When AirWorks Solutions agreed to partner with ServiceTitan on a community betterment project as part of the Power the Nation campaign, even CEO Stephanie Allen was surprised by the result.
In the Southern California area AirWorks serves, the response was overwhelming.
“We put out the call like, ‘Hey, we want to help somebody,’ and the stories that we had pouring in were incredible,” Allen said. “There are so many different projects out there available to you to do really good things in the world.”
The project AirWorks chose is just one of them. The company would install a complete HVAC system at 4Kids2Kids, where the children have all known hardship.
The young residents at the Southern California home have been victims of sex trafficking and human trafficking, and 4Kids2Kids’ No. 1 goal is to provide a therapeutic, comfortable home to those children.
Until recently, 4Kids2Kids’ Los Angeles chapter was doing that without central air in the house. AirWorks Solutions, with support from ServiceTitan, changed that.
“A lot of these girls have emphasized how they’ve never had comfort before in their lives,” facility manager Julianna Zepeda said. “With the air conditioning, we’re going to be giving them the comfort to get to the core of what they need to deal with in their past trauma.”
In the process, AirWorks demonstrated how those who lead, serve.
‘We do it every day’
AirWorks, at 4Kids2Kids, did what it always does: It fit the work to the task.
A new system serviced all the bedrooms, the kitchen and the living room. A unique setup with an upstairs office and no way to get duct work to the space required a wall-mounted mini-split and an outdoor condenser. And a slimline furnace condenser and coil left the girls room to get their bikes in and out of the gates.
“I think for tradespeople, it's like, ‘That's no big deal. You have a need there. I can do that. I can help you with those things. Let me help now,’” Allen said. “And we're not afraid to roll up our sleeves and dig in and get involved.”
Problem-solving, just like every day.
“Getting a chance to show off the work they do and really realize that it made such a big impact helped them stand a little taller, and really see that what they do matters,” Allen said.
“We take for granted the skills we have. The work we do, we do it every day so it's no big deal. But the trades are essential, and this was really easy for us to do, to give back and make a major impact.”
That kind of impact, Allen said, can be—and is—made by contractors across the nation, every day. Because it’s part of the DNA of the trades. The idea of Power the Nation, launched at ServiceTitan’s user conference in October, is to serve as a catalyst.
“The whole message (of Power the Nation) is ‘People who lead, serve,” Allen said. “And we don't feel like we're necessarily just in an HVAC or plumbing business. We're in a leadership development business, and as we develop people, we serve them, and then that service gets contagious.”
That’s what happened at AirWorks Solutions.
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Another level of giving
To be sure, Power the Nation is not close to the first charitable work for the AirWorks Solutions team.
Allen said the company’s Cool Acts, Warm Hearts initiative has helped in their community before, although the 4Kids2Kids project was the largest so far. And it ramped up employees’ desire to continue to do good for their community, every day.
Cool Acts, Warm Hearts, among other things, makes monetary donations to community organizations when certain AirWorks Solutions services are sold, which builds awareness and business for the company and funds worthy causes.
But Power the Nation took everything to another level.
“I'm really proud of how willing and generous my team was,” Allen said. “I'm not surprised by any means, but I’m so grateful to have them by my side and fully bought in to my mission—and it's theirs, too. They're just so willing to give back and develop each other and develop other people.”
The project even created some FOMO at AirWorks Solutions, owned and run by Allen and her husband, Kevin, setting the stage for the next charitable gift.
“The team that got selected to do this install, the other guys are like, ‘Hey, how come not me?’” Allen said. “Now it’s, ‘We want to know the next one, we're going to do the next one.’”
And Allen absolutely expects there to be a next one.
Goosebumps everywhere
The project at 4Kids2Kids was much more than a normal HVAC installation, Allen said. And she said she’s grateful to ServiceTitan for the opportunity.
“Our partnership with ServiceTitan is incredible,” she said. “ServiceTitan instigated the project and funded the project, but thanked us the entire way as if we were serving them as much as we were serving this home. Working together, there's so much mutual respect.”
Through it all, Allen saw the importance of the project for ServiceTitan.
“The thought and care that went into every step of the way, and the consideration, was incredible,” she said. “I know that this isn't a marketing ploy or a fly-by-night type of initiative. This is something that's really important to the ServiceTitan company at their core. I can't wait to do more projects because ServiceTitan ignited that flame for us.”
Of course, that was not nearly the best outcome. That was for the children at 4Kids2Kids.
“Their home's their solitude, their refuge,” she said. “The people at 4Kids2Kids have said it has made such an impact in the girls' well-being, and in their ability to get through some of their counseling and other sessions that they're working through. And the comfort of the home has changed dramatically. It's a place they want to be.”
That is only beginning to pay dividends, for the children at 4Kids2Kids now and in the future.
“We didn't really understand the ripple effect we were going to have,” Allen said. “The impact, especially in this situation, lasts a lifetime. The work those kids are doing right now is healing any of the past traumas that they've had, so they can become who they're going to be.”
Allen paused, contemplating the outcomes AirWorks Solutions and others in the trades can have in their communities.
“This has lifetime, generational impact, really,” she said. “So that part's pretty incredible.
“I just got goosebumps saying that.”
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