Extreme Homebuilder

Homebuilders aren't often given credit for their good deeds. In fact, they're more used, unfairly of course, as whipping boys (and girls) for such societal ills as crowded roads and underperforming schools.

But Lexington Homes shrugs off such criticism and continues to allocate resources toward improving the quality of life for less fortunate Tampa Bay residents. In fact, the company spent more than $2 million last year-and leveraged considerably more than that from its suppliers and subcontractors-to help others. For its efforts, it recently won a Builders Achievement Award for community service from the National Association of Home Builders.

The company built and sold a home using donated labor and materials, raising $120,000 to help pay for a Port Richey boy's lung transplant. It renovated a playground named after a Citrus County girl who had been kidnapped and murdered. It rehabilitated kennel facilities for the Southeastern Guide Dogs organization. And it launched a program to help people who had lost their jobs as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Most notably, Lexington was featured on the ABC-TV series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which documented the rebuilding of a home for a St. Petersburg man who had been blinded in a shooting spree.

"For 10 years, we've believed in giving back to the community," says Lexington chief financial officer Dan Bicz. "We believe in establishing high standards, getting involved and uniting the business sector."

That may be an understatement for the New Port Richey-based company. Not only are Lexington's beneficiaries needy, they also come with heart-rending, impossible-to-resist background stories.

Last year's giving spree began when a church group brought the plight of little Hunter Wilhelm to the homebuilder's attention. The Port Richey boy had catastrophic pulmonary problems, and his family, who had already spent thousands on medical treatment, needed to come up with about $100,000 more for a lung transplant.

Lexington quickly responded by building and selling "Hunter's House," with the $120,000 in proceeds going to a lung-transplant fund.

Things just seemed to escalate from there. Three months later the company teamed up with ABC-TV's wildly popular Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to rebuild the home of Jamie Dolan, an innocent bystander who had been browsing in a Radio Shack when he was struck by a stray bullet and blinded.

Dolan and his family were sent to Puerto Rico for a week while Lexington, the ABC crew, 150-plus members of the Tampa Bay Builders Association and an army of volunteers got to work.

The team demolished the family's existing 44-year-old home and built a new, 4,400-square-foot residence outfitted with special technology to help Dolan maneuver without his sight. A comparable job would typically take at least nine months to complete, but under Lexington's leadership, the project was done in an incredible three weeks' time.

"The Extreme Makeover project was truly remarkable, because the horrible nature of the crime captured everyone's attention when it happened," says Bill Carey, vice president and general manager of WFTS-TV, who worked with Bicz and his crew. "Lexington really stepped up to the plate. It was one of the best experiences the show has ever had, and I believe Lexington has become a template for them."

But for Lexington, the project was far more meaningful than providing compelling television. Says Bicz: "We had two conditions: sustainable and inclusive. After the dust settled and Hollywood left town, we wanted to make sure that something remained."

That's why Lexington established the Amerilex Foundation, which gave the Dolan family $100,000 to cover taxes and expenses. Next, Lexington raised funds to acquire and train a guide dog, aptly named Lexie, for Dolan.

But it didn't end there. The purchase of Lexie got the company involved with Southeastern Guide Dogs, a Sarasota" target="_blank">Manatee County nonprofit organization that has relied on private donations to train 2,200 guide dogs since its inception in 1982.

"We told them about the need for rehabbing our kennels," says Lindsey Nickel, projects coordinator for Southeastern Guide Dogs, "and out of the goodness of their hearts, they did it. Something that would have taken us many years, they did in two weeks. It was unbelievable."

But it wasn't easy. Lexington reached out to local builders and media outlets for help with the guide-dogs project and assigned two full-time staff members to see it through.

And the ripple effect continued. One of the subcontractors on that project was Mark Lunsford, father of Jessica Lunsford, the nine-year-old who was kidnapped and murdered last year in Citrus County. He asked Lexington for guidance on how to rehabilitate a playground at a local elementary school. The company offered to take on the job, and "Jessica's Playground" was built.

"What really allowed us to help is the partnership with ABC," says Bicz. "Bill Carey shares our vision for giving back, and that allows us to create local 'extreme makeovers.' It's homebuilders giving back in a partnership with the media. We were able to get more than 450 organizations, building-related companies, banks, subcontractors, even competitors involved."

Last year Lexington also established "K-Jobs," a program to help people who lost jobs as a result of Hurricane Katrina to find new work in the building industry. Family members of Lexington's employees also get involved in giving. For example, Bicz's wife, Margaret, is now on the board of directors of Lighthouse of Tampa" target="_blank">Pinellas County.

While the company didn't start out last year planning a wave of charitable endeavors, Bicz says their philanthropy dovetails with the company's philosophy.

"We all believe very strongly in the notion of helping people," says Bicz about the Lexington leadership team. "With Extreme Makeover, we knew we wanted to give an example to the building industry to do more."

Lexington Homes, founded in 1995 by Craig Fiebe and Craig Gallagher, builds in 10 Florida counties. Bicz says what distinguishes Lexington from its competitors is its willingness to be flexible and work with buyers to either design homes from scratch or modify existing floor plans.

That flexibility is partly what helped Lexington succeed at the Extreme Makeover project, for which they only had little lead time. Teamwork and a decentralized corporate culture that encourages and supports employees' charitable initiatives are other aspects.

"If it's going to be sustainable, it's got to be ground up, not top down," says Bicz. "It's a great company."

And not one to rest on its laurels. Says Bicz, "We're already talking to Bill about doing more in 2006."