Taylor Morrison/Darling Homes donate bikes to children in need
Taylor Morrison/Darling Homes, supporters of giving back to the community, and long time donors to HomeAid Houston, created a program at their recent division meeting that was designed to bring joy to children from families working through crisis situations. The idea, spearheaded by Amy Rino, division president was to assemble and deliver bikes to children from homeless care agencies who have worked with HomeAid.
The idea became the Bike Assembly Project and was a fun and rewarding team building exercise for their region-wide meeting, and was part of their outreach into the community through HomeAid. The attendees were organized into teams that worked together assembling 47 bikes.
Three homeless care agencies were selected to receive the bikes and the children’s names and ages were identified prior to their purchase. The agencies were Family Promise of Lake Houston, Santa Maria Hostel and Agape Development. The bikes were delivered to the agencies and helmets were also donated. Taylor Morrison/Darling Homes also presented HomeAid Houston with a check for $5,800 to go toward HomeAid’s mission ‘to build new lives for homeless families and individuals though community outreach’.
“Home-Aid is near and dear to our Taylor Morrison/ Darling Homes family,” said Rino. “Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to be able to give to families in need through HomeAid Houston in a variety of ways. With summer on the horizon, it was important to us to bring meaningful life experiences to these children and their families as the school year comes to a close. Many children have never owned their own bicycle and every parent remembers the pride of teaching their child how to ride one. We hope that our giving hearts will make a difference, creating smiles and memorable experiences for the children and families who will start their summer with a brand new bicycle.”
HomeAid has worked with all three agencies over the course of several years. HomeAid will soon be starting a new 4224-square-foot construction project with builder captain First America Homes, the Homebuilding Division of the Signorelli Company for Family Promise of Lake Houston. The project is a day center called Promise House, in Humble, that will provide counseling and admin offices, locker rooms, bath facilities, a family room, kitchen, a child’s playroom and a dining room and library. Families will be utilizing the new facility to help stabilize their daily lives.
Last month, HomeAid partnered with the Greater Houston Builders Association’s Remodelers Council (RMC) on a renovation project for Santa Maria Hostel that included fresh paint, new baseboards, ceilings and flooring. Santa Maria has transformed lives by serving the women and children of Houston and surrounding areas since the 1950s. By offering vital services and lifechanging support, the organization offers a pathway to success through recovery.
For the Agape Development project, HomeAid again partnered with the RMC to give the young men and women at Agape Development’s Gateway Houses safe, updated living spaces in which they would be proud to live as they transition into stable, responsible adults.
Agape Development’s Gateway Houses are part of a residential program to help 18-25 year olds make the transition to healthy adulthood by assisting with housing, utilities, food and transportation while providing counseling, job preparation and guidance to continue their education.
“The Bike Assembly Program was a terrific opportunity for Taylor Morrison/Darling Homes staff to bring a lot of smiles to some very deserving children,” said Patrick Mayhan, president of HomeAid. “The faces of these kids warm your heart, especially when you realize that these bikes were most likely the first they had ever received. We can’t thank the Taylor Morrison/Darling Homes team enough for their generosity.”
For more information on HomeAid Houston, visit www.homeaidhouston.org or call 281-970-8970.