Employees from two Stuart accounting firms and Martin County Realtors recently volunteered their time and money to help two Martin County nonprofits dedicated to improving lives of children and families.

Caban-Rodriguez home build

Staff from Caler, Donten, Levine, Cohen, Porter & Veil, P.A., also known as CDL, participated in a home build for Habitat for Humanity of Martin County. Volunteers painted, installed windows and removed debris at a construction site in Stuart.

Juan and Amy Caban-Rodriguez and their two children have plans to buy the home, receiving a 30-year, no-interest mortgage.

During the build, Juan Caban was on site working alongside CDL volunteers and working toward the family’s goal of 300 sweat equity hours. The home should be completed this summer. 

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Employees of Caler, Donten, Levine, Cohen, Porter & Veil, P.A. in Stuart recently participated in a home build for Habitat for Humanity of Martin County. Volunteers from the CPA firm painted, installed windows and removed debris at the construction site. The volunteer team included, from left, back row, Jeff Platt, Nancy Gray, Martin Woods, Rick Gray, and Dustin Provenzano; front row, Daniel Boring, Cherry Meola, Anna Knox, Yinett Florentino, Juan Caban, Luke Mellone and Nancy Prywitowski. (Photo: Corinne Rubal/Special to TCPalm)

 

“This is CDL’s first-ever build in Martin County,” said Martin Woods, CDL Tax Senior manager and Habitat Advisory Board member. “Habitat provides the model for good people to get a hand up to their dreams. We were thrilled to volunteer at this Habitat build and be a part of the Caban’s pathway to homeownership.”

Krumfolz home build

Carr, Riggs & Ingram, CPAs & Advisors, an accounting and advisory firm in Stuart, Palm Beach Gardens and Fort Pierce, recently participated in the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Day of Service.

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Team CRI members Joyce Ruggeri, Jamie Dunham, Karla George, April Hicks, Christy Anglim, Clarice Rieth, Kathy Miller, Cynthia Wilson, Stephanie Murray, Barbara Barbero, Danae Silver, Anita Brock, Morgan Murphy volunteer at the Martin County Habitat Women Build Day. (Photo: Morgan Murphy/Special to TCPalm)

 

The FICPA Day of Service is an annual statewide event for CPAs to give back to their communities. Across the state, nearly 200 CPAs with their family members and friends gathered to give back to 21 different Florida communities.

Thirteen women from Carr, Riggs & Ingram, also known as CRI, volunteered at the Martin County Habitat Women Build Day helping to construct a home for the Krumfolz family.

Women Build is an international Habitat program that encourages women and girls to have fun and make a difference by building homes for low-income families.

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Team CRI members Michael Crook, Joe Risse, Michael Lewis, Michael Stevens, Chris Facka volunteer for Operation 300. (Photo: Amanda Nail/Special to TCPalm)

 

Operation 300

Several men from CRI volunteered at an Operation 300 adventure camp for children who have lost their fathers as a result of military service.

Each child is paired with a father-aged, male mentor who spends the weekend doing things with the children that they might have done with their dad. To learn more on how to get involved, visit op300.org.

Martin County Realtors

As the median price of homes in Martin County steadily rises each year, so too does the size and scope of the affordable-housing challenge.

Fortunately, the same can be said for the dollar amount Realtors raise annually in support of Habitat for Humanity of Martin County.

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Members of the Martin County Realtors of the Treasure Coast award Habitat for Humanity of Martin County with $34,000. The money was raised at the Realtors annual golf tournament at Mariner Sands Country Club in Stuart. (Photo: Marisa Moleiro/Special to TCPalm)

 

In June, more than 120 members of Martin County Realtors of the Treasure Coast golfed in its annual tournament benefiting Habitat at Mariner Sands Country Club in Stuart. The $34,000 raised eclipsed last year’s previous all-time-high of $27,000. The year before that brought in $20,000. All told, $135,000 has been raised for the nonprofit by the Realtors.

“We’re honored to support the efforts of Habitat for Humanity and will continue to do so however possible,” said John Gonzalez, president of the Martin County Realtors.

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CDL's Anna Knox paints fascia boards during a Habitat for Humanity of Martin County home build in April. (Photo: Corinne Rubal/Special to TCPalm)

“We’re so grateful and so are our families,” said Margot Graff, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Martin County. “Each year they’ve set high fundraising goals for the tournament and attained them. But the value goes far beyond one event."

Martin County Habitat began in 1986 and has built 138 homes in Hobe Sound, Indiantown, Jensen Beach, Port Salerno and Stuart. 

Describing its guiding philosophy as “a hand-up, not a hand-out,” Graff credits the recipe of preparation, personal involvement and empowerment with Habitat’s sterling success rate.

Habitat prepares candidates for homeownership through courses on budgeting and home maintenance. In addition to money down and monthly mortgage payments, Habitat requires its homeowners to invest at least 300 hours of labor into helping build their own home or the home of another Habitat family. Only once did a homeowner fall short of honoring their mortgage obligations, Graff said.

Learn more at HabitatMartin.org or call 772-223-9940.