Home03/2019Charlotte colleagues help build a house with Habitat for Humanity
Charlotte colleagues help build a house with Habitat for Humanity
As part of Dentsply Sirona’s commitment to support communities in which employees live and work, a team of associates spent a day in Matthews, North Carolina, building a house for a family in need.
Matthews is a town of approximately 27,000 inhabitants, located just to the southeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, in Mecklenburg County. Rising housing costs and a lack of affordable entry-level homes and apartments in Matthews and the surrounding area have become a critical issue for a number of families who struggle to afford housing, with many spending over 30% of their income on a place to live. The local chapter of the international non-profit organization, Habitat for Humanity, helps to fill the gap and is currently the only builder of affordable housing in the area. Habitat for Humanity’s vision is for everyone to have a decent place to live and, since 1989, the organization has built 100 homes in seven neighborhoods in the Greater Matthews community with support from volunteers.
On October 24th, 20 employees from Dentsply Sirona in Charlotte met at the Habitat for Humanity construction site in Matthews to help build a home for Moulay, his wife Samia and their three children Rana, Zakaria and Tasneem. The family currently lives in a small apartment that lacks space for the children to play and costs them an entire month’s wages in rent. Working in two shifts, the team spent the workday putting up scaffolding, preparing the cabinet blocking for the walls, and completing the preparation of trusses for the roof.
Dentsply Sirona colleagues take a break from building to pose for a photo.
Construction on the house began in July, in partnership with local churches and congregations. With the support of over 170 volunteers, including the Dentsply Sirona team, this family of five will be able to move into their new 3-bedroom home by the holidays. Their new home even has a garden where the children can play safely. Keith Clements, Vice President of U.S. Distribution & Customer Support, led the team of Dentsply Sirona employees who worked on the house. “It was a privilege to work with such a great team of colleagues and help members of our local community with something as important as having a solid home,” he said.
Supporting amazing humanitarian causes such as Habitat for Humanity is our way of giving back to the community we live in, and we look forward to doing more projects in the Charlotte area in the years ahead.
Each year, Dentsply Sirona and its employees support charitable events, initiatives and activities across the globe. Some directly support the communities in which the Company and its employees are located. Dentsply Sirona also supported this build financially.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity and to find out about the many ways to get involved, visit www.habitat.org.