• Building Lifestyles

Everyone here at Heartland Homes is so excited to have the opportunity to give back to our community in this unique way.  Just as it is important for us to be good builders, it is also important for us to be good neighbors and give back in any way that we can.  It just so happens that giving back in this way will help a young mother and her son begin the journey of owning their first home.

It will be great to see the metro’s various home builders come together with a common goal and purpose to help the Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity.  All ten of the home builders, which are competitive by nature, will be building their houses either across or down the street from one of the other builders.  This will provide a great setting to accomplish this great task of completing ten houses in a week.

At Heartland, our motto is “Building Lifestyles” and that is what we hope to do with the help of our subcontractors.  Hopefully we can not only build a house for a very deserving family, but also help give them the lifestyle that they may have thought was out of reach.

Dave Osborn, President, Heartland Homes

• Building the American Dream in Five Days (or less)
  
  When approached by Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity almost a year ago, it took the Ideal Homes management team about two seconds to jump on board with the 2006 Builders Blitz.
  
  Ideal Homes is a big corporate citizen, but rarely does an opportunity come along that so perfectly aligns with our company's vision, "Building the American Dream through mutually beneficial relationships with customers, contractors and co-workers." That's been Ideal's vision for 15 years, but it's almost as if that vision was created for the upcoming week - because that vision encompasses what it will take to pull it off.
  
  If you ask almost anyone, homeownership is mentioned as a piece of their American Dream. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted that we get to do this every day. Over half of Ideal Homes customers have never owned a home before. If you're keeping score, that's almost 300 American Dreams each year. Next week thanks to Habitat, Ideal Homes, along with our wonderful Trades get to build the American Dream for a family in five days. (Or even less than five days, but my job has been threatened by our President of Construction and Production Manager if I predict an early finish.)
  
  A word about our Trades. Without exception, every time we jump into projects like this, our Trades jump right in with us. Sometimes I think they're just as crazy as we are. The reality is that there is an existing expectation of quality and commitment that we share with our Trades. High levels of accountability (on both ends) are already in place, creating a lot of trust.
  
  We can't wait for Monday to get here. We're ready to go.
  
  Steve Shoemaker, Ideal Homes, Norman, OK

          PS - I'm predicting less than five days. I'm cleaning out my desk right now.
 

• I was worried when I awoke at 5am to loud thunder and lightning. But Mother Nature had the courtesy to clear up just in time for our first morning on the job.
  
  By 9am, our production manager Tim Sullivan called me and said, "Take a look at the web cam." Much to my surprise, I not only saw a framed house...but a roof! I also noticed the pace of the Trades on the ground. They weren't just moving fast...but running.
  
  It's not a race, but very fitting to Oklahoma, I heard a rumor that a few (other) builders decided to execute some tactics that a few of the first Oklahomans tried about 117 years ago.
  
  In the Land Run of 1889, some who made the run sought to beat others to choice homesteads by entering early and hiding out until the legal time of entry. These people came to be known as "sooners".
  
  All in good fun...I think we had some Sooners in our Builders Blitz 2006 OKC site. Who can blame them? I bet the families waiting for those homes have no complaints. (Tim was quick to point out that we'd already passed the Sooners.)
  
  There's an extreme amount of energy at the building site. It's really fun to see builders and Trades who are competitive in nature, pulling together in a combined effort to support this cause.
  
  Steve Shoemaker, Director of Marketing, Ideal Homes

• It is really great to see all of the builders excited and working together.  There really isn’t any competition among the builders, in fact all of the builders are walking around and communicating with each other.  There was a builder down the street that needed something and we were able to help them out with it, and then there      was an item that we needed for our house and someone was able to return the favor.  It is really just a great atmosphere, seeing everyone working together to make sure that we have 10 houses completed and ready to move into by Saturday.

We finished framing the house today and it was really great to see our framer, A&E Construction, get the walls up and the siding on in one day.  A&E has recently signed a contract to frame Heartland’s houses, but hadn’t had the chance to do any when we asked them to help us out.  Even though they hadn’t framed for us before, they graciously donated their time to help us in the first stage of this build. 

 

Stephanie O’Day, the woman receiving this house, came out today and was able to walk around her house that had four walls and a roof framed and she was so moved to see it in this stage, because she said that to her it was finally real.  She stood in the back yard today and was able to visualize the house that she would move her son into.

We began the build this morning in unusual fashion.  Jimmie Johnson, a NASCAR driver for Lowe’s Home Improvement, made a conference call this morning that dialed the cell phone numbers of approximately 400 builders this morning.  At the end of the call, he closed in true NASCAR form and said “Gentlemen start your hammers.” 

