Corporate Volunteers—Building Homes and Teamwork

Habitat for Humanity gives corporations a unique chance to make a tangible difference in the fight against poverty housing. Whether you send corporate teams on a building trip in another country or to a build-site in your own community, your employees will come out of it as a stronger team, united around a good cause.

Volunteer globally—send a team on a Global Village trip
When Stiho from Netherlands considered how best to mark their 75 years in business, they decided to forgo the usual glamour of parties. Instead, they sent a corporate team to the Philippines to build a home for each year celebrated—making it 75 homes for 75 years. The employees had even pooled together their own finances, saving up enough to build a 76th house. By sponsoring and physically building houses for those in need, Stiho believes it made the anniversary more significant and lasting

While building a house in a foreign country, employees cooperate differently with each other than they do in the office. They work alongside members of the local community and learn about a new culture. “It’s a great way to get your staff motivated. It’s very hands on and has a great impact,” says Lois Duguid of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

If your corporation is interested in sending a team on one of Habitat for Humanity’s global village trips, please contact Willo Brock, Director Resource Development, at wbrock@habitat.org

Volunteer locally
Corporations can participate in building homes not only abroad, but also in their own communities. In November 2003 ING Bank (Hungary) Rt. sent a team of volunteers to help finish two houses in Göd, Hungary. ING Bank employees contributed 160 volunteer hours—they surfaced walls, sandpapered windows and door frames, and generally tided up.

“This is an excellent team-building day that is also a lot of fun. It is a good feeling to contribute to these families so they can move into their homes. The whole event was so excellent that we plan to organize more days in the future involving more colleagues from ING,”said Pieter de Haes, CEO, ING Bank (Hungary) Rt.

On a Habitat build, united in the goal of helping people, employees at every level get to see each other at their best. It’s an opportunity to grow, to bond and to experience good feelings that get carried back to the workplace. “People who don’t normally mix get to work as a team—that’s building communities as they should be,” says Dennis Rooney from Dennis Rooney Associates in Northern Ireland.

Habitat for Humanity has 13 building programmes in Europe and Central Asia. Click to where we build for more information. If you are interested in sending a volunteer team to a local build site, contact the HFH affiliate in your country.