In nine years as Field Director for Help Build Hope, Brian Snively oversaw construction projects that helped hundreds of families. What he’ll remember most, though, isn’t the homes that he built, but the relationships.
“Those are the things that stand out to me, first and foremost,” said Snively, who stepped down as Field Director at the beginning of April. “The relationships with the Help Build Hope team and the CrossRoads team.”
Snively is moving on to with work Family First Life, which offers life insurance and mortgage protection policies. Before exiting CrossRoads, he took some time to reflect on his time with the organization.
“Looking back over who I was and where I was at 9 years ago, it’s been a heck of a ride and heck of a journey,” he said.
Help Build Hope grew as well. When Snively joined HBH, they were running 30 or so events per year with three staff. Today, Help Build Hope has five staff, plus volunteers, and held 65 events in 18 different states in 2019.
The geographical spread of Help Build Hope also was worth noting. At the time Snively arrived, HBH was running events in Pennsylvania and Ohio primarily, with some also in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Today, Help Build Hope has established itself throughout the eastern half of the U.S.–and then some.
“Now we’re all the way out to Boise, Oregon, California, Colorado, Texas. Those relationships continue to grow as we continue to expand our footprint,” he said.
Snively said he would miss the staff of Help Build Hope as he transitions into a new career.
“All of them are old enough to be my dad [but] they respected my leadership. It was guys who had far more experience and far more life lessons. Each person had their own skill-set and with each of those different skill sets and pieces of the puzzle, we were able to put together what Help Build Hope is today. That was always really cool to reflect back on.
“It really is rewarding when you realize you are making a difference in people’s lives, able to provide them a safe, affordable place to live that changes the trajectory of their family, possibly forever,” he added. “It’s also extremely humbling to be a small part of that journey and process for those families.”
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