Making Connections at the 2024 GAF Latinos In Roofing Summit

Under sunny blue skies, GAF hometown workers from Minneapolis joined over 4,000 Habitat for Humanity volunteers to donate their time and energy to the 2024 Carter Work Project in East St. Paul, Minnesota.The landmark 40th anniversary of the Carter Work Project celebrated former President Carter's 100th birthday. It also heralded the completion of 30 new all-electric homes in The Heights—the largest affordable housing development yet for Twin Cities Habitat—and marked the first installation of GAF Timberline Solar™ Energy Shingles.Supporting the Carter Work Project's PurposeGAF and the Habitat Carter Work Project share a common mission—to protect what matters most and bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Safe, secure, affordable housing is one of the surest routes to building resilient communities.Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter were early champions of affordable housing. In 1984, they partnered with Habitat for Humanity to lead an annual week-long housing build. The momentum grew, and now, four decades later, over 100,000 Habitat volunteers have helped construct over 4,400 affordable homes for families in need.Each year, GAF volunteers travel from around the country for the Carter Work Project. GAF Community Matters also donates roofing materials, training, and installation expertise. Since 2011, GAF and its national network of certified contractors have supported roofing installation on over 3,800 roofing systems in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, impacting more than 15,500 individuals.Building Resilience in MinnesotaThis year was particularly special thanks to first time solar shingle installation at a Carter Work Project. Even more, the project's location was in a GAF hometown and local GAF employees were on-site to volunteer.Benefitting Homeowners by Going Solar"We're donating 40 roofing systems and 40 solar energy systems from GAF and GAF Energy," says Jake Pream, a territory manager for GAF Energy in Minnesota.In addition to energy production, the beauty of the GAF Timberline Solar™ Energy Shingle is its simplicity. The nailable shingles are "just like your typical Timberline HDZ® Shingles," says Fan Ulacia, Director of Product Deployment Applications for GAF Energy and one of the minds behind the solar shingle design. "They're simple enough to install with a nail gun, but they produce energy." For Ulacia, improving access to solar energy, giving back to the community, and helping homeowners gain energy independence make GAF Energy a great fit for the GAF Habitat partnership."The solar-powered roofing system will make these homes more resilient, generate energy, and be a long-term benefit to Habitat homeowners by helping to offset their energy costs," adds Jeff Terry, vice president of corporate social responsibility and sustainability at GAF, who has volunteered at the Carter Work Project for 26 years.Helping a GAF HometownThe Twin Cities Habitat build is also special because it means the Carter Work Project takes place in a GAF hometown. As Pream, a St. Paul native, puts it, "I have friends and family quite literally a few houses down."The Minneapolis GAF manufacturing facility opened in 1935, and "it's something we're really proud of," says Austin Owens, a local GAF technical manager. Over the years, "we've made improvements to equipment and operations and made changes to help the environment and sustainability. We try to help the community as much as possible."Like many GAF volunteers at the Carter Work Project site, Joey Och, a GAF plant process engineer, grew up in the area. "Affordable housing is something Minneapolis and St. Paul have been pushing for," says Och, "so it's nice to be out here and help. Affordable housing brings more people into the community."With GAF donating roofing and solar energy systems for this year's project, safe and affordable homeownership, with reduced energy bills, will be accessible to more people.This housing security helps strengthen the community. The area may experience severe weather and its share of hardship, but "there's a lot of resiliency in this community," says Owens.Carrying On the Carter Work Project in 2024 and BeyondFor many reasons, the Carter Work Project inspires repeat volunteers. "Community does matter," says annual participant and GAF CARE Learning and Development Instructor Michael Humenik. "It's just fun to volunteer. I look forward to coming out every year."Habitat homeowners who return each year to volunteer are the true testament to the transformational power of access to safe, affordable housing. LeAndra Estes brought her hard work and a big smile to the week-long Twin Cities build. Estes is an annual volunteer for the program that changed her life. "I need and I want to give back to Habitat for Humanity, to the affiliates and partners, and to the future homeowners to come," she notes.Estes puts into words the value of affordable housing and how the benefits ripple far beyond the home. "When you have a home, you don't just have that home and your family. Your community also becomes your family," she explains.Although former President Carter has retired his tool belt after decades of humanitarian service, he surely must have been proud to see his legacy continue to evolve, especially with the revolutionary new solar shingle that supports homeowners' financial independence.Ready to get involved? Explore the Habitat for Humanity GAF Contractor Program and change lives for the better, starting today.

