Giving Back Through GHBA

Rob HellyerBenefit Homes Project, Charity Projects, HomeAid Houston, President's Message

On the evening of Saturday, January 19, the 2020 GHBA board of directors were installed and I formally began the privilege of serving as the board president. Now it is time to turn my attention from the fun and festivities of the Installation Celebration to those issues important to me relative to the GHBA and its membership.

The Greater Houston Builders Association is often at the forefront of charitable causes benefiting Houstonians in need of housing assistance.

Leading those efforts is HomeAid Houston. HomeAid Executive Director Carole Brady leads a dedicated team which includes a volunteer board of directors. Year after year HomeAid answers the call for the housing needs of Houston’s homeless families, children and veterans. 2019 marked HomeAid’s sixteenth year and completion of 54 projects. The list of HomeAid’s beneficiaries include such noteworthy organizations as Boys & Girls Country, Agape Development, Casa de Esperanza, Covenant House, the list goes on and on.


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The record-breaking Builders Blitz 2006 brought together contractors nationwide to provide housing for nearly 2,000 people in just one week.

The Benefit Homes Project started four decades ago. Builders, developers and vendors have banded together time and again to ensure a brighter future for the community’s less fortunate. This program has raised more than $11 million since its inception benefiting a number of charitable organizations, most notably HomeAid Houston and Operation Finally Home.

Speaking of Operation Finally Home, this fine charity devotes itself to aiding the men and women of our armed forces to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. Established in 2005, Operation Finally Home has completed more than 250 homes in 33 states providing homes to America’s military heroes and the widows of the fallen.

Year in and year out the various councils and divisions of the GHBA take on their own charitable endeavors. One example for which I am particularly proud was the Habitat for Humanity Builders Blitz in 2006. Across the United States 459 homes were built in one week providing housing for nearly 2,000 people; a record that stands to this day. In Houston nine homes were built that week including one each by the Custom Builders Council and the Remodelers Council; the latter of which I was fortunate to have served as the committee chair.

Helping the less fortunate and giving back to the community in which we live and work is both important and rewarding. The opportunities to do so abound within the GHBA. Pick a cause that resonates with you, join in, and feel a genuine sense that you have made a difference in someone’s life.


About the Author
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Rob Hellyer

2020 GHBA Board President Rob Hellyer, CGR, GMB, CAPS, is a local remodeler and president of Premier Remodeling & Construction, LP.

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