Analysis of Safety, Environmental, and Ethical Issues

Habitat for Humanity ENG 199 – LINC Habitat for Humanity Pick-up Project Team May 10, 2003 Matt Ahrens Mike Denmon Mandy Field Jennifer Mozdren Mehul Patel Ian Tan HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 2 Acknowledgments We would like to thank the LINC course and our instructors, Bruce Litchfield and Ann Finnegan, for giving us the opportunity to gain valuable experience with project management and teamwork. We would also like to thank Habitat for Humanity and our project partners, Kassie Nudo and Judy Bryan, for all their help in our project. We would also like to thank our Project Advisors, Parul Choudhary and John O’Brien, for offering input and helping guide us along the right path during the extent of our project. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 3 Abstract Our semester project began with an introduction to our Project Partner Habitat for Humanity’s new warehouse in Champaign called Homeworks. The specific problem that we were assigned was the creation and implementation of a pick-up and delivery system, designed to efficiently get donated goods from the community to the warehouse. We considered many solutions, but decided to target furniture and moving companies in the Champaign-Urbana area for use of their truck donations in the pick-up and delivery of donated goods. We formed a calling and networking system with local moving companies to set up preliminary plans for receiving the use of their trucks. Some of the local merchants have been kind enough to establish informal oral agreements over the phone to occasionally donate the use of their trucks to Habitat for Humanity. The companies have also been in direct contact with Kassie Nudo, the store manager of Homeworks, and plans are set to begin utilizing these trucks in the coming weeks. Also, we have identified potential conflicts and problems that may arise with the work we have done and the current state of the pick-up and delivery method for the warehouse. We feel that we have made an impact in helping the warehouse in its first stages of operation by simplifying the pick-up and delivery process for donated goods. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 4 Table of Contents Problem Statement Project Goals and Scope Alternatives Considered Timetable Work Completed Analysis of Safety, Environmental, and Ethical Issues Safety Issues Environmental Issues Ethical Issues Impact on Project Partner Backup Plan Budget Work Remaining Conclusion Appendix A : Contact List Appendix B: Calling Script Appendix C: Response Letter Appendix D: Example Newsletter Appendix E: Donation Refusal Card 10 11 13 13 14 15 15 17 19 21 22 23 24 5 5 7 7 8 HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 5 Problem Statement Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is well known for providing low-income families with affordable and respectable housing. Through this program, HFH hopes to strengthen communities, which is its overarching mission. As parts of its mission, HFH has locally began work to create a new home improvement store, called Homeworks, in downtown Champaign to provide individuals with high quality, low cost building supplies, as well as to raise funds, which HFH may use in their endeavors. However, such a large task carries many issues for HFH to address in order to efficiently run the store. The purpose of our team is to work with the store manager, Kassie Nudo, to help HFH resolve some of these issues; more specifically, our project involves handling the logistics of transporting the donated materials to Homeworks. There are many goods that can be donated to the Homeworks and HFH needs an efficient way to pick the goods up from the community and deliver them safely to the warehouse. Project Goals and Scope In order to estimate the size of the problem, we first reviewed work done by previous LINC groups. At the conclusion of the fall 2002 semester, a previous LINC group identified organizations willing to make donations to HFH Home Improvement Store opening in May 2003. While this solved numerous issues regarding the internal operation of the new retail store, it did not (nor was it intended to) address several pending problems. Our project seeks to focus on the following objectives or goals:  1) Acquiring transportation (and the associated drivers) to pick-up items that have been donated but cannot be dropped off at the Home Improvement Store  2) Creating a system to schedule donations around the availability of the transportation HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 6   3) Developing criteria to determine the viability of donations 4) Keeping donors aware of the Home Improvement Store’s current needs HFH’s need for more robust transportation prompted the first goal. Although they currently own a pickup truck, its capacity is not sufficient to pick-up donated materials. Due to limited financial resources, it is not feasible for HFH to purchase or even rent larger transportation. Naturally, if donated trucks are used, some type of scheduling system becomes necessary (goal two). The scheduling system must be both flexible and responsive to the varying availability of trucks, donors, and staff. We also needed to develop a system that correlates the pick-up of donated materials