 

Ed Hilliard, Heartland Homes                                   

• At the completion of the first “official day” of the Blitz, one word resonated in my mind, Pride.  Everywhere I looked, someone was offering help, advice, anything to help one another.  It isn’t often builders are right next to one another doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.  The same is true for each Habitat family starting a new adventure right next to each other.  I hope they feel the same way I did today watching all these people work to accomplish the same goal, with Pride.

Joanna Combs, Marketing Director, Southcreek Construction

• Almost Done
  
  Thanks to Habitat for Humanity and our rock star Trades and Suppliers, Ideal Homes has nearly completed a home for a family that currently lives in an overcrowded home in an unsafe neighborhood.
  
  We did have one minor glitch with cabinets and countertops today, but we're still on our aggressive schedule. In fact, I think someone forgot to tell our guys that they have five days to get this home built. Carpet goes in tonight. Tomorrow, the house gets cleaned and sodded. If you're keeping track...that's three days.
  
  Here are two things I've enjoyed this week. 1) Seeing the current residents in the community sit on their porch and watch the construction going on around them. Soon they'll have new neighbors. 2) Hearing the buzz around our main office as people watch the web cam during their lunch break and seeing the pride on their faces.
  
  Right now, Ideal Homes is building my family's first home as well. (Not in three days though. What's going on here?) Most of us have never lived in an overcrowded or unsafe neighborhood. I must admit, up to this point it's been easy to take the blessing of a new home for granted. After seeing what's happened this week, that won't be a problem. I imagine it won't be a problem for the Loftis family either.
  
  Steve Shoemaker, Director of Marketing, Ideal Homes
   

• I was worried at first about how fast they were going to build my house, but then I met Dave Osborn and everyone at Heartland Homes and they made me feel better.  I never thought that I would own my own home.

I work at a daycare, and they go to Habitat for Humanity's Renovation Station when they are making improvements.  They were actually the ones that suggested I go to Habitat to get a home.  I went and filled out the application and it only took a couple of months for me to get approved.  I took a week vacation to start my 300 hours of sweat equity and I have worked every Saturday until I reached that goal.  There were definitely times that I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but it has definitely been worth it.                        

We will have a dedication ceremony on Saturday and then we get to close on the house Monday and move in.  It will be great because on June 24^th Devon (my son) will get to celebrate his first birthday in our new home.

Heartland Homes has been awesome, and I wouldn’t have asked for anyone else to help with our home.  They have sort of adopted Devon and me and in turn we have adopted them.  They have definitely made us feel at home through this entire process and included us in all of the details.

Everyone with Habitat for Humanity has been awesome.  It is definitely an organization the I will stay involved with. I want to help other single mothers realize their dreams.

Stephanie O’Day, Recipient of the Heartland Home

• Stephanie is definitely involved in the process of building her home.  She has a knowledge level about this house that far surpasses most people that we build houses for.  She can tell you the location on the walls that the phone jacks will be located.

She is a young lady that has jumped into this process and immersed herself in the building of her house.  It has been a pleasure for myself and everyone from Heartland to get to know her and her son and see their excitement as we construct their new home.

Dave Osborn, President, Heartland Homes

• It was really great today to see M&D Alley Construction of Guthrie come in to install the cabinets and trim.  Michael Alley really turned this experience into a family affair, by bringing wife Donna and daughters Megan and Hailey out to help.  In addition, they also had Adam Kilbourne and Daniel Brooks from their staff here to help out.

   

  Ed Hilliard, Heartland Homes

• We really felt that it was good to be able to bless someone in this way and we didn’t even have to think twice about agreeing to be a part of this experience .  It has been a joyful feeling to be able to help Heartland build a home for someone that really deserves it.  If we don’t help give back to our community, then there really wouldn’t be a community.

   

  It is really great for us to be able to do this as a family and give back to a family that will really appreciates it like Stephanie and Devon.  We have actually made t-shirts for our family and have had everyone sign them so we can give one of them to Stephanie.

   

  Donna Alley, M&D Alley Construction

• Our home passed final inspection this morning at ten. Most of the day was spent on paint touchups, installation of sod, and multiple walkthroughs.
  
  We knew it would take a team effort to pull this off, but our Trades have really redefined Teamwork. One of the challenges of building a home in three days is having multiple trades working at the same time - quite a departure from normal production schedule. In the back of my mind I wondered how well it would work. Not only was it not an issue on the job site, but everyone was actually helping each other out. I'm not exaggerating...it was hard to tell who was on which crew. Everyone was helping load trucks, with clean-up, and doing their best to accommodate each other, all while staying extremely focused. This isn't just another home, and it was obvious that everyone knew what they were working for.
  
  To be honest I'm not sure what our President of Construction and Production Manager will do tomorrow. Knowing them, they'll perform about 100 walkthrough's. Completing a perfect home for the Loftis family is the number one goal.
  
  Steve Shoemaker, Director of Marketing, Ideal Homes