Memphis Habitat, ServiceMaster Partner to Serve Local Veteran

Oliver Rollins (center) with the team of ServiceMaster volunteers before they got to work on May 30.

On Friday, May 30, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis and more than 50 ServiceMaster volunteers spent a rainy morning beautifying the Uptown home of veteran Oliver Rollins and three of his neighbors. The day of service was a ServiceMaster Community Relations event supported by the company’s Veterans Associate Resource Group and served as the culmination of ServiceMaster’s observation of National Military Appreciation Month.

Work on Rollins’ home included exterior painting and landscaping. Landscaping was also done at three neighboring properties to help beautify the block.

“With the launch of our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, Memphis Habitat addresses not only the need for decent, affordable new homeownership opportunities for families in need but also the critical repair needs of existing low-income homeowners,” Jessica Hord, director of marketing and communications at Memphis Habitat. “We are helping long-time Uptown residents, such as Mr. Rollins, stay in his home longer and improving the look of the neighborhood. We were excited for ServiceMaster to be a part of that.”

ServiceMaster has served as a Memphis Habitat house-building partner since 2007, constructing seven homes and providing more than 3,300 volunteers and 15,000 volunteer hours to help local families in need build and buy homes for the first time. ServiceMaster added revitalization to its partnership with Memphis Habitat in late 2013 and sought to serve a veteran through its first revitalization volunteer event.

Through the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, Habitat addressed critical structural issues on Rollins’ home in 2012. The ServiceMaster project helped complete remaining necessary improvements.

  Here's a quick "after" shot of Mr. Rollins' completed home!

To check out Memphis Habitat's Facebook photo gallery, from the May 30 project, click HERE.

Memphis Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) launched in 2012. Through NRI, Memphis Habitat’s mission has expanded to take a more holistic approach to community revitalization and development and now includes not only new home construction but also critical repairs and rehabilitation. The Uptown neighborhood near downtown is Memphis Habitat’s current neighborhood of focus, and the affiliate plans to construct 50 new homes and complete 100 critical repair/rehab projects there. To date, more than 50 repair projects and 17 new homes have been completed in Uptown.

Memphis Habitat continues to raise funds to support the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. To learn how you can help, contact Julie Romine at jromine@memphishabitat.com.

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