U.S. Army Spc. Marcus Griffin and his wife Andrea grew up in southwest Orange County, Fla., and became high school sweethearts. Griffin enlisted in the Army, the couple married, and they started a family with two sons, Isaac and Joseph. They had a normal life, until one day everything changed.
Griffin was on his second deployment to Iraq in 2008. While searching a building in the small village of Baqubah, he and another soldier sustained serious injuries from an improvised explosive device. Griffin suffered a concussion, severe facial burns, broken orbital bones on both sides of his face, shrapnel damage to the left side of his body, a collapsed lung and deep lacerations in the shin area. His ear drums were ruptured, and he was blinded in his left eye.
Meanwhile, Bill Criswell, a local resident of Windermere, Fla., was becoming restless after retiring from his position at H.C. Buchanan Concrete, Inc. (which has since closed its doors). Criswell became involved with local Habitat for Humanity projects to build homes for deserving families. In addition, he wanted to do something special for combat-wounded veterans involved in the current wars overseas.
Criswell approached Habitat for Humanity in February 2007, and they teamed up to create a new organization,
Home at Last.
Two of the first general contractors to sign on to help build a new home for the Griffin family were
Hensel Phelps Construction, Co., Orlando, Fla., and
Winter Park Construction, Maitland, Fla., both members of
Associated Builders and Contractors’ Central Florida Chapter.
With two major construction companies on board, the team secured 90 percent volunteer labor and materials donated from subcontractors. Winter Park Construction even donated the services of one of its employees, John Russo, as a full-time project manager on the home.
“I can’t tell you how special it was to have the construction industry respond how it did,” Criswell says. “We had approximately 60 subcontractors volunteer their time and services.”
The day everyone had been waiting for came on Dec. 5, 2009, the dedication ceremony for the two-story, 3,790-square-foot home.
“It’s very rewarding, and we wanted to give back to the service men and women who pay dearly for our freedoms,” says Paul Caruana of Winter Park Construction.
As he prepares to start his third home, Criswell says the Home at Last initiative has strengthened his faith in human nature. “The number of people I’ve met and the kindness and caring of people has been an unexpected reward,” he says. “I never anticipated that feeling being associated with a project.”
Along with Hensel Phelps Construction and Winter Park Construction, the following ABC members contributed to the project:
Baker Concrete Construction, Inc.;
Ferguson Enterprises, Inc.;
Lassiter-Ware Insurance;
Macbeth Photography;
Mader Southeast (A Masco Company);
Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc.;
Morton Electric, Inc.;
Pro-Dump Services, LLC;
Tri-City Electrical Contractors, Inc.;
Trinity Tile Group, Inc.;
Tucker Paving, Inc. and
Winter Park Blue.