Building Healthy Communities

Being a frequent flier, I’m usually not really excited about being on a plane at 8 a.m. on Monday morning. I’m also not usually dressed in sneakers, jeans and an orange t-shirt and planning on getting dirty and sweaty. Today’s a little different, though, as it promises to be one of the most meaningful days I’ve had in a long time. Why? I’m on the way to Joplin, Missouri with about 200 of my fellow Home Depot associates from Atlanta.

We’re among the fortunate ones who are able to volunteer to go help clean up and make repairs in the aftermath of the devastating tornado that hit Joplin on May 22. I say “fortunate” not only because our community was not destroyed by storm, but also because there’s a waiting list of people who wanted to participate. While I went to Joplin immediately after the tornado to assess the damage and determine how The Home Depot Foundation could best help the community as well as our own associates, today is the first time most of the associates from Atlanta have been to visit. But they, as well as scores of other associates from as far away as Seattle, have been asking for the opportunity to volunteer in Joplin since the day after the tornado.

Many of today’s volunteers work at our Store Support Center in Atlanta and have been instrumental in helping the community and associates recover and in preparing for the opening of a new temporary store to serve customers after our store was destroyed by the tornado. They all wanted to come in person and show their support with their own sweat equity.

We’re focusing on two main projects today. We are repairing and replacing the roof, windows and siding on a Home Depot associate’s home which was severely damaged by the tornado. In addition, we’ll be repairing and renovating the local Little League Park so that the entire community has one place where things are returned to normal…where families and children can play.

Our associates volunteering today add to the more than 500 Home Depot associates throughout the Midwest who have already made the trek to Joplin to volunteer their time and specialized skills to help with clean up and repair activities. It’s been an amazing show of support for each other and for the community.

We’re committed to Joplin for the long haul. In addition to volunteer activities, The Home Depot Foundation has pledged $1 million to clean-up and rebuilding initiatives. We’ve already distributed $250,000 to the Joplin Family YMCA for the Joplin Childcare Relief Program that provides free day care services to the community during the immediate relief efforts; and to Convoy of Hope and Operation Blessing, two nonprofit organizations that are doing amazing work to help residents in need.

The flight attendant is telling me to shut down, but I have to first sincerely thank our fellow Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Georgia Pacific, Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A for helping make today happen. Delta generously provided a 757 jet free of charge to fly us this morning at no small cost to them…$50,000 to be exact; Georgia-Pacific donated several thousand pounds of paper plates, cups, napkins and other products for Convoy of Hope’s relief efforts; and Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A are providing us with food and drinks throughout the day. We are grateful to our corporate friends for jumping into this initiative with no hesitation.

More later…stay tuned for additional updates throughout the day by following us on Twitter (@homedepotfdn or @homedepot).

Team Depot Gets to Work

By now, we’ve all seen the heartbreaking images of the destruction in Joplin, Missouri.  I was there last week along with representatives from The Home Depot’s Store Support Center in Atlanta to meet with our associates impacted by the tornado, assess the immediate needs of the community and begin to see how best to partner with non-profit groups to deploy volunteers, dollars and products as Joplin rebuilds.  By the time we landed in Joplin last Tuesday, I had seen the videos, flipped through the online photo albums and thought I had a good understanding of the damage.  From the moment the town came into view from the airplane window, however, I knew I didn’t yet understand anything.  I’ve seen the damage of natural disasters before having visited Mississippi and Louisiana shortly after Katrina and witnessed the scars of wildfires in south Georgia.  This, however, was different because of the distinction between the areas that were hit – and therefore destroyed - and those just around the corner that showed no damage but for the debris - bits of wood and insulation from what used to be homes.

My heart was already broken for the people who lost homes, businesses and loved ones, including our own associates.  But none of the news coverage prepared me for what I actually saw and heard from the residents of Joplin.  Frightening stories of panic and sad words of loss.  Less than 48 hours after the storm, I believe some were still in shock, trying to process what had happened in those few moments when the tornado blew through.

