Nelnet Sponsors Associates for Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build Event

On May 22, 2024, four Nelnet associates picked up hammers and nail guns to spend the day helping build a Habitat for Humanity home for a Lincoln family with five young children.

Nelnet Marketing Manager I Tammi Marsh, Marketing Specialist II Elie Mapes, and Senior Recruiting Managers Lisa Meyer and Emily Duff worked under the guidance of construction professionals and alongside regular volunteers as part of Habitat’s Women Build program.

The program is made up of volunteers and any woman or person who wants to learn how to build or repair a home. Events sponsored by this program are designed to help women and children, who are most likely to be affected by poor living conditions.

Women Build began in 1991 as a way for Habitat for Humanity to bring together volunteers from all walks of life to build stronger, safer communities. One goal is to help women take a proactive step in serving their communities. The program provides opportunities for hands-on learning that helps women succeed in building strength, stability, and independence. The program is nationwide and even does work internationally.

Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln holds an annual Women Build campaign. Women empowering women is a goal of the campaign, but building hope through strength, stability, self-reliance, and shelter for a Habitat family is the larger goal. While 50 women work on building a Habitat home, another 50 have the opportunity to participate in a neighborhood revitalization project.

Marsh and Duff attended Lincoln’s 2023 Inspire Awards, where Deanna Walz of Habitat for Humanity emceed the day’s events. A video at the end of the awards introduced the kickoff event for a nine-month Women Build campaign. As Marsh states, “They were handing out booklets with Inspire winners and there was information about the Women Build event in it. Emily and I said, ‘Oh, that’d be really fun to do.’ The booklet sat on my desk for months, collecting dust.”

One day, Marsh said she picked the booklet up and noticed that you had to raise $500 or be sponsored to participate. She talked with her department head, Executive Director of Corporate Communications Ben Kiser. He said he would sponsor her and suggested she find some other women to do it with her. Kiser said Nelnet would provide $500 to sponsor each of the women joining Marsh.

Several events led up to the Women Build day, including a Hard Hat & Heels kickoff party where Marsh met program coordinators, contractors, regular program volunteers, nonprofit contacts, and contacts from businesses that support the program, such as Mead Lumber and White Castle Roofing.

Marsh also noted, “We met the family who will actually be living in the Habitat home. It’s great to know that you’re really impacting their lives. I didn’t realize how much they have to do to earn the home. They must be able to make the down payment and go through financial training.” She added, “Plus, they’re required to put in several hundred hours of sweat equity or community service to qualify for the house as well.”

According to Marsh, the day began with an information session followed by a safety session in which the volunteers were shown how to safely use all the needed power tools. They worked from blueprints. Construction workers and regular volunteers with Habitat’s Women Build provided answers to any questions the Nelnet volunteers had. The group worked a full day, helping to frame the outer walls of the basement. Marsh said the next day, workers would be framing some of the rooms in the basement.

Mapes shared her excitement that the Women Build experience “was a great day with a lot of positive energy.”

“Volunteering with Women Build was a humbling experience. Many of the volunteers we worked with are there on a regular basis, which was inspiring. It’s a great reminder of the importance of community and how we can make a difference in people’s lives,” shared Meyer.

Marsh said the day exceeded her expectations. “Part of me thought that you just kind of go and sweep the floor, but no, we were actually building the house, which was really cool. It’s kind of cool to build something that people are going to have holidays in someday or celebrate their lives in,” Marsh said.

“Sometimes you go volunteer for a day and maybe you don’t feel like you make as much of an impact, but this, when you’re actually swinging a hammer and building a wall, it feels different. I’ve done a lot of volunteering, and it was nice to do something tangible,” said Marsh.

Said Meyer, “Our volunteer coordinator talked about the family receiving the home and the impact to the children. The parents will gain a safe, affordable home where they can provide consistency for their kids. By going to the same school each year and avoiding disruptions in learning that frequent moves cause, the kids will build lasting friendships and stronger relationships with teachers, resulting in better academic performance.”

“I would definitely go back again and do it again,” emphasized Marsh. “I think it’s great that Nelnet supports these things that people want to do. We went on a weekday and our day got changed due to the weather. Leadership said, ‘Yeah, go. It’s fine.’ I don’t know if you always get that freedom from employers to be able to go miss work and do whatever you care about in the community.”

Added Duff, “There’s so much power in coming together with your community. I’m grateful to work for an organization that fully supports the core value of giving back to the communities where we live and work.”