Making a Difference: Build Them Up
Sometimes you have to break things down before you can build them back up.
Since 2017, Mark Haag, manager of project Maximo, and Shane Wothe, manager of enterprise endpoints and technical service, both at MDU Resources in Bismarck, North Dakota, have volunteered with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that helps people with physical or income limitations make essential repairs to their homes.
Haag, a past president, and Wothe, vice president of the organization, have both volunteered hundreds of hours, after seeing an initial email from a fellow MDU Resources employee asking for help. Each came at it from a different level of experience: Haag loves to build in his spare time and has flipped nearly two dozen houses, while Wothe says he “couldn’t do much” when he first joined. But what they have in common is this: “It’s a great feeling helping people in need, when they can’t do things for themselves,” said Wothe.
Each has led the construction of one house every year for the past eight years, with a team including up to 20 to 30 other MDU Resources volunteers. “[Many times,] it’s taking it down to the studs and putting it back together,” says Haag. “The feeling you get is how appreciative they are. It changes their lives in a lot of ways.”
For example, Haag recalls a young man living on the autism spectrum who’d found workarounds when parts of his home began falling apart. Pipes underneath the home were leaking sewage, and the shower didn’t work; the dryer element was running continuously; the stove was broken, and the kitchen sink didn’t drain; and his garage door wasn’t working.. The young man simply lived with the odor from the broken pipes and toweled off at the sink for his personal hygiene; he wasn’t aware that the dryer was dangerously hot; he found other ways to prepare his food; and he parked his car outdoors.
It wasn’t how anyone should be living. So, the Rebuilding Together team gutted the house, replaced the pipes, repaired the sink and garage door, and installed new flooring, a new bathroom and new appliances. The homeowner, said Haag, was “so happy and appreciative…it was a complete transformation.”
Along with providing volunteers, MDU Resources has been hugely supportive, say the two men. Every employee has eight paid volunteer hours a year; plus, any employee who volunteers more than 25 hours earns a small grant for their nonprofit.
“It’s great being able to help somebody unable to help themselves, whether they don’t have the financial means or they’re elderly or disabled or can’t physically do the work themselves,” said Wothe. “Sometimes the things we do are giant projects, but other times, on the surface, it may seem small and insignificant, like replacing a window. But for somebody unable to do that work, who may have major heating or cooling issues because of that window, they are so appreciative.”