What was very clear, though, was that many among our associates and throughout Joplin were true heroes that Sunday evening.  They risked their own safety to help others; they gave shelter in their basements to strangers; and they have faith in their neighbors and in their community.  The people I talked to last Tuesday wanted to talk about what was next far more than they wanted to recount their experiences.

As for The Home Depot Foundation, we take the situation in Joplin very personally.  The Home Depot store was destroyed in a community that many of our associates and customers call home.  We are committed to Joplin for the long haul, and we will rebuild that store.  But that’s not all.  The Home Depot Foundation is donating $1 million to the immediate relief, recovery and long-term rebuilding efforts in Joplin.  As we learned through our work in the Gulf after similar destruction from Katrina, the rebuilding will take years.  We want Joplin residents to know that we will be with them every step of the way.

As a result of our trip to Joplin, one of the first donations we’ve made is for $100,000 to the Joplin Family YMCA to support its efforts to provide free day care services to impacted families.  To us, this was an important asset for parents who need to assess the damage to their homes, figure out what needed to be done and return to work, particularly since school was cancelled for the remainder of the year.  We also have Team Depot associates on the ground working to help the residents of Joplin who need an extra hand, particularly those who are elderly or disabled.  In fact, just yesterday (5-31-11), a group of our associates volunteered with Operation Blessing to begin the salvage and clean-up process at five job sites through the city.  Team Depot volunteers are focused on installing “Blue Roofs” (tarps) on homes and  large debris cleanup. Along with Operation Blessing, we will do roof repairs and structural salvages for as many residents as possible.  See the photos from a long day of work.

We’ll be allocating more resources to nonprofit organizations in the days to come, and we’ll keep you posted on our web site and this blog.  You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our efforts.

As I mentioned earlier, we have hundreds of associates in Joplin who were severely affected by this terrible storm.  That’s why The Homer Fund, a charity for The Home Depot associates in need of emergency financial assistance, has launched a companywide “Drive for Joplin” campaign to help associates and their families affected by the tornado.  The Homer Fund is primarily funded by donations from associates…we’re like family, and this is one of the ways we take care of each other. (Since The Homer Fund started in 1999, it has dispersed more than 45,000 grants totaling over $50 million to associates with qualifying hardships. Learn more.)

The devastation in Joplin is indescribable.  I saw it with my own eyes, and I still can’t believe it.   If you want to help, I encourage you to join us as contributors to the American Red Cross or support the Foundation’s efforts to rebuild Joplin.  But most importantly, I hope you’ll join me in continuing to send thoughts and prayers to all of the residents of Joplin who are still struggling in the aftermath of this terrible storm.

Today I’m excited to announce a new monthly program, Aprons in Action, that lets you get involved in how we give back to communities. You can help us determine where to spend $1 million grant dollars and thousands of our associates’ volunteer hours.

Here’s how:

• Go to Aprons in Action on The Home Depot’s Facebook page.
• Take a look at the four volunteer projects featured. The projects were completed by Team Depot, the Company’s associate-led volunteer force, and a local nonprofit organization.
• Also look at the proposed project for each. They describe the additional work they could do with more funding and volunteer assistance from Team Depot.
• Then vote for your favorite! The finalists for the month of April are currently featured on The Home Depot’s Facebook page. Voting closes on May 1 at noon ET. The winner will be announced at noon (ET) on May 2.

The nonprofit organization that gets the most votes (plus a few other criteria) will win a $25,000 gift card from The Home Depot and more volunteer assistance from our associates. And just for being featured as a finalist on Aprons in Action, the other three nonprofits will receive a $5,000 Home Depot gift card.

Why are we doing this?  We really believe that social media and philanthropy are a natural fit. We like the idea of getting people to support a cause they feel good about and letting them use our money to do it. Plus, we’re giving our associates a chance to amplify their impact in their hometowns. We’re really excited not only about highlighting our associates’ work, but also the work of the great nonprofits we partner with to complete projects in communities across the U.S.

And why are we calling it Aprons in Action? If you’ve ever been in a Home Depot store, you know that our associates wear orange aprons. It’s become the iconic symbol of home improvement know how. But our associates aren’t just using their skills in our stores. They are volunteering their time and talents every day through Team Depot. Centered around company store locations, Team Depot partners with local nonprofits, also donating home improvement supplies to hundreds of community building projects annually. In 2010, Team Depot completed nearly 1,400 projects nationwide.  So Aprons in Action seems to capture the “doing” spirit of our associates quite well.

