Consolis Group tackles poverty housing – and teamwork – in Romania, Poland

As a leading manufacturer of pre-cast concrete products in Europe and Northern Africa, Consolis Group offers concrete solutions for buildings and civil works projects ranging from commercial centers to bridges to railway sleepers.

Now, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the 10,000-person corporation is building lives, too.

In September, 25 Consolis Group employees from 12 different countries converged on Radauti, Romania, to build homes with Habitat for Humanity and four low-income families in need of simple, decent shelter. In early October, another group of Consolis workers will go to Warsaw, Poland, to volunteer to construct more houses with families that need them.

"Nothing prevents businessmen from sharing human values! The partnership with Habitat for Humanity is one expression of the many responsibilities Consolis is taking over the local environments in which its companies are operating," Consolis Group president Philippe Milliet said.

At Radauti this month, Consolis employees were also able to visit a family whose house Consolis built on the same site a year ago during Habitat for Humanity’s Euro Build 2007. Consolis’s first volunteer team, which included Consolis president Philippe Milliet, built one of 27 houses during last year’s weeklong flurry of construction that drew hundreds of volunteers from all over the world. The experience building the home with the Popescu family hooked Consolis on more builds with Habitat for Humanity. And visiting the family a year later, comfortably settled in the home Consolis helped build, deepened the company’s commitment.

“They gave us a very warm welcome,” said Vincent Guelfucci, Consolis Group vice president of West Europe civil works, said of meeting the Popescu couple and their daughter again. “It’s impressive to see what all the work becomes in the end. It was a key moment for our team.”

Before the initial Consolis team came along in 2007, the Popescus were living in a small, crowded two-room apartment with relatives. Now they make monthly payments on an affordable, no-profit Habitat mortgage for their four-room home where they can sleep comfortably at night. As the Popescus pay down their loan, the funds go into a revolving Fund for Humanity where they are loaned out again to help another family into safe, secure shelter.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers often say they leave the construction site feeling much more richly rewarded than the families in need they have helped, and Consolis volunteers say they feel the same. But Elsa Michel, Consolis Group communications manager, said Consolis reaps another benefit from their housebuilding labor.

“Building together generates a ‘Consolis team spirit’ among our colleagues in spite of their cultural diversity, their different working traditions and their job occupations,” Elsa Michel said. “Housebuilding involves a set of tasks and activities not all our volunteers are used to dealing with, so they have to find collective solutions to get organized together in a very short period of time. It has been a real success with the more than 120 Consolis volunteers that have built so far.”

Heather Alner, corporate donor relationship specialist with Habitat for Humanity’s Europe and Central Asia office, said Consolis volunteers are typically more skilled than other groups because of the multinational’s work with the building industry. But, she said, Consolis employees also bring the same focus on accomplishment to volunteer homebuilding that has built the company into a building-materials powerhouse with net sales of about €1.8 billion in 2008 and more than 130 plants in 25 countries.

“There is a lot of laughing and a lot of fun on the build site, but they know they are also there for a serious purpose – to offer a solid roof and a sturdy floor to a family that needs it – and they work with each other to make that happen quickly, safely and efficiently,” Heather Alner said.

In Warsaw next month, another team of Consolis volunteers will tackle housebuilding in Józefosław, Poland, near Warsaw. There, they will work on a two-unit building started in April, bringing two families closer to their dream of a home where they can flourish in comfort and security.

Consolis isn’t stopping there. It is already planning to send more volunteer teams to build with Habitat and other families. But already its employees’ exposure to the satisfaction of helping those in need is spreading beyond the confines of Consolis.

“Habitat for Humanity is the kind of activity you want to share with your relatives, as well as your co-workers,” said Elsa Michel.