Volunteer builds homeowner pride through Habitat for Humanity
ERIC STRATMANN
Director of supply chain excellence, Albemarle Corp.
You have four weeks from start to finish to build a house, and your crew consists of about 100 people—most not adults yet—who know little to nothing about construction.
It would be enough to make most managers hang up their hard hat. But the energy, camaraderie and privilege of helping has been bringing Eric Stratmann back for seven years now.
Stratmann began volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build through his church. One of the senior executives at Albemarle took note and volunteered to sponsor a home through the company’s foundation, which donates about $75,000 for the materials.
Each house is built with free labor—including 255 hours of sweat equity by the new homeowners on various projects—and then that partner family gets an interest-free loan from Habitat.
“We started in 2007, and we’ve built seven houses for those seven years. The Albemarle Foundation provides the funds, and then I coordinate lining up the many other Albemarle employees who volunteer,” Stratmann says. “But I’m just a member of the team.”
Called a youth build, the project partners the company with three area high schools for labor; Habitat provides a full-time construction foreman to help. Habitat has it pretty much down to a science—every hour of every shift, it knows what’s supposed to be done.
Coordinating the build seems like a natural fit for a guy who spends his workday focused on the process of building and delivering products better, faster and cheaper.
“I’m a detail guy, so I get enjoyment from seeing the progress on the house construction as each shift finishes,” says Stratmann. Albemarle has about 75 employees that work over 12 shifts each year, and a core set of about 20 people have volunteered on every house.
“My friend and fellow employee Hardin Wells has been the co-project leader on every build. Hardin’s a mechanical engineer, and so he’s the technical expert on our team. The Albemarle volunteers all get positive energy from volunteering, so that makes it all worthwhile. The kids are great. They are polite; they’re having fun. … It’s just an all-around great experience,” he adds.
“At the final ceremony, the partner families invite the preacher from their church and family members, and there are tears in everyone’s eyes, so that creates a very satisfying feeling,” Stratmann says. “Habitat calls it a hand up, not a hand out. So the partner family is very proud of their accomplishment.”
The executive has been on the Habitat board for six years and is finishing up his term this year, but he still plans to volunteer on a committee or help with the ReStore in north Baton Rouge, where proceeds from the sale of quality used and surplus building materials help fund construction. “If you do something that you like, you make time for it,” he says.
This is his 35th year with his company, and Stratmann is extremely proud of the Albemarle Foundation’s involvement in the Baton Rouge community. There are 700 people in the metro area that work for Albemarle, and more than 10% volunteer on Habitat builds.
“Everybody always tells me that they get a lot more than they give,” Stratmann says. “So to be a part of that and facilitate that is a really, really nice thing. And for the partner families, it’s just like a giant event in their lives that you have a small part in.”
To volunteer for a Habitat for Humanity build, sponsor a project, or donate, go to habitatbr.org or call (225) 927-6651.