I hope you’ll visit Aprons in Action and vote for one of the nonprofits featured. Help us improve homes and lives in communities across the country.

Thank you!

My most recent blog was about affordable housing…questioning whether “affordable” means “cheap.”  My conclusion, of course, is that the higher quality and more energy efficient materials that are used to build and maintain homes, the more affordable they will be to move into and to maintain over the long-term.  The winners of our 2010 Awards of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly have demonstrated this point quite well.  We’ve produced a book chronicling the five years we’ve been giving these awards, and we hope the examples in it will serve as a blueprint for other developers to follow.

Today I’m excited that we are announcing the winners of our 2010 Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development.  These awards recognize and celebrate cities that are incorporating real-world sustainability initiatives into their day-to-day operations, with a focus on wise use of budget dollars and increasing the livability of each community for all residents.  Congratulations to Tacoma, Washington; Burlington, Vermont; and Boston, Massachusetts for the amazing initiatives they have undertaken to bring the benefits of sustainable living to their residents.  We were blown away by what’s going on in each of these cities.  Take a look at the case studies and videos for each.  I promise it’s worth a few minutes of your time.  I know that you’ll be as impressed and inspired as I am.

Why did The Home Depot Foundation decide to highlight the issue of sustainable community development through these awards?  The Foundation believes that access to healthy, efficient and safe housing is the first requirement for families to live successful lives.  But we also believe that the idea of “home” extends beyond the lot line to the rest of the community.  Healthy homes as part of healthy communities is the goal.  And toward that end, we’ve seen local communities across the United States embrace environmental sustainability as they better understand its value related to reducing energy costs, improving air quality, addressing issues of water quality and quantity, mitigating impacts of sprawl as well as ultimately the impacts of all of these issues upon human health.

Mayors and local communities are leading the way to preserve natural resources, reduce energy consumption, reduce operating costs and waste, create green jobs and enhance the quality of life of their residents. Cities as varied as Los Angeles (CA), Asheville (NC), Fayetteville (AR), and Dearborn (MI) have adopted comprehensive sustainability plans and hired sustainability officers.

So…the Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development are simply a way of recognizing the efforts of best in class cities as they excel at building sustainable communities.  We hope that by sharing these examples, other cities will be inspired to follow the same path.

Read the press release.

With all of the issues facing the housing industry and individual homeowners these days, there is no question that solving some of the issues around affordable housing is a priority.  How can we make sure that working families can afford to own or rent a safe, healthy home in a stable neighborhood?

This topic…and many more…are being discussed this week at Greenbuild 2010 in Chicago.  The Home Depot Foundation sponsored the Affordable Housing Summit yesterday and today to bring together leaders in the affordable housing industry to discuss innovate policy efforts as well as proven design and construction techniques to address the affordability and quality issues head on.

One of the most interesting topics discussed was about how to retrofit the country’s current housing stock.  There are more than 125 million existing housing units in the U.S. and less than 1 million new units built each year.  So…even if we were able to get 100 percent of new builds to meet a certified green building standard, we would only be improving the total building stock by less than 1 percent!  We had a great discussion about how to provide financing for retrofit programs led by Jeff Lesk of Nixon Peabody, LLP; Thom Amdur, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association; and Todd Trehubenko, ReCap Real Estate Advisors.  For those of you who want more info on this topic, I encourage you to go to the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association’s web site.   In addition, as we produce a wrap up summary of the day’s learnings, I’ll post it here.

Thank you to all of the presenters and attendees at the Affordable Housing Summit, and a big thanks to Greenbuild for organizing such a great agenda.  The official Greenbuild conference began today as well…and I can’t wait to learn more about some of the innovative programs and products that are changing the way we think about building and maintaining our homes, businesses and communities.  Be sure to come by The Home Depot’s booth in the exhibit hall!

