Three miles from SEE’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, a new community is giving families a new start and new hope. And SEE team members helped make it happen.

Over five days, 40 SEE employees worked alongside hundreds of other volunteers as part of Habitat for Humanity’s 2023 Carter Work Project to build 27 single-family affordable homes. The proximity of the site gave SEE the chance to donate time, talent, and resources directly to those who are now the company’s neighbors.

Donning hard hats and tool belts, SEE team members cut lumber, installed floors, painted walls, and laid sod among other construction tasks. Each day a new team of eight employees stepped out of their corporate roles and into the shoes of the family who will live in the new home they helped to build.

"SEE’s purpose is to make our world better than we find it. Providing a family with a roof over their heads and a safe place to make memories – I can’t think of any bigger purpose than that,” said Tiffani Burt, SEE’s Executive Director of Marketing for Americas Smart Packaging and Graphics.

Tiffani Burt

“Hearing the stories of the people who will be moving into these homes is really motivational,” said Timi Fadiran, a manager on SEE’s Sustainability Technology Innovation team. “It was a really positive experience for all of us.”

Timi Fadiran

SEE was honored to be a sponsor of this year’s Carter Work Project, which was hosted by country music power couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, longtime Habitat for Humanity supporters who were on site each day helping build homes.

The location of this year’s Carter Work Project is the site of the former Plato Price School, which closed in 1966 as part of the city’s desegregation plan. The land sat vacant for more than 50 years before being donated to Habitat for Humanity by the City of Charlotte.

“This is a part of town that has a particularly low homeownership rate,” said Laura Belcher, Habitat Charlotte Region President and CEO. “We wanted to bring affordable homeownership to the table to anchor families into this community. We want the Meadows at Plato Price to have a sense of place and a sense of neighborhood.”

Fabio Thomazelli (left) and Zach Cogan

“I’ve lived all over the world, and I haven’t been anywhere where there is enough housing,” said Lucy Basaldua, SEE’s Director of Global Learning and Development. “Everyone here has come together for the same reason – for the love of humanity. It feels good to give back.”

More information about SEE’s community investment efforts are included in the 2022 SEE Impact Report.