with the needs of the Home Improvement Store so that the Store is neither under nor over stocked. In order to minimize wasted time and resources, the third goal will screen donations to ensure the usefulness of the materials to HFH. While the criteria still need to be thoroughly developed, areas such as cost of delivery, current condition, degree of usefulness, etc. are included. Some potential questions to be considered before accepting a donation are, “What is the reason for the donation?” and “Would you purchase and use the materials in your own home?” Originally, our project only sought to address goals one, two, and three. After further consultation with our project partner, we decided that keeping donors aware of the Home Improvement Store’s current needs (goal four) was a worthwhile addition. It serves mainly as a means to save time and effort for both HFH and its donors. For HFH, implementation of this goal should help alleviate problems with excess or shortage of various items. Likewise, updating HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 7 the donors on the needs of the Store will keep them more aware of how they can support HFH. In addition, HFH can demonstrate their appreciation of the donors’ generosity in a manner such as by recognizing them in a periodic newsletter to the community or in the local newspapers. Alternatives Considered Like any situation there are multiple solutions to any problem. Thus with our project we considered many possibilities. We first examined the potential to merely have donors drop off material themselves. Though this would greatly alleviate HFH’s responsibility, many potential donations would be lost due to the time and effort the donors would have to expend. A second possibility was for HFH to purchase their own box truck, which is a truck used to haul large items for moving. This would be a great convenience to the store, however it would be very costly and would bring up issues like having a licensed and insured driver on staff. After rejecting our previous ideas we determined that acquiring a trucking company to donate use of a box truck would be the best solution. Although, this would bring more difficulty with respect to coordinating pick-ups, it would save HFH a great deal of money and still allow them a great deal of flexibility. Timeline and Milestones In accomplishing our tasks, we set specific milestones to keep us accountable with our objectives. They were as follows:    February 20th: Create contact list and calling script March 6th: Call potential donors March 20th: Follow-up positive leads HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 8   April 17th: Make agreement between donor and HFH (Kassie Nudo) April 27th: Create donation refusal card and newsletter It is important to note that the list of milestones are the main ones and do not include minor tasks that we completed. Also, the main change made in the timetable during the semester was the addition of the April 27th deadline to complete the donation refusal card and the newsletter. Those items were added later in the semester as we began to focus on future projects. Work Completed Contact List and Calling Script Over the past four months, our team has made some significant advancements on the project. In order to accomplish the first goal of identifying transportation to pick up donated materials, we took the following steps. First, we compiled a list of potential donors that could provide a box truck for HFH’s use in picking up donated materials. A member of our team used paper resources, such as the Yellow Pages, to develop a contact list of over 30 potential donors. (Appendix A). The targeted donors were either vehicle rental companies or furniture stores. We chose these companies or stores as targets because we felt they would be willing to help HFH because of their resources and because of their position as a community commerce member. The second step was to create a “calling script” that our team used to contact the possible donors. (Appendix B). The script stated why the team was contacting the potential donor, the purpose of HFH and the Store, and the benefits the donor would receive in exchange for offering a box truck. The third and final step was to divide the contact numbers for potential donors amongst our team members, and call each of the donors using the calling script. Donor Identification HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 9 By taking these three steps, we were able to identify multiple box truck donors, who also would supply a driver. For example, the company, North American Van Lines, is willing to donate a box truck each month on a specific day. Their only requirement is that the tentative times and locations of the pick-ups are determined 10 days in advance of the pick-up date. The major step in finalizing the donor companies’ cooperation was having them meet with our project partner Kassie Nudo, who is the store manager for HFH’s new warehouse called Homeworks. She was able to outline the purpose of the box trucks in more detail, as well as brief them on any of HFH’s policies. There are additional contacts that Kassie may speak with if HFH sees the need for additional trucks. Kassie also stated that in the majority of the cases, she will be the HFH representative who will ride along with the driver. As of the present date, we have developed two successful relationships between Habitat for Humanity and a truck company, and other positive relations have begun between Kassie and various companies. The companies and their status are as follows: Current Agreements  Ace Worldwide Moving & Storage (AWMS) has verbally agreed to donate the use of a box truck monthly to HFH for use in the Champaign-Urbana area. AWMS also has agreed to donate the use of one of their drivers and to pay for gas when the truck is used for HFH purposes.  