Chamber News

FARMERS INSURANCE EMPLOYEES TO BUILD HABITAT HOME

Donations will pay for first year of homeowners insurance as special gift

OLATHE , KS (October 9, 2009) Dozens of Farmers Insurance employees from the Olathe , KS area will lend a hand to help a single mother of two, achieve her life-long dream of owning a home.  Beginning Tuesday October 13, 2009, more than 165 employees from the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies® will work with Habitat for Humanity to build a house for Meghan Speak.  The group will work on the house, located at 130 South Emma Street in Olathe , until Saturday October 17, 2009.  In addition to the thousands of hours in labor, the Farmers employees have also raised $1,000 dollars to purchase a homeowners insurance policy for the first year. 

The Farmers employees will present Speak with a check to pay for a one-year homeowners’ insurance policy On Wednesday October 14, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. at the Habitat home. 

“At Farmers we are in the business of securing families and helping protect the American Dream,” said Rob Koch Assistant Vice President of Property Claims.  “We are honored and humbled to help Meghan Speak achieve her dream of owning a home.”

“We’re eliminating blight, redeveloping community and building a house that will then contribute to the tax base,” said Tom Lally, Executive Director of Heartland Habitat for Humanity.  “Heartland Habitat doesn’t solve the problem of affordable housing in Johnson County , but it does fill a specific role for helping low-income families achieve homeownership.”

Potential Habitat for Humanity homeowners will be identified through various informational meetings that will be held throughout Johnson County . To qualify for a Habitat for Humanity home, families must go through a comprehensive interview and assessment process, and must meet certain income guidelines. In addition, potential homeowners must contribute 360 hours of “sweat equity” and participate in 50 hours of homeowner classes. In exchange, homeowners are able to purchase their home with a zero interest loan and no down payment.

Farmers employees will be helping build Ms. Speak’s house from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. from Tuesday October 13, 2009 until Saturday October 17, 2009. 

About Farmers Insurance Group

Farmers Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services, an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets.  Farmers® is the nation's third-largest Personal Lines Property & Casualty insurance group.  Property and casualty products are underwritten and issued by the Farmers Exchanges and their subsidiaries, which Farmers Group, Inc. manages but does not own.  Headquartered in Los Angeles , Farmers insurers provide Homeowners, Auto, Business, Life insurance and financial services to more than 10 million households.  For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at www.farmers.com