By Randy Loveless, PE, Structural Engineer
In my eight years at Reid Middleton, I have gone through my morning routine many times. Given vacations, holidays, sick days, and the occasional all-nighters at the office – my math puts it at about 2,000. While I have had many a ‘day at the office,’ there are a few in particular that stand out as having a greater significance than most.
One of those days was when Housing Hope’s Senior Housing Developer, Todd Bullock, called me asking about designing local homes for them. Reid Middleton had done some work with Todd on a Habitat for Humanity home several years ago. Todd was looking for some structural engineering help for a group of homes planned for a new housing development in Monroe, Wash. The homes were to be a part of Housing Hope’s Team HomeBuilding program.
Families gather at a “move-in” ceremony in Monroe, Wash. Photo courtesy of Housing Hope.
Housing Hope is a local non-profit organization whose vision is that, “every individual aspiring to self-sufficiency should have access to a safe, secure, affordable home.” They work toward this vision with innovative solutions that empower those they help. The Team HomeBuilding program is one of those innovations.
Photo courtesy of Housing Hope.
The program builds new single-family homes in groups. In the case of the Monroe development, it was 14 homes for the first of three phases. Housing Hope starts building when they have enough families to fill each slot. The families build their homes together as a community, and everyone moves in once the final home is completed. The families put 30 hours per week of sweat-equity into their homes, sign a mortgage, and enter into self-sufficient home ownership.
First Wall. Photo courtesy of Housing Hope
Having a good friend who works as Housing Hope’s philanthropy manager, I was familiar with this unique program… and excited at the prospect of being a participant! I approached senior leadership within Reid Middleton and requested permission to offer our services for this project at a significantly discounted rate. To my pleasant surprise, I was given permission to offer our services pro-bono.
After that moment, the project progressed as most do. We had a project team – Sabina Surana and me. There were challenges, and there were exciting puzzles to work out. There were many phone calls, emails, and conversations. There was some math, and there were sketches drawn. It was like many other projects and, as the design closed out, it slowly faded into the background like any other project does at its completion. That is, until February 9, when I noticed a front-page article on the Everett Herald newspaper with the title “Monroe Families Move into Homes They Helped to Build.” It was an article about the move-in ceremony for the families whose homes we had designed nearly a year before.
Photo courtesy of Housing Hope.
In the article, there were pictures of families – all smiles, excited to move into their new homes. The article described giggling children and a large crowd on-hand to celebrate with the families. As a father of four children, I was struck by the impact these programs can have on the life of a person. In that moment, I was reminded how thankful I am to be working for Reid Middleton. It is a firm that cares enough about its employees to support them in their pursuit of things they are passionate about… a firm that cares enough about the community to be involved.
It was one of those few days that started like many others, but ended up being remarkably memorable.
About Our Author: Randy Loveless, PE, is a structural engineer who takes a strong team-based approach to structural engineering. While he has experience
designing various types of structures, ranging from new and upgraded school
buildings to complex mechanical equipment support structures for large
buildings, his practice is primarily focused on the seismic retrofit of buildings considered to be lifelines or high-occupancy structures.
designing various types of structures, ranging from new and upgraded school
buildings to complex mechanical equipment support structures for large
buildings, his practice is primarily focused on the seismic retrofit of buildings considered to be lifelines or high-occupancy structures.