Several years after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017 and caused around $90 billion in damage, residents were still working to repair their homes and rebuild their communities. Subsequent storms further damaged unfixed properties and the power grid continued to suffer frequent blackouts. As a result, many families were living in unsafe conditions.In response, GAF, through our Community Matters initiative partnered with Team Rubicon and local nongovernmental organizations to provide Puerto Rico hurricane relief. GAF donated roofing materials, roof installation trainings, and hundreds of hours of volunteer labor toward the Puerto Rico hurricane relief effort. Since 2017, GAF has continued its commitment and has donated materials for over 500 roofs and helped install them all over Puerto Rico.Video TranscriptEnglish Translation: The storm came and took my home. If I would have been home during the storm, then I wouldn't be here speaking with you. [00:00:07]A lot of the homeowners either are financially short or just don't have the capabilities to do it themselves. We're able to provide the work and the labor for them and just help them out however we can.[00:00:21]It's really important to us that we are always putting the highest quality materials into these homes.Yesterday, we were at el Barrio Consejo en Guayanilla, and we were teaching ProTechos, Team Rubicon, and members of the local community how to apply GAF roof coatings. After we finished our coatings portion, we actually did a Liberty rolled roofing. GAF had donated in the past material for about 500 homes that have been done for Team Rubicon.[00:00:48]English Translation: There is nothing more important in life than to have a place to come home to, spend quality time, sit and be at peace.

Protecting what matters most includes promoting the career growth of roofing industry professionals like you. That's why GAF offers a wide range of learning opportunities, including CARE courses, online training, in-person training, and roofing summits and expos.Recently, third generation roofer, Jeremy Simpson of Simpson Roofing Company, spent a day at the GAF Northeast Roofing Summit and Expo to learn more about the latest updates in the residential roofing industry. While the majority of the work the Simpson Roofing Company does is commercial, they are always looking for ways to expand their knowledge by learning about innovative ideas, new products, new software, and new technology in the residential space.Simpson attended breakout sessions on topics including Principles of Ventilation, AI in CRM, and Sales. "I love coming to these GAF summits, because they really line up all the pertinent info for your business to succeed" says Simpson, "I promise you it's worth its weight in gold!"To learn more about on demand, hands-on, and in-person training opportunities through GAF, visit our CARE Contractor Training Center.Video TranscriptMy name is Jeremy Simpson from Simpson Roofing Company. We are out of Vernon, New Jersey, and Patterson, New Jersey, two locations. Today, I'm here at the GAF Summit, and I'm looking to just learn new things. We are a third-generation roofing company. We predominantly do commercial, but all throughout the years, we've done residential. That's why we're here today at this event. We're trying to get updated on the new stuff that's coming out, specifically from GAF. Innovative ideas, new products, new software, new tech. So follow me along today as we explore the GAF summit.[00:00:45]Today, we're going into the principles of ventilation. Designs change, architecture changes, and you need new ways of ventilating. And I don't know all of them. So I want to get some info and see what GAF has to offer as far as new products and new thoughts on how to move the air around. So we just got out of our first breakout session about ventilation. A lot of math, a lot of numbers going into the calculations of moving air around in your attic space to have a really good performed roof system. I didn't know all those details. Now I know, got to use it going forward from there.[00:01:19]I just got out of the AI CRM breakout session there. A little bit of an information overload, and that was a good thing because it really showed me how much I was missing the CRM and AI, it's the future. It's coming.[00:01:37]So I just got out of the third and final breakout of today's GAF Summit, and it was about sales, and it was very interesting to see the different dynamics that take place in the residential market when you're dealing with a homeowner versus something commercial, where oftentimes you don't even get to see who you're selling to. So to find out those little intricacies inside that process was super insightful. The best part of today was everything. I love coming to these GAF summits because they really line up all pertinent information for your business to succeed.[00:02:11]Thank you so much for tagging along today. It was super fun for me. I hope you got a little bit out of it as well. And if you ever find a time to come out to one of these GAF summits, I promise you it's worth its weight in gold.