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One Saturday morning at 7:30am, a group of four of us arrived in West Atlanta to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Our task was to continue construction on a house. Specifically, it was Day 6 build. Tasks included painting the interior and exterior, installing baseboard, window sills, interior trim, kitchen cabinets and countertops, and continuing the application of soffit and fascia. When we first arrived, our House Leader for the build split volunteers up into work stations to explain the tasks at hand and gave instructions on how to safely complete them. Then it was up to us…

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit organization with the mission to bring “people together to build homes, communities, and hope.” Habitat partners with people in the community to help build or improve homes in the hopes of revitalizing communities and empowering homeowners to build a better life for themselves and their families. Atlanta Habitat, one of the largest affiliates, has built more than 1,400 houses in 160 neighborhoods since 1983. The home that we were helping to build was sponsored by multi-faith church group. We were fortunate to volunteer along side people from all walks of life to help the soon-to-be home owner.

The Burton team was split up from the start of the day. Ed and Justin were on cabinet, baseboard, and trim installation duty while Jenn and I were sent outside to paint the exterior of the house. Unsure what the day held in store for us, we put on our gloves and got to work. What we thought would be a long and exhausting day ended up being a fun and incredibly rewarding experience. Jenn and I mastered our paint brush strokes and fear of heights, while Justin and Ed shared their carpentry knowledge.

Ed and Justin- Cutting Baseboards
Jenn and Holly House Paintingedited

While working, we chatted with other volunteers and learned what organizations they came from and what brought them to Habitat. In just 8 hours, we had completely transformed the house. It is estimated that volunteers like us save on average $40-$45k in labor costs to build a home. It was an extremely fulfilling experience seeing the house from start to end of the day, and knowing that our work helped better the lives of those in our community. Because of our positive experience, Burton hopes that Habitat for Humanity will be an ongoing engagement for our company. We look forward to our next opportunity to volunteer in the spring!

Finished back of house
Burton Group