Marshall Cunningham, Technical Support Representative at our branch in Columbus, Ohio, partnered with Habitat for Humanity MidOhio to coordinate a build week in January 2022 for thirty Simpson Strong-Tie employees. Together Simpson Strong-Tie, Habitat for Humanity MidOhio, and the Osman and Ali family dedicated a week to help build a new home for this wonderful family. With the help of many volunteers (and Simpson Strong-Tie connectors!), this dream home turned into a reality.
Last year I was asked to take on and head up our branch’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio (HFHMO). Together with Simpson Strong-Tie employees Keristin Schnurbusch, Dustin Moore, and Chris Crawford, we developed a plan to reach everyone in our branch and share Barc’s 8th Principle of Business, “Help out your neighbor, make time for others, do what you can.” I went on a Gemba walk and met with the zone leaders and another day met with the line leaders encouraging participation from the production and shipping departments.
We could not have picked a colder week to work. Ranging from 4° to the mid 20°s, each day presented difficult challenges to each group as we worked to complete the second-floor deck and walls for the Ali and Osman Family’s home in the Linden area of Columbus. Despite the cold and Covid19, we assembled a tremendous crew of thirty Winter Warriors.
This included several first-time Habitat volunteers, taking us a few steps closer to meeting Simpson Strong-Tie CEO Karen Colonias’s goal of having every employee participate in at least one Habitat build.
We finished installing the second-floor subfloor, installed the staircases, along with blocking for cabinets, built and erected the second-floor exterior and interior walls, moved the delivered lumber into the storage units (hand by hand!) and shoveled snow! Each day was made easier with Keristin’s planning. We had pizza delivered every day, water bottles provided, and beanie caps, masks, gloves, safety glasses and, oh yeah, a dozen donuts available to start off our day !
A big thanks to our Winter Warrior Simpson Strong-Tie employees for making a difference for the Ali and Osman family:
David Adams, Anthony Cottone, Alfonso Espinoza, Amber Brown, Aaron Cashion, Jacob McPheters, David Purdin, Belinda Tran, Sean Clark, Rachel Brooks, James Nicely, Joe Carnes, Derek Heifner, Sean Stafford, Rodney Browning, Michael Brown, Mindy Jones, Eric Densmore, Tom Craig, Rod Wynn, Marshall Cunningham, Paul Chelton, Kendy Tejada, Todd Hixenbaugh, Todd Klembus, Llanida Perdouo, Xander Lyles, Joe Watkins, Luisana Valdez, and Matt Quante.
