When Jennifer Brundon and her disabled cousin move into their new home at 104 St. Petersburg Dr. E. in Oldsmar, it will be the first new Habitat for Humanity home in Oldsmar. Construction of the home is a result of the generosity of Nielsen Company and its Oldsmar employees as well as that of Eleanor Nelson, the gracious 89-years-young lady who donated the property for the new home and for another future Habitat home to be built on the site.
It won’t be a “first” for Nielsen, however. According to Amy Rettig, vice-president for public affairs at Nielsen, employees participated in Habitat’s big “Super Build” in Tampa Bay in 2008-09, when Tampa hosted the Super Bowl. For that one, Amy says that 60 Nielsen employees participated and helped build a house in near-record time. To encourage worker participation, Nielsen raffled off a pair of Super Bowl tickets. And the company also sponsored a home in a New Orleans Parish after Hurricane Katrina.
Amy says that her company had already expressed an interest in helping to build another Habitat home when the opportunity to build one in Oldsmar came up. Habitat had found a qualified candidate who had completed the required volunteer hours helping with other projects, and all they needed was a sponsor to put up the necessary funds and to offer helping hands with the building itself.
“Let’s just say it was a substantial donation,” Amy said modestly when asked how much Nielsen had given to fund the Oldsmar home. What makes her most proud is that her fellow workers in Oldsmar worked three days a week, some 12 to 15 people a day, to make it all happen, thanks to a commitment by executive vice-president Bob McCann to provide the lion’s share of the necessary labor. She herself was pounding nails at the home when first contacted for this article.
‘It was FUN!’
“It was fun,” she says about working on the project. “Some of us were up on the roof tacking down shingles, while someone else dug ditches. Contractors came in for special jobs like electricity and plumbing, but you’d be surprised how much inexperienced volunteers can accomplish.”
Nielsen moved to its current location in Oldsmar from a smaller location in Dunedin, where it still maintains some offices. Its major Operations and Technology departments came to Oldsmar in 2003-05. The company is best known for its “watch” ratings of TV, online and mobile phones, and its Oldsmar offices house 1,650 employees in a 610,000 -square-foot building that often provides banquet space for use by community non-profit organizations, including the annual Safety Harbor and Oldsmar Mayors’ Breakfast at Christmas time.
Habitat for Pinellas sent Jack Sutsin to serve as site supervisor on the Oldsmar home, and he directed the hard-working volunteers. Because it’s often easier to get help on a weekend, the work week
ran from Tuesday through Saturday. Volunteers also came from other Oldsmar businesses, most notably Lockheed-Martin, along with teachers from Largo and East Lake high schools and individuals who saw the need for help and volunteered. Oldsmar’s Mayor Jim Ronecker and City Manager Bruce Haddock also helped with the construction. Some local restaurants provided food for the workers during the project.
Help Needed for Second Home
Jennifer Brundon’s new home has a somewhat unique floor plan, designed to accommodate her and her cousin and to protect trees growing on the site. In keeping with Habitat’s policy of building “green” homes that are energy efficient and durable, Jennifer can look forward to energy savings as she pays off her zero-interest mortgage.
There already is another qualified candidate waiting for the other home that will be built at the site that Eleanor Nelson donated. Steve Lightburn, vice president of development for Habitat Pinellas, is hoping that another generous business, church or community organization will step forward to provide the necessary funds to get the project started.
For more information on Habitat Pinellas,
visit www.HabitatPinellas.org or
call (727) 536-4755.