Federal/O’Byrne Moving & Storage (FOMS), has donated the one-time use of one of their trucks to HFH. payment for gas. FOMS also donated the employment of a driver and the HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 10 Potential Agreements  North American Van Lines has agreed to donate the use of one of their trucks, but no specific agreement has been made to date.  Ewing-Lovett Transfer Co. has also agreed to donate the use of one of their trucks, but no specific agreements have not been made to date. Preliminary Work Since establishing and maintaining relationship with material donors is crucially important, we have moved forward with our format of creating a newsletter that will inform donors about HFH’s needs and any new information about the Homeworks store. Analysis of Safety, Environmental, and Ethical Issues Safety Issues Injury Risk The first safety issue we considered is the risk of injury when moving donated materials must be examined. In order to prevent injuries, an adequate number of workers must be present both when materials are picked up from donors and when materials are delivered to the store. A preliminary step to a resolution include scheduling pick-ups around the availability of the donated trucks, and also at times when adequate personnel is present to unload the donations into the store. Furthermore, volunteers should be equipped with appropriate protection, such as masks or gloves, if donations are unusually dirty or dusty. On occasion, moving equipment, such as forklifts, dollies, wheelbarrows, etc., may also be necessary. In these cases, however, HFH may need to incur additional costs to acquire the machinery. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 11 Donor Insurance Another prevalent safety concern at this time involves insurance for the donors’ moving trucks. The majority of companies contacted were unable to assist our project due to insurance complications. Currently, only one of the donors has agreed to supply a driver, and he will be covered under the company’s own insurance. This should eliminate the insurance concerns in this case, but this issue may need to be addressed with other donors who are unable to supply a driver. Additionally, the HFH volunteer assisting the driver in pick-ups must also be covered by insurance. Fortunately, HFH provides some coverage to all its volunteers to protect against difficulties such as these. Environmental Issues Physical Environment While our direct effects upon the environment are small, the physical environment can affect our project in the future. For example, inclimate weather can prevent scheduled pick-ups from proceeding or have other undesirable effects. In particular, rain may damage donations left in the open that are anticipating pickup. To protect against such cases, HFH may wish to examine weather reports a few days in advance, and advise potential donors to keep their goods under cover. If necessary, pickups may also be canceled/rescheduled in a similar fashion. More abstractly, the condition of the surrounding area may affect the availability of transportation. As an example, consider the end of semester rush by students to vacate the local area. Consequently, truck availability could be low during these times as companies serve their customers. HFH may need to reschedule or restructure pick-up schedules during these times of HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 12 year to avoid unnecessary delays. It is also possible to negotiate with other possible donors if this problem arises. Biological and Ecological Environments In the context of most projects, environmental issues typically refer to those involving biological and ecological ramifications of various actions. While our project does have such consequences on a very limited scale, the real environment that we affect may be broken into two distinct categories: external environments, such as the global and community environment, and internal environments, which consist of our interactions with our project partner and each other. External Environment Externally, the highest level our group influences is the global level. With regards to this perspective, our group indirectly helps in reducing waste by supporting HFH in its mission to reuse otherwise discarded goods. Through this project, we are encouraging (however slightly) people to reconsider and recycle, which in turn improves the “biological” environment for everyone. Our external environment also includes the surrounding communities. In this area, our project group aids in building synergistic relationships between community residents, businesses, and HFH. This mandates networking with the local community in order to build good will and increase opportunities for HFH to become