Building a Towne House

In the spring/summer of 2007, Towne Air Freight partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in South Bend. From drivers and dock workers to office employees, sales staff and senior leaders, the entire organization rolled up their sleeves to build a home with selected recipient Catrice Nelson.

Nelson applied to the Habitat for Humanity program that funds zero-interest mortgages in January 2006, and has since been receiving extensive training on home construction and maintenance through Sweat Equity hours. She has also gained financial education and debt remediation counseling in hopes of swinging a hammer on a home of her own. This spring, Towne is helping make her dream come true.

"I feel blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to get a house this year," said Nelson. "I want to thank Towne Air Freight and all of the people who are willing to help me and my family by working on the job site."

Two days of pre-construction at the Habitat ReStore on April 21st and 28th served as the kick-off to Towne's Blitz Build beginning May 1st. Employees of Towne Air Freight, Rocket Expedited and Towne Network Solutions spent 14 days working alongside Nelson at the 1232 W. Jefferson site to assemble 2x4s, drywall, paint and shingles into a home for her and her two boys - Javeion (5) and Deion (13).

Towne's involvement with Habitat began during hurricane relief efforts when a truck and driver were donated to haul a pre-constructed home to Texas two years ago. Last July, Towne's president, Tom Downey sent a memo to employees questioning the expenditure of holding a company Christmas party in December given the obvious need throughout our local communities.

"Through Towne's many community outreach programs like our Read to a Child program and our participation in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk, we have become increasingly aware that serving the community together gives us just as powerful, if not a more powerful, experience of togetherness as fellow employees than a fancy party," Downey noted.

"At Towne we truly believe in leading by example and to have our team be so giving of their time and talents to improve the lives of others shows a great deal of community spirit at every level of the organization," said Jerry Scott, vice-president of Human Resources. "We hope other businesses notice our efforts and choose to get involved."