Today is an exciting day for us at The Home Depot Foundation.  It’s our fifth annual Building Community Day…a special day we set aside each year to meet with a small group of leaders from Atlanta area nonprofit organizations to discuss important challenges they face as they serve the Atlanta community.  Why Atlanta?  Atlanta is The Home Depot’s hometown…it’s where we were founded 30 years ago, and it’s where our Store Support Center for our 2,200 stores continues to be located.

For Building Community Day, we work with the Georgia Center for Nonprofits to select a different group of participants each year, and we establish a full agenda of facilitated group discussions and presentations from philanthropic experts.  Sharing best practices and common pitfalls is the best way for us all to continue to drive excellence in our respective companies and organizations. 

This year our theme is ‘Nonprofit Governance: Addressing the Disconnect between Theory and Reality.’   As we all know, Boards of Directors, both corporate and nonprofit, are responsible for governance and internal control initiatives. And in today’s uncertain economic environment, Boards have to be even more diligent about their responsibilities.  But how do you ensure that it’s done in a realistic way that helps the organization meet its goals?

That’s what we’re talking about today, and I’ll have another post later this week about some of the top tips that were shared during today’s discussions. 

What makes Building Community Day really fun is that in addition to a great day of networking and knowledge sharing, we end the day with a special awards reception where we surprise the nonprofits we’ve gathered with a $20,000 grant to further their goals in Atlanta.  Because this is the fifth year of the program, I think some of the organizations suspect that they might be walking away from the day with something extra.  But that’s never part of the invitation, so it’s always nice to see the surprised looks on the President and CEOs faces as they are handed a $20,000 check! 

Why do we do it?  Well, our focus nationwide is on building healthy, efficient homes for working families and supporting other building/refurbishing programs, like playgrounds, community gardens, and community centers to make cities more livable.  If you look at the list below of the 2010 Building Community Day class, you’ll see that most of these organizations fall outside the scope of our focus.  However, we know that especially here in our hometown, it’s important to communicate with a range of nonprofits so that we can stay in touch the overall needs of our hometown community.  It’s a great relationship building opportunity both for us and for these nonprofits.

I can’t wait to hear the discussions today.  And congratulations to the 2010 Building Community Day class!  Thank you for everything you do to make Atlanta a stronger, more livable city.

·         Atlanta Historical Society, Inc.

·         Atlanta Humane Society

·         Be The Match Foundation

·         Center for Children & Young Adults, Inc.

·         Cobb Works, Inc.

·         The Gateway Center

·         Girls, Inc.

·         Goodwill Industries International, Inc.

·         Horizon Theatre Company

·         Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless

·         Jewish Family & Career Services

·         The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

·         Partnership Against Domestic Violence

·         Project GRAD Atlanta

·         Open Hand Atlanta

·         Senior Connections

·         Southeastern Horticultural Society

·         The Carter Center

·         Theatre in the Square

·         Year Up

This has been an exciting and busy week for Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), one of our national partners, as it celebrated World Habitat Day on Monday and the 27th annual Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project with projects throughout the country that built, repaired and rehabilitated 86 homes.  HFHI and the Carters culminated the week in Minneapolis, with former Vice President Walter Mondale and Mayor R.T. Rybek all swinging hammers to help families in the Hawthorne neighborhood.

We were very excited to have the project in an area we at The Home Depot Foundation know well.  The Foundation has contributed $500,000 to the development of the Hawthorne Eco-Village neighborhood, which is being jointly developed by the City of Minneapolis, Project for Pride in Living (PPL) and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.  The Hawthorne Eco-Village is a unique, five-year, multi-phase project to revitalize a four block area that has seen high crime rates, too many vacant and abandoned homes and too little investment for a very long time.  The first time I visited the site, in fact, a neighbor asked me what was going on, saying she knew something was happening because the police had been patrolling and she hadn’t hear gunfire during the night.  With Mayor Rybak’s leadership, we made a commitment to partner with the City and local nonprofit organizations to create a safer, healthier and more economically vibrant community in the Hawthorne neighborhood.   Now, having had the spotlight of the City’s Building Inspection Department and Problem Property Unit, as well as the police department, trained on the area, enormous progress has been made. Crime is down, some homes have been renovated and sold while energy audits and retrofits have been conducted on others.  In addition to building new homes to meet LEED standards, work will also include installation of a solar panel on a high profile business, a tree nursery, rain gardens and a community garden.  The City is also considering installing a new light rail line to service the area.  Throughout our time working in Hawthorne we have been immensely appreciative of the vision Mayor Rybak has and his dedication to creating a more sustainable city.  In fact, we were so impressed with Minneapolis’ work to identify and implement sustainability principles that we recognized the city with one of our 2009 Awards of Excellence.  Learn more about the work and watch a video showing what’s going on in this half of the Twin Cities.

