The Punchlist

May/June 2009

AGC in the Community

Arizona Builders’ Alliance member volunteers upgrade a women’s support center in Tucson

By Debra Wood

ABA members came out in force during the 2008 Volunteer Day. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Builders’ Alliance)

Several children of ABA members learned to pitch in and help others. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Builders’ Alliance)

Painting was a key project during the Volunteer Day event. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Builders’ Alliance)

A volunteer welds a new fence post in place. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Builders’ Alliance)

The sounds of paint rol­lers, drills, tile saws and other tools filled the air when members of the Arizona Builders’ Alliance and their families spiffed up the Compass Behavioral Health Center’s Vida Nueva campus in Tucson during the Associated General Contractors-affiliated organization’s annual Volunteer Day.

“We give back to the community,” says David Pittman, director of the Southern Arizona division of ABA in Tucson. “That’s the primary reason we do it, but we do this because we can. That’s what we are good at—building. It’s also good public relations for us as an organization and as an industry.”

ABA began holding a volunteer day about 15 years ago, and it has grown from a single-day event to one that spans months, culminating in a one-day blitz in December with about 300 people painting, landscaping and putting the final touches on the job. ABA members donate money, labor and materials to the projects. Throughout the years, they have contributed more than $1 million toward charitable work.

“It gets bigger and bigger every year,” Pittman says.

In 2007 ABA performed $125,000 in improvements at The Haven, a nonprofit residential treatment program in Tucson dedicated to helping women recover from substance addictions. Last year, the organization’s members completed $200,000 in construction-related projects at Compass, a transitional residential housing facility for 24 women and their families. The program serves more than 60 women annually.

“We are extremely grateful for what they did,” says Stephania O’Neill, CEO of Compass Behavioral Health. “It was an unbelievable service they gave us, and it made the difference between us staying open and closing.”

O’Neill says the organization’s funding support required that the apartments be kept in good condition, but with tight budgets, the task was challenging. The facility was at risk of closing, until the ABA came forward.

Dave Seese, 2008 ABA Volunteer Day chairman, and other ABA members met with Compass officials and residents to learn more about the facility’s needs and developed a remodeling plan that would bring the entire campus up to code.

Volunteers installed exterior lighting, a wrought iron fence and a vehicle gate, replaced doors and locksets to the apartments, added steel-security doors and installed peepholes to improve security on the campus.

ABA members built a playground area for the children and three picnic tables. They moved the swimming pool’s security gate to within view of the office, which members remodeled, upgraded the HVAC system and insulation, tiled the bathroom and converted the patio to a conference room.

“My goal was to involve as many members as possible,” says Seese, a project manager at T.L. Roof & Associates Construction Co., Tucson. “In the past, maybe one big contractor would do the lion’s share. I split it up, even though it was a lot more work, to get as many trades involved as I could. That’s why it was such a success.”

ABA has already started working on its 2009 Volunteer Day project. More than 27 nonprofits applied for consideration. Members evaluated the proposals and selected five for on-site visits. They assess the need and the organization’s ability to accommodate a significant number of volunteers on a single day.

“It’s based on who needs us the most,” Pittman says.

This year, members will provide construction-related repairs at the Marshall Home for Men, a nonprofit assisted-living facility in Tucson that provides a home for 52 veterans with mental or physical disabilities.

“This is the right thing to do,” Seese adds. “Every year, [our members] step up and give an outfit like Compass a hand.”