Longboard Builds Sustainable Products and Sustainable Lives
Sometimes you happen across a cool company and sometimes they find you.
When Longboard Architectural Products came to our Mission site for a build day in October 2020, we knew that they were looking for a meaningful team experience and we aimed to deliver.
Since then, Longboard, an Abbotsford-based company owned by Mike and Karen Heppell, has provided us with over 10,000 linear feet of fencing and privacy screen beams, 5,000 square feet of metal soffit materials, two build days and a very generous Christmas donation.
That on its own is outstanding…but there’s more.
In spring of 2022, one of our newly selected Mission partner families started looking for a job closer to what would be his new home. Ahmad applied as a forklift operator for the warehouse at Longboard, knowing only generally that they had volunteered at a build day with Habitat.
Apparently, Ahmad nailed his interview. According to Cody Klassen, People and Culture Manager at Longboard, a colleague came to Cody immediately after meeting Ahmad and told Cody she had just had “the most incredible interview and thought Ahmad had a great story and a great background.”
Ahmad got the job but was still unaware of the significant contribution Longboard had made to our housing community in Mission. At the time, staff at Habitat for Humanity weren’t aware Ahmad had even applied for a job at Longboard!
In June 2022 we were about to host a key dedication ceremony in Mission for our 12 newest families. As a major partner, Longboard was invited to send representatives to help us welcome our families to their new homes. Habitat staff had just learned that Ahmad would be starting his new job a week after moving into his new home.
For the ceremony, we ensured that Cody Klassen and Graeme Findlay from Longboard would be able to hand Ahmad, his wife Zuhal and their three children their keys and to escort them into their new home. But it was kept secret from Ahmad.
It wasn’t until the Longboard team was announced at the ceremony that he realized he would be receiving his keys straight from his new employer.
Four days later, Ahmad started at Longboard. He says it’s a great company to work with because of the care they show their employees. Cody and Graeme visit the plant regularly, asking employees about their needs and concerns. Ahmad had great fun at the 2022 holiday party filled with games, prizes, and amazing wood-fired pizza. He has learned a lot in his job and is optimistic about what is to come. From his perspective, it truly is a “people first” operation.
Handing Ahmad his keys was a unique and meaningful experience for Cody. “When I handed Ahmad the keys, I could feel this hope and excitement in his family for what the future could now bring. It was a day that I will remember for a long time,” he said.
Cody came to Longboard about a year after the build day in 2020 and said he wishes he had been there from the start. “To know the work our team had done and the materials we’d donated in some small way made it possible for these families to have a home was a really great feeling,” he said.
“When you look at what’s happening to housing – rising costs, inflation, lack of stability and security, it’s really important work,” said Cody. “Working with Habitat provides the perfect intersection of the beliefs of our owners and what they can do to give back. It’s much more than just writing the cheque.”
Jason De Vries, HFHGV Site Superintendent, said it has been a pleasure to work with the team at Longboard. He has run out of product a few of times but makes a call and new material arrives at the site within a couple of days. Longboard’s response time is stellar and “they are just great people to deal with,” said Jason.
The quality of their extruded aluminum product is second-to-none. Several build groups and our regular volunteers have had the pleasure of working with the Longboard product. “It’s easy to install, is incredibly durable and looks fantastic,” said regular volunteer Audrey Sabiston.
Audrey has led the charge on getting build groups to complete the privacy screens between homes and the fencing on the west and east sides of the complex. For corporate groups that helped out, it was a great way for them to see their impact after a day of building.
Longboard’s CSR is strong and will become legendary. Over the lifespan of the homes in Mission, we expect that 150+ families will benefit from our safe and affordable housing community there, surrounded by the safety and beauty of Longboard’s fence materials.
As if the donation of over $200,000 in material were not enough, in lieu of sending clients gift baskets this year, Longboard chose to use those funds for a community cause. HGHGV is immensely grateful to have been chosen as the recipient of this generous donation of $25,000 that will go towards our next build in Coquitlam. On so many fronts, Longboard is a true change maker – forever impacting the lives of our partner families through helping us build more affordably and sustainably, and forever impacting the life of Ahmad and his family through the provision of a job he loves and feels valued for.
It sounds as though Ahmad has lived up to his awesome initial interview and has become “a valued addition to the Longboard Team.” Cody shared an example of this claim: “During our last big snowstorm, Ahmad braved the roads and made it to work. After working a full day and as staff were leaving, a few cards got stuck in the snow. Without hesitating, Ahmad was out pushing cars to help people get home safely. I think this speaks volumes about who he is as an individual and why he was so deserving of Habitat’s support.”
Six months on, Ahmad, his wife Zuhal and their three children have settled in well to their new neighbourhood. The children love playing with all the other children in the new playground and Zuhal secured a job at the daycare less than a block away. They were excited to welcome family and friends to celebrate New Year’s with them in their new home – something they have never been able to do in the past.
It hasn’t all been easy and 2022 was certainly full of challenges. Completing their service hours with Habitat required lots of careful planning, time management, and organizing care for the children. In the midst of moving, Ahmad was adjusting to his new role at Longboard and the children had their own adjustments to make to new schools in the fall. Zuhal also faced her own challenges as she started a new job. It’s an awful lot in a short span of six months, but Ahmad and his family are both hopeful and grateful.
“Sometimes I think that all that has happened to me and my family is a miracle,” he said.
Huge thanks to the Longboard team for being a part of this miracle.