The homes built by President Carter, Mayor Rybak and Twin Cities Habitat this week are outstanding examples of how building healthy, efficient homes in sustainable neighborhoods can be a life-changer for families and cities alike.  The Hawthorne neighborhood is truly a demonstration that with a concentrated focus of resources and strong partnerships, transformation can occur in a relatively short period of time.   If you want to learn more about what’s going on in the neighborhood and what the neighbors are saying about it, the St. Paul Pioneer Press published a really informative article this week.

Congratulations to HFHI and the Hawthorne Eco-Village on a great week! (more…)

There’s finally a little nip in the air here in the South, and soon the leaves will start to show their gorgeous autumnal palette.  For me, that means football season, sweaters and fires for marshmellow roasting.  It’s also tree planting season and each year The Home Depot Foundation celebrates NeighborWoods Month with our outstanding nonprofit partner, the National Alliance for Community Trees (ACT).  Last year during NeighborWoods Month, ACT members organized over 700 volunteer events in 230 cities and engaged 24,000 volunteers to plant 36,000 trees.  That’s a lot of sweat and mulch, which resulted in healthier, safer neighborhoods through out the country.

I’ve written previously about the many economic benefits of trees, but I’d like to look at trees from a different vantage today and discuss the way trees impact our families and neighbors and the ways in which we interact with each other.  Sound strange?  I’m sure it does if you’ve not had the opportunity to think about the social and emotional benefits of trees.

I’ll give you some data points in a minute, but ask that you think about planting a tree, and specifically, think about a time that you may have volunteered with a group of others to plant trees, maybe in a park or at a school or along a sidewalk.  (If you haven’t had this experience, check out the calendar of events scheduled for this year’s NeighborWoods Month!)  First, I know, it’s hard work to dig a hole wide enough to let the roots spread and thrive.  But, second, didn’t you have some fun?  Wasn’t it rewarding to arrive at a place that might have needed a little TLC and to leave seeing it improved?  Didn’t you enjoy smelling the freshly-turned earth, maybe watching a kid squeal as a worm squirmed around?  Didn’t you leave having spent time with someone you enjoyed?  Now the real test:  if you have walked or driven by that location once or even a hundred times since that day, have you checked to see how “your” tree is doing?  I bet you have, and so has everyone else who joined you that day.  You didn’t spend your time just planting a tree, you helped build a community that you - and your tree - are a part of.

In fact, scientists have shown that people who live in neighborhoods with more green spaces have stronger social ties with their neighbors.  This means that they know more of their neighbors, have more visits with them are more likely to support each other and to share resources.  This, in turn, means that they are more likely to watch what is going on on their streets, step in if a problem occurs and defend their neighborhoods.  I guess it just follows, then, that there are fewer incidents of vandalism, graffiti and litter in a community with trees than in their more barren areas.  In fact, that extends to all crime: there are fewer violent crimes in greener areas.

For many people going for a walk calms them when they are upset or stressed.  That’s one of those things we just know, right?  Well, scientists have done studies and found that if you take a walk in a natural setting after a stressful situation, your blood pressure and heart rate will decline as will your feelings of fear, anger and aggression.  Office workers with a view of trees and nature from their desks find their jobs more satisfying, are less frustrated and report better over all health.   Even if you do get sick, trees can help.  Hospital patients who have a view of nature recover faster from surgery and require less pain medication, so hospital have begun building gardens for patients and for staff who have demanding jobs.

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to think maybe I haven’t appreciated the trees around me enough.