Community Projects

Cloudy, cool start for Charity Ride heats up with fun, sunshine, camaraderie

The 2008 Charity Ride started off on the cloudy, cool morning of Aug. 23. at U Motors. Riders were able to break out the leather a lot earlier than expected, but seemed to enjoy being able to wear more of their gear. U Motors provided participants with some morning refreshments that were greatly appreciated by everyone. The early-morning group headed over to Dunvilla to meet another set of riders at the Lakeland Café. With the Fargo Motor Patrol leading the way, the group of 55 riders with 51 motorcycles and three classic cars was off to enjoy the day, hopeful that the sun would come out eventually.

The first pit-stop was at Phelps Mill, where participants could enjoy the beautiful park and watch the clouds finally melt away. All three cars had their tops down from Phelps Mill on to enjoy the beautiful afternoon. From Phelps Mill, the group drove to Vining to enjoy a quick lunch at the Big Foot Gas and Grocery. Vining is the childhood home of NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and it was interesting to see her hometown. After lunch, the majority of the riders drove to Inspiration Peak and walked to the lookout. Back on the road, the group headed to Dent for one last pit-stop before dinner. Dinner was at the Roadhouse Bar & Grill in Lake Ida and was a very nice end to the day. Riders traveled over 200 miles round trip all in the name of charity!

The 2008 ride was sponsored by Hornbacher’s, Plecity Kowalski Construction, Inc., Twin City Garage Door, Accent Kitchen & Bath, Camrud Foss Concrete Construction, Inc., Contemporary Builders, Nodak, Anderson Bottrell Sanden & Thompson, the Roadhouse Bar & Grill, S & S Promotional Group, Inc., and U Motors. Thanks to Perry Eidem of United Products Corporation who helped with registration at the Lakeland Café and Dave Krebs who pulled a trailer behind the group during the ride. The Fargo Motor Patrol, as always, did a wonderful job keeping people on track and stopping traffic at intersection. Ken Krajsa, Bob Kochmann, and Mark Topp planned the event in conjunction with HBA staff and it turned out to be a wonderful ride and the event raised just under $1,000 for Home Builders Care.

 

RENEW House

The RENEW house is a collaborative effort between Home Builders Care of Fargo-Moorhead Foundation and the Remodelors Council to remodel a home within the Neighborhood Revitalization program in the city of Fargo. RENEW stands for Restoring Existing Neighborhoods for Everyone’s Well-being.

Located at 923 5th Ave. S, the house will provide a wonderful opportunity for HBA members involved in remodeling to showcase their work. Plans for the house include building a garage, adding a mudroom/laundry room, completely remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, and refinishing the floors. HBC will sell the house for workforce housing and hopes to help a family own their first home. This project will help to show that dream homes are available at many different levels.

We need members of the Home Builders Association to donate items to the house project so the house will truly be a showcase for the remodeling and home building industry. Below is a list of items we still need for the home. Items in bold are needed as soon as possible.

  • Framing for the garage and labor
  • Concrete for the foundation & walks, and labor for pouring
  • Fencing, materials and labor
  • Landscaping, materials and labor
  • Mirrors for bathrooms

Thanks to the following companies for donating time and materials to the RENEW project.

  • ABC Seamless
  • Accent Contracting
  • Barstad Construction, Inc.
  • Benter’s Brick
  • Butler Machinery Company
  • Camrud-Foss Concrete Construction, Inc.
  • Carpet World
  • Cedar Valley Exteriors
  • Chris Lind Custom Home Contracting LLC
  • City of Fargo
  • Coleman Heating & Air/Johnstone Supply
  • Command Center
  • Crane Johnson Lumber Company
  • Cullen Insulation
  • D & M Industries
  • Dakota Construction of Fargo, Inc.
  • Dakota Gypsum
  • Dal Tile & Stone
  • Dave Anderson Construction
  • Design Direction, Inc.
  • Drywall Supply Central
  • Fargo Rentall, Inc.
  • Ferguson Bath, Kitchen, & Lighting Gallery
  • Foam DR’s LLC
  • Gate City Bank
  • Granites Unlimited
  • Graybar Electric Company, Inc.
  • Harry Gilbertson Construction
  • Hazer’s Auto & Truck Parts
  • Heyer Engineering
  • Hirshfield’s Red River Paint
  • Interstate Remodeling
  • J.V. Hough, Inc.
  • Johnson Hardwood Floors
  • Knife River Materials
  • Laney’s, Inc.
  • Lindemann Concrete Construction
  • Minnesota State Community & Technical College
  • Northern Plumbing Supply
  • Northland Truss Systems, Inc.
  • Olson’s Quality Drywall, Inc.
  • Opatril Concrete Construction
  • Paul Bunyan Tree Service
  • Poss Custom Cabinets
  • Potty Shacks
  • Red River Drywall & Paint
  • Red River Electric
  • Rick Duval Construction, Inc.
  • Sherwin Williams
  • Showplace Kitchens
  • Smart Spaces
  • Stylemark Builders, Inc
  • Syverson Tile & Stone
  • TRN Abstract & Title
  • Tecton Products, LLC
  • Twin City Garage Door/Midland Garage Door
  • Vinylite Windows
  • Windows Plus, Inc.

Herdina Academy for the Construction Trades

For more information on the Construction Trades Academy download this brochure.

