Farmers Employees Chip In to Help Habitat for Humanity
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The interior of the tall, white and green house at 1527 Lansdowne Blvd. looked very different a year ago.
The house has seen a lot of progress on its way to being rehabilitated into a home suitable for a new family in the area.
David Redig, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley, said the rehabilitation project was officially started before he took over.
“This [site] was donated to us,” he said. “The former director and our current construction manager took a walk through and saw it needed a lot of work, but it had really great bones.”
About 30 Farmers National Bank employees were helping out at the site Wednesday as a way to give back to the community.
Kevin Helmick, president and CEO of Farmers National Bank, said the house was one of three sites employees were working at Wednesday. Farmers National Bank associates split up between sites in Youngstown, Canton and Massillon.
“There is some drywall hanging and mudding. There is a lot of sanding of floors, pressure washing outside, electrical work, [and] we are hanging some light fixtures,” he said. “Anything we can do in a day.”
The morning crew consisted of about 30 people. Helmick said about 70 total were spread out between the three locations.
“Everyone is excited about helping out and pitching in to keep it moving,” he said.
Helmick said although Farmers is no stranger to working with Habitat for Humanity, this is the first time since the pandemic that the bank has done work for the organization on site.
“We really enjoy doing these types of things,” he said. “As a community bank, giving back to the community for beautification or community revitalization is really important.”
Having a strong community benefits everyone, Helmick said.
“Whether it is strong education, affordable housing, reliable health care – all of those things [matter],” he said. “If you have all of those things, it provides a better workforce, a better client base, a better customer base, and we’re all in it together.”
During the building day, Farmers National Bank presented an additional $5,000 donation to Habitat for Humanity.
“At Farmers, we talk about generating ‘win-wins,’” Helmick said. “This type of win for the community benefits Farmers and benefits everybody around in the community. It’s about providing win-wins for everybody. We’re in it together, and we’re better together.”
Redig has been director of Habitat for Humanity for the past year. He said they have been working with the Farmers team over the past few months on this project.
Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley serves Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Redig said this is the main project the organization is currently working on in Mahoning County.
“We are in the middle stages of the rehab for this home,” he said. “They are lending a hand and doing their thing, which is awesome.”
The typical time for rehabilitating a home is about six months, Redig said. They also do new construction.
Redig said he wants to do more projects.
“I really want to do a project in each county over the next year,” he said. “For us, that would be this rehab in Youngstown. We have a home in Warren that we are working on, and then I want to start a new building in Columbiana County.”
Redig said it is groups like the team at Farmers that make the work they do possible.
“We rely a lot on volunteers,” he said. “I have one construction manager that is the expert, but we work with volunteer groups from businesses, churches [and] organizations that come out and lend a hand, just like Farmers National Bank today.”
Click HERE to volunteer or make a donation.
Pictured at top: From left are Troy Adair, Farmers National Bank’s chief financial officer; Myke Matuszak, Farmers’ chief operating officer; Kevin Helmick, Farmers’ president and CEO; David Redig, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley; and Mark Wenick, Farmers’ chief wealth officer.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
