Homing in on Housing Needs: MITRE Volunteers are Resident Experts

May 2006

MITRE volunteers smile for the camera on the day of the work.

If you're building it, a MITRE team will come. With hammers, nails, and power tools in hand.

Dozens of staff throughout the corporation have dedicated time and "sweat equity" to Habitat for Humanity (HFH), a nationwide non-profit organization that invites volunteers to build houses for families in need. By venturing forth into the community, these MITRE employees are helping make the dream of affordable housing a reality.

For example, Dr. Gary Brefini, in Bedford, is the PR/Marketing chairman and serves on the board of directors of the South Shore Habitat for Humanity, which covers 32 towns and cities south of Boston. "I consider social responsibility an important aspect of life," he states.

Brefini, a lead network systems and distribution systems engineer, became involved with HFH over two years ago through his church. "You don't need to know how to build a house if you want to volunteer, because there are licensed construction people overseeing the work," he explains. His enthusiasm for the cause is contagious; this past fall, he recruited 14 members from MITRE's Networking for Professional Women (NPW) group to join a one-day construction project on a 1,110-sq.-ft. home.

"They arrived on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, giving up their personal time," recalls Brefini. "They helped put up walls, door frames, and ceiling beams on a frigidly cold day. This speaks volumes about people at MITRE—they're not only dedicated to our customers, but also to the community they live in."

In fact, this was not the first Habitat build for NPW. This past June, members of the Bedford chapter of NPW spent the day painting the interior and exterior of several townhouses in Dorchester. As part of the effort, they raised over $1,800 in donations for Habitat. Says Abigail Kirigin, a senior human factors engineer who helped to organize the effort, "It was a great opportunity for us to work together as a team and it was a lot of fun."

Then, there is Bruce Johnson, a director in the Air Force Center. He was looking for a unique idea for his department's annual teambuilding, and he hit upon the idea of incorporating community work into the event. When David Jones, an engineer in Johnson's group, approached HFH in Lowell, Mass., to explore volunteer opportunities, the point of contact turned out to be a retired MITRE employee who is active in the chapter. Arrangements were made for twenty staff to make two consecutive visits to a construction site of duplexes. "Most of us were already aware of HFH—we've seen photos of former President Jimmy Carter working with this concern, and we considered it a worthwhile way to bring our team together," says Jones.

When Cho Li, an Air Force Center colleague in communications and networking, heard about the teambuilding experience, he organized an informal group of almost a dozen people from his own division to visit the same HFH project. "It sounded like a really worthwhile cause, and a chance to get to know our co-workers a little better," says Li. So, during a sunny weekday afternoon, Li and his colleagues picked up paint brushes and painted the exterior of one duplex. "Everyone was refreshed from our great community event, and we were ready to get back to our engineering challenges," he says.

Similarly, MITRE employees in McLean have invested "sweat equity" into HFH homes. Angel Rivera, a section leader in systems security, has been involved with HFH for almost ten years. Currently, he is on a required one-year break after serving six consecutive years on the board of directors of the northern Virginia affiliate. "The fact that MITRE grants hours for civic work helped us plan an effective, rewarding teambuilding excursion," he says.

When an HFH outing was suggested to his department, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Almost two dozen staff journeyed to a pair of homes that needed exterior painting, insulation and drywall. "There were lots of jokes that day, especially around the fact that too many engineers were trying to cut a simple piece of drywall!" he remembers.

Rivera says the projects everyone tackled that day, including exterior painting, required people to work together. "This was a much more effective activity then going out for lunch, especially because we made a lasting contribution to the area in which we all live and work."

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