I am writing today to tell you a story. My name is Liz Mallen, and I am one of the Co-Owners and Marketing Director of Peak Performance Roofing here in Sandy. Three years ago as the economy was going south we started noticing a trend. As usual, the calls were coming in by people who owned their own homes and needed repairs. They would ask us to come out to take a look at their roof and give them a bid. However, once we got out there it was apparent that they really did not have the adequate means for the repairs to be completed. These were mostly middle to low income individuals who were either elderly, single hard-working parents or had family members with medical disabilities. For the most part, these were proud people who were just looking for options. In some cases it was absolutely heartbreaking. We fixed a few roofs here and there at no cost with what we had in the truck, and just wrote it off. A few months after we had completed one of these projects, we received a thank-you card in the mail with a small check. This was something we were not expecting from this client. It was not much, the note was heartfelt and for her it was the principle. These are the people we want to help and for us, this is where the fundamentals for the idea of this program came from. The challenge was how to connect the dots.
As the idea started to take shape I found myself asking around, garnering support on how we could legitimately do this, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Originally the plan was to go to neighborhoods that really needed help and find out who owned the homes. We would then gather the support of five or six roofing companies. The reasoning behind this was to use a single employee from each company so as not to burden any one company for a project like this. It would help keep the men busy in the slower seasons, and give back to a community in need of hope and pride. At the time, I was also working on gathering support from suppliers and finding financial backers.
Later on that year I had the honor of meeting Stephen Tagliaferri, Executive Director of Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity and Resource Development Director, Lynda Gossett. It was at that point that it all started to fall into place. I pitched my idea, and Stephen asked to meet. From there it took off. It was then I found out Habitat for Humanity International is in the infancy stage of a program, Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI). The NRI program mirrored what I was doing, It was at this point I hoped that I would be able to go forward as a partner with SLVHFH and touch more lives. In the mean time, I was making calls to GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer, to see if there was a way to get supplies donated. Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity was accepted as an affiliate to be one of fifty to be in the NRI program. At this point a Committee was created. So far partnering with SLVHFH are Peak Performance Roofing, Aspen Roofing and Mark Hancey Painting. Along with roofing we may also offer exterior painting, with paint provided by Valspar, a gift in kind sponsor of Habitat for Humanity International.
In January 2011, I received a call from Clyde Allen, Territory Manager for GAF. It was at this point I learned that GAF had signed on with HFHI as a partner. I was absolutely thrilled. They had created a Community Contractor Program for roofing companies that are interested in giving back to their community. The program would recognize them as a strong supporter of the community, reinforce trust, and bring hope, pride and ownership to the homeowners helped. Visit the GAF press release here http://tinyurl.com/6etabhy . For us, as companies not only is it a great way to help families in our community but it gave us a program that we can share with a non-profit organization as a partner. For more information on this project please contact Liz Mallen (801) 998-8011 or Lynda Gossett (801)263-0136 #205.
