Maintenance at the Family House
Did you know that family lodging fees cover only half the operating expenses at SECU Family House? While those fees have increased slightly in recent years, the Family House can’t make up the difference between revenues and expenses simply by charging guests more. That would be self-defeating. So, it relies on your generosity and the support of staff and volunteers to make up the difference! See just where your dollars go in the timeline below.
It’s like your own house. There is the cost to build it, and then there is the cost to maintain it, to keep it as a place you want to call home.
A Day in Maintaining the Family House:
8am: The elevator inspector arrives to…inspect the elevators!
9am: Our landscaping company starts their engines to mow almost 2 acres of lawn.
9:30am: Delivery! Our monthly shipment of replacement washcloths and towels arrives.
10am: A quick call with our IT company fixes a computer glitch so staff can continue working.
11am: Our maintenance tech pops in room 304 to repair a leaky faucet. After, he might continue on to replace some light bulbs, fix electrical outlets and broken fans, touch up paint, vacuum out air vents, or replace carpet tiles.
Who changes light bulbs, builds gazebos, fixes electrical outlets and broken fans, touches up paint, vacuums out air vents, replaces carpet tiles, repairs leaky faucets, and so much more of the behind the scenes parts of the house, you say? Our multi-talented maintenance tech, Will!
12pm: A Clean Team volunteer group arrives to work, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, doing laundry, and much more. Everything that you do at your house (or should do at your house!) we do at ours. These volunteers are critical in making sure the house sparkles and shines for guests so they have one less thing to worry about.
1pm: Our Services and Facilities committee meets to discuss future capital replacement plans. The Family House’s rooms are in constant use, so there is substantial wear and tear on furniture, mattresses, and appliances. To keep up a high quality of service, we need to make sure we replace items before they start to show their age. This extends to the common areas and the building’s exterior. Thankfully, the Family House has a long term repairs and maintenance plan that is no different from the renovation and maintenance that occurs at commercial hotels.
For example, here are a few of the scheduled capital projects that we’ve been working on:
- Last year, we added desks to all rooms, replaced living room furniture and rugs, and made landscape improvements.
- This year, we replaced hallway carpeting, updated staff computers, dish washers, freezers, and did some landscaping upgrades out front.
- Next year, our mattresses will need to be replaced, the kitchen refreshed, and some office spaces re-carpeted.
3pm: Our preventative maintenance volunteer starts vacuuming out air vents and checking smoke detectors and emergency lights.
4:30pm: The last load of laundry goes in the dryer.
7pm: Dinner is over! Time to take out the trash and recycling and clean up the rest of the kitchen.
Thanks to you, the Family House can offer an exceptional value and exceptional quality for each room.