a positive influence. Internal Environment Our internal environment is composed of our project partner, the project group, and individual group members. The project partner is concerned with the overarching effects of our project on HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 13 the mission of HFH. Similarly, we are focused on helping the organization within its and our own resource constraints. Ultimately, all these objectives filter down to affecting how individual group members manage themselves when working to complete assigned tasks. Ethical Issues This project faces almost no crucial ethical problems. However, there are a few aspects that must still be considered. The single major ethical issue involves ensuring that the truck donated is only used for picking up donations (an not for any other side purposes). Some sort of semiformal or even formal agreement between donors and HFH might be necessary to guarantee this. Creating a network with the local community and establishing relationships with donors is not only important to the success of our project, but it is also morally commendable. Taking an active part in helping the community is the responsibility and the ethical obligation of local residents. Thus, this project indirectly attempts to bring people to a realization that helping HFH should not be solely for convenience, but also to make a difference in the community. Impact on Project Partner The main impact that our project will have on our project partner is to bridge the gap between the community and the new warehouse that HFH has acquired. There is a need for donations from the community to stock the store, and our project will help expedite the donation process. Also, we are creating another opportunity for the community to support HFH. Community members may make personal contributions to the HFH store, choose to help pick up items from donors (after being properly trained), or help unload materials into the store (among many other HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 14 options). For commercial donors, a pick-up service run by HFH alleviates transportation burdens and prevents them from wasting the valuable time of their employees. As a result, this may encourage companies to donate larger amounts of merchandise or items previously unconsidered for donation. Backup Plan A need for a backup plan to our solution would arise if the truck donors decide they do not wish to donate their services any longer by discontinuing the donated use of their trucks, if there was an increase in donated goods, or if there was a decrease in donated goods. In the first case, there are a few possible backup plans. The first would be to limit the amount of donations that could be accepted. If no truck space is available to get goods to the warehouse, Habitat could accept donations on items for which they have specific needs. For example, if the warehouse has a abundant supply of windows but a limited supply of doors and truck resources are scarce, then HFH could be willing to reject donations of windows in order to save truck space to pick up doors that are donated. Obviously, HFH could request that the specific donor drop off the goods if possible. This alternative would likely mean that fewer goods would be able to be donated, which is a drawback. A second backup plan would be to get new truck donors. We were extensive in our search for truck drivers, but not exhaustive. It would be possible to recall certain companies to explain the situation and try to get them to donate the use of a box truck. Also, it might be possible to find new contacts that we were unable to come up with during our project time. It would be beneficial to even have set companies willing to provide the services of a truck that are not currently donating the use of a truck because Habitat’s needs are not that HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 15 great. Having such “reserve” companies would allow a simple transition if a “starting” donor decides to back out of their services. In conclusion, the ideal backup plan for the first case would be to have alternative companies who are willing to donate their services in case the companies that are currently being used decide to no longer donate the truck services to Habitat. In the second case, where there is an increase in goods, the backup plan for the first case would also work. Specifically, the best backup plan would be to use alternative companies who are willing to donate their services in addition to the current companies who are donating their services. In the third case, where there is a decrease in goods, HFH could simply discontinue the use of a truck service for a limited time until the demand for its services increased. It would be important for HFH to inform the company that they would still desire their donated services in the future, but do not need them at the current time. Budget We did not spend any money in the duration of our work this semester. Any need for budgets or economic analysis would be for future projects (see Work Remaining). Work Remaining There are two major items that are in development and would be exciting projects for future groups working with Habitat for Humanity. The first item is a donor newsletter that would be sent monthly to all community donors of goods to the warehouse---commercial vendors or individual residents. The purpose of the newsletter would be to inform the donors regarding the HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 16 latest news about the warehouse and how they best can be involved. Possible ideas for content of the newsletter include:  What days trucks will be in the area to pick up donated goods (if that information is readily known by Habitat).   