BOB WARD AND PULTE HOMES TEAM WITH HARFORD HABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN “HOME BUILDERS BLITZ 2006”

Bel Air, MD May 11, 2006 – Pulte Homes’ Maryland division and Bob Ward Companies help make history this June by joining Harford Habitat for Humanity in Home Builders Blitz 2006, an unprecedented event that pairs professional home builders with Habitat affiliates across the U.S. to construct homes for more than 1,000 people nationwide in one week’s time.

Home Builders Blitz 2006, which kicks off the week of June 5, is the largest Habitat project of its kind in the United States and gives many low-income families the opportunity to own their own home. Harford Habitat for Humanity is among more than 130 Habitat affiliates across the country joining in this mammoth event.

Five other Maryland-based Habitat affiliates will also participate: Arundel Habitat in Arnold; Cecil County Habitat in North East; Frederick County Habitat in Frederick; Garrett County Habitat in Oakland; and Washington County Habitat in Hagerstown. Only the Harford and Arundel Habitats have undertaken the ambitious move to build two homes during this week-long blitz; the others are dedicated to raising the walls on one home for a needy family in their local area.
Two Harford County families will move in to the homes built under blitz conditions by Bob Ward and Pulte Homes. Both families are headed by single working mothers who will become home owners for the first time, thanks to this Habitat effort.

Joann Blewett, executive director for the Harford Habitat, says a special committee interviewed scores of applicants who underwent a rigorous selection process that included submission of an essay on the personal significance of home ownership plus a financial review. Blewett says a number of factors are weighed when selecting the individuals, including special circumstances that may account for why one individual is chosen over another.

Habitat for Humanity International estimates that more than 400 homes will be completed from start to finish across the country during the Blitz.

“Never before have so many Habitat homes been built so quickly,” said Kevin Campbell, director of the national Home Builders Blitz program for Habitat for Humanity. “Partnering with professional home builders allows Habitat affiliates to increase the number of homes they build, while builders can help their community by doing what they do best.”
Here in Harford County, Bob Ward Companies and Pulte Homes’ Maryland division assembled a team of subcontractors and suppliers to obtain materials and professional labor for the project. Both home builders are donating their time and expertise to this project for no compensation and asked their team members to do the same.

Bob Ward Companies, one of the largest home builders in metropolitan Baltimore, Maryland, and a Certified Master Builder, builds communities of townhomes, single family homes and “Executive Series” homes throughout the metro area and Southern Pennsylvania. Since 1983, the company has made the dream of home ownership a reality for more than 3,000 families.

All Bob Ward Companies homes are built to be energy-efficient. They carry the ENERGY STAR® certification of the United States Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, which means that they are 15 percent more energy efficient than required by building code. Similar construction practices and techniques will be used to build the Habitat home as well. The company, which is locally owned, has corporate headquarters at 2700 Philadelphia Road in Edgewood, MD.

For more information on the Home Builders Blitz, visit www.habitat.org/buildersblitz or contact Harford Habitat for Humanity at (410) 638-4434.

Largest building blitz in Habitat’s history joins 1,000 professional builders to help house more than 1,000 people nationwide

Harford Habitat for Humanity, Builders Pulte Homes & Bob Ward Join Nationwide “Home Builders Blitz 2006” to Make Home Ownership a Realty for Families in Need

WHO:

Bob Ward Companies and Pulte Homes – Maryland division team with Harford Habitat for Humanity in the first nationwide “Home Builders Blitz 2006.” Each builder will build one home. Two Harford County families are designated to receive the homes under a mortgage plan developed by Habitat to provide home ownership opportunities for lower-income families.

WHAT:

Habitat for Humanity’s “Home Builders Blitz 2006” is a nationwide effort that joins Habitat for Humanity affiliates and 1,000 professional home builders aiming to build in five days, homes for more than 1,000 people in need. Home builders compete with other builder teams in a race to finish first, working with their subcontractors and suppliers to deliver the houses at no cost to the affiliate. Builders will donate labor and seek donations for building materials; if necessary, they’ll pay vendors and suppliers out of their own pockets. Affiliates are expected to secure the land and manage site development by providing lots with foundations, drives and utilities in place as well as furnish builders with house plans and secure all necessary permits.
Harford Habitat for Humanity is among more than 130 Habitat affiliates across the country participating in this mammoth event. In addition to Harford, five other Maryland affiliates will join the blitz; only the Harford and Arundel Habitats are building more than one home (two each).

The model for this unprecedented national Habitat undertaking began several years ago with a small-scale blitz in Raleigh, NC where 12 builders competed to build 12 homes in five days. This year Habitat takes the Blitz national and expects to build more than 400 homes during this first week in June and has a separate, concentrated effort to rebuild the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged areas of the Gulf, hoping to build more than 600 homes there in the course of a year.

WHEN: Construction slated for June 5 – 9, 2006.