iraq, however when the political unrest began and their quiet, safe life began to disappear they sought refuge in the United States. Abdul, currently employed by TC Talk Communications is also attending Tennessee State University where he is studying accounting and Hana is a student at Nashville Tech studying Business. The family currently lives in a small two-bedroom apartment in South Nashville, where the neighborhood is plague with drinking, drug use, car vandalism and theft. On the recommendation of a friend, Abdul applied to become a partner family with Habitat. A Habitat home means hope to Abdul and his family, stating, “We believe that if you have a house, then everything else will fall into place with God’s help. Our family would life to thank our sponsor for the opportunity, and for ‘offering my family a good life.’” 

“Whirlpool’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity is built on the foundation of our people.  Through their effort and passion, we have been able to support over 35,000 families since our partnership began,” said Jeff Terry, Director, Corporate Commitments for Whirlpool.  “Whirlpool Building Blocks is really about bringing people together from all over the country to build in partnership with deserving families,” Terry continued.  “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,” Terry said.

About Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity

Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity has been an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International since 1983. The dedication of our board members, staff and volunteers have kept the vision of our founding board members alive, from the first house built in 1986 for the Walker family to the 133rd house completed in 2006 for the Thomas family.
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Whirlpool Corporation is a manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of more than $19 billion, more than 80,000 employees, and more than 60 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world.  The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world.  Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com.

Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 200,000 houses in nearly 100 countries, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1 million people. For more information, visit www.habitat.org.

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