“Since volunteering with HeroWork, I’ve hired a whole bunch of HeroWork sponsors… And you know, if everybody did that, the HeroWork sponsors would be rewarded for their kindness to the community.”
Val Sharp having fun at the Mustard Seed Radical Renovation
Val Sharp is a Team leader for the On-Site Team with HeroWork. Having taken part in the last four big Radical Renos, she’s gotten to know a lot of sponsors personally from working alongside them. This means she is familiar not only with their generosity and the quality of their work, but their amiable character as well.
But you don’t have to know these HeroWork sponsors directly to find them for your next project. All of them can be found in the Contractor Directory, a page on the HeroWork website that compiles all HeroWork services for their community-minded and ethical business practices. It’s a kind of resource to highlight the stellar work that these generous people offer to the HeroWork cause, and direct the public towards people they can trust, whatever their project may be.
I asked Val why hiring someone from HeroWork was important to her. She had this to say, “First of all, I know that the person I’m hiring is ethical and will stand behind their work. Secondly, I know that from working with them that the quality of the work will be really good, and I’ve never been disappointed by hiring somebody who was a HeroWork sponsor. The third reason is that I meet them and get to know them and really like them as people. And it’s also become apparent that they hire really good people for their personal businesses, so the people that come into my house or work on it are all decent people that I don’t mind having in my house.”
For people and businesses to put a focus on supporting their community for nothing in return is a special thing. “I just like to support people who are supporting the community in that way,” says Val, “they are my first go-to people; I would go to the HeroWork directory first before going anywhere else. Obviously, I think it’s smart to get quotes from people, but all things being equal, I would hire somebody who worked on a HeroWork project before I’d hire somebody else.”
Being able to trust that work will be done well is, of course, an important part of hiring a contractor. What defines their true quality is when they put you and your needs first when a problem may arise.
I questioned Val about anecdotal experience of this quality, and she said, “The people that I’ve dealt with so far, they stand behind their work, totally one hundred percent. So it gives you a really warm comfort feeling.” She provided an example, “we had two bathrooms renovated and a few weeks later there was a leak in our basement and it turned out that something had gone wrong with the reno in one of our bathrooms. I had to have another plumber come because it was on the weekend. I phoned the HeroWork construction guy and he just said ‘Oh, just send me the bill, I’ve got it,’ without even coming to check it out or make sure they were at fault. He did come out, though, and find out what went wrong, but before even doing any of that he just said, send me the bill.”
This kind of situation perfectly characterizes the mindset of the sponsors that participate with HeroWork in that they are concerned more with how their work benefits those in their community rather than merely making a buck and moving on.
Val had yet another fantastic story of how a HeroWork sponsor that worked on her home stood behind their work. “Another time, when we were getting the outside of our house painted, I looked at the back of the house and it was not the same colour as the front and the side, so I phoned him up and said I have really bad news for you, the back is not the same colour, and he just said we’ll fix it, just instantly. And he immediately phoned the next client and said he’d be late because he knew that he was going to fix it and that it was going to take another day or two. And that was again without seeing it. He just trusted my word and he came over right away the next morning and said, oh yeah, it’s the totally wrong colour.”
In terms of recommending these people to others, she said, “Yep! In fact my neighbour is using the painter, and a friend of mine got their kitchen renovated by the same contractor that did our bathroom.”
“It’s really, really easy to recommend them because they are so wonderful to work with and they do a good job, and we like having them in our house—I’m thrilled to recommend them!”
I asked Val what her experience has been like volunteering with HeroWork. She responded with this, “Oh, absolutely incredible. It’s just so heart-warming to be able to work on the kinds of projects we work on and see the amazing work that gets done all by volunteers and the generous sponsors in this community that donate supplies and people. I don’t know what to say, it’s just so heart-warming and rewarding to be able to work on those projects. You just want to give. And the projects that they choose are always just so necessary for the community, that you know you’re doing something worthwhile that the community needs. Plus you meet such fantastic people and have a lot of fun!”
With a recommendation or not, it is clear that the sponsors for HeroWork are committed to doing all they can to serve their community both in the Radical Renos and private projects. If you’re interested in getting some work done on your home or business, consider looking at the HeroWork Sponsorship Directory to find businesses that are concerned with making sure they are aligned with the bigger picture. And who knows, maybe you’ll want to get involved with HeroWork too!
