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Daily Real Estate News | September 1, 2009 | Better Lives, One Home at a Time
The family of five had nearly exhausted all hope of moving back into their mold-infested home and was ready to walk away. “It was such a massive problem that we didn’t have the money to fix it, insurance would only pay $10,000, and no one would buy the house,” says Mandalina Groves, whose three boys each has a severe medical issue.

That’s when Groves contacted Greg Adamson, a sales associate with Prudential Utah Real Estate in Lehi, Utah, and founder of the Heart 2 Home Foundation, a volunteer organization that gifts home renovations to those in need.

Adamson is one of 10 finalists for the Good Neighbor Awards, a grant program recognizing REALTORS® who make exceptional volunteer contributions to their communities. Each week, until the five winners are announced in November, we’ll bring you the story of one of these finalists.

"We Got More Than a Home—We Got a life.”

“I had already planned on calling Greg to volunteer, so I went to him hoping he could recommend help,” she says. Adamson suggested they apply to Heart 2 Home. They did, and within months they were selected to receive an entire home makeover.

“In about 10 days, the home was torn down and rebuilt,” says Groves. “Greg completely changed how we function as a family. We have a therapy room, my husband can work from home,” says Groves, who now volunteers for Heart 2 Home. “Anything I can do for him helps me accept what was given to us. We got more than a home—we got a life.”

Ironically, Adamson’s foray into rehabbing houses for families in need came quite by accident. “I was working for a builder who, inspired by the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television show, wanted to makeover a house,” says Adamson, 33.

That was 2004, and Adamson and the builder chose to rehab an elderly woman’s home. She had two dependent children living with her, and the home was a shambles. “It ended up being an $80,000 project. We went to contractors and asked for donations of time and materials. No one said ‘no,’” he says.

Heart 2 Home Launches

That was supposed to be the end of it, until family after family called Adamson begging for help. “We couldn’t turn our backs,” he explains. The builder has since gone out of business, but Adamson recruited two others to help—co-founder Tiffany Berg, a Salt Lake City TV anchor, and architect Chad Waler.

The next project was to help a couple with 20 adopted children rebuild their 8,000-square-foot home, which had partially burned down. “They had strong neighborhood support but no money, so we raised money with a celebrity dinner and a local bank agreed to contribute $10,000,” says Adamson. “But when we went to pick up the check, the bank wanted our 501(c)(3) (IRS nonprofit status number). I had no idea what that was,” laughs Adamson.

That’s when he made the commitment to officially form the Heart 2 Home Foundation. As for that bank donation—it came through and the home received about $350,000 in donated materials. “In 10 days, we stripped everything out and rebuilt the entire home, then fully furnished it,” he says.

Hundreds of Volunteers, Hours of Work, and 12 Homes Later

With Adamson’s leadership, the foundation has performed 12 home renovations, including two homes that were completely razed and rebuilt. Heart 2 Home has anywhere from 50 to 500 volunteers work on a project—most hear about it through the local media and just show up to help. Interior designers, plumbers, and electricians volunteer their services; local and national home stores offer appliances and furniture.

“It’s intoxicating to help out. We spend 12 to 15 hours a day putting together these homes, and the community comes together just like when they used to have barn raisings,” says Adamson. “On more than one occasion we started a renovation without having all of the supplies yet donated. At first we were very naïve, but it worked—probably because we didn’t know what we were getting into!”

With the recession hitting the construction industry particularly hard, Adamson has expanded the foundation to help other local charities, including several cancer charities. “We’re refocusing on doing smaller renovations, such as finishing off the ‘honey-do’ list for the husband who has cancer. We want to bring more awareness to cancer issues,” he says, because the disease has affected those close to him.

No Task Too Big

One expansion charity is United Partners for Health, which needed a mobile medical unit to provide medical services to the uninsured. In stepped the Heart 2 Home Foundation. “Greg and his foundation transformed a 31-foot trailer into a complete mobile medical unit that allows us to visit thousands of people and offer quality, free health care,” says Kurt Micka, executive director of United Partners for Health. “No job is too big for him, and he follows through and gets the work done.”

Even Adamson is awed by the depth of need. “It’s amazing. In one day, they may have 10 different nationalities show up. My most vivid memory is of three men from the homeless center. They could tell I was looking at the scars that covered their arms. They told me that the marks were from bedbugs. The bedbugs at the homeless shelter were so bad they were eating their flesh away,” he says. “I had no idea it was so bad. It was a real eye opener for me and re-energized me to keep going.”

But, says Adamson, what truly drives him to continue is the support of his wife (who also volunteers) and their three children, ages 7, 4, and 14 months. “I want my kids to see me involved. It’s a big part of the older children’s lives. My dream is that they’ll see what dad’s done and their dreams will be bigger and better. I love that we’ve helped change families’ lives. I love that we’ve made an impact on the community. As long as I’m doing that, I’m fulfilled.”

Of the 10 Good Neighbor finalists, five winners will receive $10,000 grants for their community projects and will be honored at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego on November 14. The remaining five finalists will receive $2,500 grants for their cause. To learn about the other finalists, go to REALTOR.org/GNA.

The Good Neighbor Awards is supported by eNeighborhoods, Homes.com, and Lowe’s.

—Tracey Velt

To contact Greg Adamson, visit his Web site. You can learn more about the Utah Heart 2 Home at the organization's site.