The Herdina Academy for Construction Trades will be held June 8-19, 2009, at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead. The academy is open to North Dakota and Minnesota high school students ages 16 and older. Enrollment is limited! Students who successfully complete the Academy will earn three college credits from MSCTC. The credits can be used for the carpentry, plumbing, refrigeration and air conditioning, or mechanical CAD programs at MSCTC.

2009 is the Academy’s 11th year and its third year at MSCTC. Its campus offers a myriad of opportunities to expose participants to the many specialty occupations within the construction industry. Students will work side-by-side with industry and education professionals, learning about occupations, tools, safety requirements and skills required for satisfying and well-paying careers. They participate in classroom and hands-on learning, with the opportunity to experience first-hand how residential and commercial buildings are constructed.

Sponsorship of the Herdina Academy for the Construction Trades is provided by: Home Builders Care Foundation, the charitable arm of Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead; and Minnesota State Community and Technical College.

$500 scholarships from the Home Builders Care Foundation will be awarded to two outstanding students who complete the academy and plan to enroll in a construction-related field at MSCTC or NDSCS in Wahpeton.

 

Lake Agassiz Habitat Women Build

In 2007, Lake Agassiz Habitat For Humanity’s Women Build built a twin home for two single mothers at 703 S. University Drive in Fargo. Home Builders Care Foundation was the project’s community sponsor and enlisted the help of many Home Builders Association members to assist in building the home. The house blessing ceremony, which occurred on July 21 consisted of a welcome by Women Build Steering Committee Chair Amanda Thomas; invocation by Pastor Becky Lee; gift presentations by Lowe’s, Home Builders Care, the Women Build Steering Committee and Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity; and a house blessing by Pastor Lee. New homeowners Tara and Laura commented on their experience and seemed truly moved at the outpouring of support this community bestowed on them and their children.

HBC Board Member Dave Anderson, Dave Anderson Construction, represented the foundation in giving a set of door knockers and house numbers to the women and their families. Thank you to everyone who helped the Home Builders Care Foundation support this project!

Health, Tech, & Trades Career Expo

This Expo is designed to help ninth graders explore different careers and education opportunities. The focus is two-year or technical degree career opportunities. The Expo supports industries that will continue to need qualified, skilled workers in the future.  This need will be filled by providing opportunities for area youth to see what is available to them right here in Fargo-Moorhead. Students want to hear from those in the “real world” about careers in your business, training necessary, scholarships and/or apprenticeships available, possible part-time opportunities available while completing education. Students in the 9th grade are at the perfect age for this event as this is when emphasis on course selection based on career goals really begins. Hands-on experiences or visual demonstrations engage and motivate students.  They learn more and their curiosity is piqued which leads to a desire to find out more.

“Home Builders Care for Habitat” Project

Home Builders Care of Fargo-Moorhead Foundation (HBC), in conjunction with the HBA, created the Home Builders Care for Habitat Project, a fundraiser/community service project for HBC and Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity (HFH) www.lakeagassizhabitat.org. Terry Becker, Terry Becker Construction LLC, Fargo, acted as the general contractor to build a single family home. Proceeds from the sale of the home benefited HBC and a third was donated to Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity.  Groundbreaking was held on Oct. 27, 2005. This beautiful upscale rambler was built at 4701 Woodhaven Drive South in Fargo.

Churches United for the Homeless

The HBC has contributed $25,000 to Churches United for the Homeless building campaign over 2003, 2004 and 2005. Churches United for the Homeless provides temporary lodging for single individuals and for families who have no other place to stay.


YWCA

In 2004 the YWCA “Building Hope” Capital Campaign built a new 37,000 square ft. facility for the YWCA, which will be available to women and their children seeking shelter from violence, poverty and homelessness.

The YWCA received a $5,000donation from Home Builders Care.

Lemonade Project

The Lemonade Project was a house remodel coordinated by the Horace Mann Area Neighborhood Association. They began this project when there was news of a drug bust three houses down from Horace Mann School where their children attend. Some of the homes in the neighborhood were turned into small, one bedroom apartments that have degraded over time. The home that was restored is 2,000 square feet that had to be gutted due to improper wall structure and black mold damage. HBC worked with Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Skills and Technology Center, and the city of Fargo to rehabilitate homes in older neighborhoods while offering local students the chance to learn carpentry and remodeling skills. It was also an extraordinary opportunity to encourage more development within the industry in the more affordable housing range.

The Lemonade Project received a $5,000donation from the HBC. Student chapter members were involved to help with laboron the Lemonade project. Inturn, the student chapterswere compensated for their time by HBC.


Wish & Care Home

The Wish & Care Home was a fundraiser/community service project in 2003 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of ND and the Home Builders Care Foundation. The idea was to build a brand new home constructed entirely through the contributions of local companies. Don Dabbert, Jr. of Contemporary Builders acted as general contractor of the project. More than 100 companies donated time, money, materials and labor.

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity from the home building industry, each organization received $52,500, which is the largest single donationreceived by both organizations.Home Builders Care Foundation board created an endowment fund. Make-A-Wish’s funds are used to grant wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.

Contributions

The following are organizations HBC has supported:

  • Access of the Red River Valley
  • Hurricane Relief—HBA Mississippi Coast & HBA of Greater New Orleans
  • Cullen Children’s Foundation
  • Minnesota State University-Moorhead
  • North Dakota State University
  • North Dakota State College of Science
  • Minnesota State Community & Technical College
  • Ronald McDonald House
  • Rebuilding Together
  • Charism
  • Horace Mann Area Neighborhood Association