After a 2-year run as a virtual event, the 19th Annual Build A House…Build A Dream Contest was held in person on March 19th at the Exton Square Mall.

In the Build A House…Build A Dream contest, 5th-grade students work individually or in teams to build a three-dimensional model dream home of their own design which they bring on the day of the contest for judging by professional architects, engineers, and builders.

107 students submitted 76 “dream homes” for the judges consideration. The 5th-graders represented a large number of area schools: Bradford Heights Elementary, Brandywine Wallace Elementary, Caln Elementary, Charlestown Elementary, Collegium Charter, East Bradford Elementary, East Goshen Elementary, Garnet Valley Elementary, Hillsdale Elementary, Intermediate School Spring-Ford District, Kings Highway Elementary, Media Elementary, Penn Wynne Elementary, Rainbow Elementary, Shawmont Elementary, Souderton Charter School Collaborative, and Sugartown Elementary.

It appears there are more than a few budding architects at Garnett Valley as all 3 winners represented that school. “Fan Favorite” Greyson Cooke hails from Penn Wynne Elementary.

This year’s event netted $15,863 for Habitat for Humanity of Chester County. A big thank you to our sponsors for making this possible! We are grateful for their support:

A teacher shared some fantastic feedback with Habitat Executive Director Chris Wiseman: “One of the teachers that was there supporting their students told me that one young man deals with anxiety and it limits his ability to speak in class and connect with others. But this event had brought him out of his shell. She said that he spoke more to the adults and other kids at the event than he had in class throughout the year!

Kassie – Thank you so much for all your support! On a corporate level you all make this possible with your generosity. On a personal level you were so helpful and played a big part in making it a great first experience for me!

Thanks again!
Brooke Seeger
HFHCC Community Program Director

Photos of this year’s Build A House…Build A Dream event —

Fox & Roach/Trident Charities is proud to be the founding sponsor of the Build A House…Build A Dream contest which raises funds for and awareness of the home-building efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Chester County and the greater Delaware Valley. In addition, participating students are introduced to the mission and work of Habitat for Humanity and, although they aren’t able to help at the constructions site yet, they can learn about the importance of affordable housing and what they can do in the future to help their neighbors in need.
2022 marks the 19th anniversary of the contest. To date, more than 6,400 5th-grade students from 750 area schools have participated, and roughly $712,000 in gross dollars have been raised through sponsorships in support of Habitat. In addition, hundreds of volunteer hours have been given by BHHS Fox & Roach/Trident sales associates and employees.