List of items that are in need at the warehouse. A “thank you” section where past community donors of trucks or goods for the warehouse would be acknowledged and thanked for their time and donations One drawback of the newsletter is that it would incur specific costs for printing and distribution. The specific budget would be determined by a future LINC group. We created a basic template for the newsletter (see Appendix D) and reviewed it with Kassie Nudo. She was positive regarding the idea and plans to investigate the implementation of the monthly newsletter, hopefully with the help of a future LINC team. A second item to be developed is a website for donors to schedule donation pick-ups. A website would be more convenient for people in the community to access in order to find out when HFH is making donation pick-ups and the currents needs of Homeworks. Then, if the goods that they wanted to donate passed the test for usability, they would be allowed to schedule themselves on the pick-up schedule. This would also make the job easier for the Habitat staff member who has to schedule all the pick-up times and the truck times and routes. The staff member could simply be in charge of monitoring donations made via phone calls and the website. The staff member would also have to maintain the website by updating the pick-up times and the list of needed donations. In the long run, this system would save time and be a more efficient way of HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 17 scheduling pick-up times between community individuals, vendors and the HFH trucks. Creating the website may require start-up and implementation costs. Additionally, there are a few small ideas that future groups may choose to incorporate into their project. We have already composed a donation refusal card that can be left with unusable donations, however it needs further revision regarding specific content issues. A second possible avenue for future groups is to make a gift that could be given to material or truck donors. One suggestion is a magnetic sign that would be fastened to the side of the donated box truck. The sign could read something like, “Bringing Your Donations to Homeworks. Supporter of Habitat for Humanity.” Hopefully, a future LINC team can further investigate the feasibility of these ideas. Conclusion The major outcome of our work was our ability to help bridge the gap between the new Habitat warehouse and those in the community who want to donate goods and support HFH. The problem we faced in the beginning of the project was how to get goods from the community to the warehouse. We believe we solved it by providing a means by getting trucks donated from the community to work with Habitat to get the goods from the community to the warehouse. Through our work, we have learned many things about our community, about our project partner, about our team, and about ourselves. We have come to appreciate the mission of Habitat for Humanity and shared the excitement of the opening of their new warehouse in Champaign. We have learned the importance of communication and responsibility in a team environment HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 18 through our time together working on this project. Finally, as individuals, we have learned the importance of making an impact, no matter how small it may seem. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report Appendix A 19 Contact List for Potential Box Truck Donators Moving Companies ABF U-Pack Moving Allied Van Lines Federal/O'Byrne Moving & Storage Atlas Van Lines Ace World Wide Moving & Storage Jenkins & Key Moving & Storage Budget Truck Rental Savoy Urbana Carters Moving & Storage Ewing-Lovett Transfer Co. Hutchcraft Van Service L & L Movers North American Van Lines Champaign County North American Twin City Movers Inc U-Haul Champaign Telephone Number 800-355-1696 Response Call back needed - George / 352-5123 Yes - Curtis, Calling us back / 328-2727 367-6531 Yes - J.R., Group call back Still need to call / 355-9002 344-0143 367-1118 367-6683 328-3333 800-540-4355 Left message Left message Group call back - Chuck Yes - Corkey Lovett, call back Left message Left message 352-4200 355-1516 786-2110 351-7040 373-7866 355-7802 Yes, Donated use of truck and driver N/A (same as L & L) Headquarters (still in contact) Must talk with headquarters Must talk with headquarters Must talk with headquarters Must talk with headquarters No; Call Champaign dealer Urbana 367-9351 328-4744 Furniture Stores Beck's Country Shoppe Bender's Mattress Factory & Sleep Shoppe Carter's Furniture Carter's Interiors Furniture Warehouse Furniture World of Rantoul 367-5451 328-1700 367-4066 352-2229 352-0080 892-4815 No; Liability issues Owner gone; call in 2-3 weeks Inventory; call again Inventory; call again, attn: Jeannie Owner gone; call again No; Limited resources HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 20 LA-Z-Boy Furniture World of Rantoul LA-Z-Boy Lebeda Mattress Factory Prairie Gardens Rhodes Furniture Silver Deere LTD Techline This Is It Furniture Discount Woodie Alans 351-8052 892-4815 351-8052 378-4000 356-6532 351-6060 239-2322 352-5570 351-5102 239-0986 No; Limited resources No; Limited resources No; Limited resources No No, Liability reasons No, contracts truck with EL&J No; Limited resources, only vans No; Only use vans Yes, Contact after April 15th No HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 21 APPENDIX B Calling Script – Potential Box Truck Donors Hi, I am a student at U of I and I am calling on behalf of the Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement Store located at 40 E. University Ave. in downtown Champaign. How are you today? This coming April, Habit for Humanity will open up their Home Improvement Store, but they need help from businesses like yourselves. We need to find someone who is willing to donate a box truck, a couple of times a year, to help Habit pick-up donated materials. This box truck will be used to pick up any donated material from the community to be sold in the Home Improvement Store or used in Habit for Humanity Homes. Not only would you be helping the community and be able to write-off your donation, but you will receive free advertising as volunteers are picking-up the donated items in your truck. HFH Improvement Store is a non-for-profit retail business, which recycles donated items for use in building homes for low-income families. Or, these donated items will be sold at a huge discount to the public to help pay for some of the building expenses. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 22 APPENDIX C Response Letter to Donors Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement Store Address March 3, 2003 DONOR NAME Company ADDRESS SUBJECT Dear Owner/Manager of Company, In reference to our phone conversation on , we appreciate your willingness to donate your box truck for occasional use by the Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement Store. The Home Improvement Store will open by the end of April ___(exact date?). As I mentioned in our conversation, your box truck will be used to pickup donated materials from people in Champaign and Piatt counties, and the materials will be sold at a reduced cost to the general public. Habitat for Humanity created the Home Improvement Store to provide people with an opportunity to give back to their community, and to raise funds to build homes for low-income families. I expect Habit for Humanity will need use of a box truck prior to the opening of the Home Improvement Store; therefore, I will call you within the first week of April to find out when your box truck will be available and, hopefully, schedule a time when Habit for Humanity may have use of it. I look forward to speaking with you in the near future. Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact HFH at _________. Thank you, HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 23 APPENDIX D Habitat for Humanity HFH Donors Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1 June 2003 Champaign Habitat Warehouse Opens Champaign Habitat warehouse opens. Some things in life are worth mentioning twice—and this is definitely one of them. The Champaign County Habitat for Humanity has opened a home improvement store where people from the community can purchased refurbished and secondhand (a.k.a. not new) goods at a reasonable price. People should know that they can now donate goods to the warehouse to help out HFH’s endeavors to allow people to buy decent goods for cheap. Pick-up days for June Champaign June 12 June 26 June 12 June 28 June 11 Champaign Urbana Urbana Savoy Hey, isn’t this a crazy telephone? It’s one at the warehouse and it’s just plain crazy. Special thanks to...  North American Van Lines  Ace Hardware  Mr. And Mrs. Jones  Champaign Lumber Company What We’re Looking For Habitat for Humanity’s warehouse is taking off, but we still need plenty of items to be fully stocked. The following items are a specific need for the warehouse:      porcelain toilets can openers wood more toilets screen doors If you have a donation and would like to know if it fits our description and need, please call the Habitat for Humanity warehouse office at (217) XXX-XXXX. Kassie is the store manager and is the primary contact for all questions regarding donations. HFH – Pick-up Project Team LINC Final Report 24 APPENDIX E Donation Refusal Card Dear Donator: Thank you for your interest in assisting Habitat for Humanity. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot utilize your donation because:  Its condition was worse than expected  Pieces were broken  The item was unexpected However, in keeping with our emphasis on reusing, recycling, and reevaluating, we strongly encourage you to consider other venues that could find your donation useful. Habitat for Humanity always appreciates anyone who shares our mission to provide dignified, affordable housing to low-income families. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we sincerely hope that you will continue to consider us in the future. If you have any further questions or require our assistance please feel free to contact us. Thank you, Kassie Nudo Habitat For Humanity