Constructing a change

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 5:28 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

January 17 - 18, 2004

HomeAid America, a national organization committed to building and renovating shelters for temporarily homeless men, women and children, is forming a local chapter in Southern Nevada.

The group aims to return families and individuals to productive, self-sufficient lives. Among the beneficiaries are homeless families, including victims of domestic violence, pregnant teens and emancipated youths who have recently emerged from foster care.

HomeAid America makes its local debut this week at the 2003 International Builders Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event features two HomeAid-built shelters, led by Beazer Homes, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Carina Homes and Louisiana-Pacific Corp.

After the show, the two shelters, provided by HomeAid's national organization, will be donated to Olive Crest in Las Vegas, a nonprofit group that helps abused, abandoned or neglected children and teens.

Bill June, the president of Beazer Homes Nevada, was so impressed with the HomeAid program that he volunteered to lead the formation of HomeAid Southern Nevada, as the 23rd HomeAid America chapter's inaugural board president.

"I became involved with HomeAid because our company feels it's a great way to give back to the community," he said. "The community has always been good to us, and it's time to give back."

June is now putting his building skills to good use, and piecing together a local chapter, which will help out organizations such as Shade Tree Shelter and Olive Crest.

"Right now we're in the process of getting the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association as a sponsor," he said. "We've spent the last four months trying to get the local chapter started."

With the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association as a sponsor, the local chapter can begin fund raising and looking for donations from different building groups, he said.

Funds to form the local chapter are currently on the way, June said.

In addition to the two HomeAid shelters on display during the International Builders Show Monday through Thursday, Beazer Homes is building a house for the show. It will be donated to HomeAid America, which will auction the house to help start a local branch of the group.

The home is two stories with 2,800 square feet, June said. Although the home will have siding at the Builders Show, the finished product will be stucco, he said.

"There's going to be some siding on it, but that's because some sponsors will have it on there to feature their product," he said. "It will eventually be all stucco."

The home will also feature a two-car garage, he said.

In the future, the homes built by the organization will be directly used as shelters for local organizations, June said.

"Once the local chapter is up and running, we'll have the funding to build homes and use them as temporary homeless shelters," he said. "That's how it usually works. We usually don't auction them off, but we need the proceeds to get our chapter running."

HomeAid America has built 70 shelters, assisted 20,000 individuals and raised $40 million in in-kind contributions so far, according to Beazer Homes representatives.

HomeAid America currently has chapters in eight states and plans to open 58 chapters in major metropolitan areas across the nation, they said.

The group was launched by the Building Industry Association of Orange County in 1989 and is designed to allow home builders and their trade partners to give back to their community by doing what they do best -- build.

"The builders, architects and all of the partners behind HomeAid create housing environments in which people from all walks of life can rebuild their lives," said Michael Lennon, chief executive and president of HomeAid America. "It's a true testament to their compassion for others that they give so much of their time, talent and resources so generously to help others rebuild their lives."

HomeAid has been successful in increasing the total number of transitional housing beds available nationwide for the temporarily homeless, June said.

"Without the HomeAid program we could not provide homeless families and individuals in the Las Vegas area with the high quality shelter care necessary to rebuild their lives," he said. "Now we can, through donations and volunteering from the community."

For more information, visit the HomeAid America website at homeaid.org.

To see this year's HomeAid shelter or for information regarding the 2004 International Builders Show, visit the website at buildershow.com.