Our Values Will Guide Us

by Rachel White

Five years ago this month we suspended remodeling work due to the COVID pandemic. For 10 weeks our carpenters were furloughed while our designers did whatever billable work they could from home. Essential staff also worked from home for 50% pay to keep the business afloat on our cash reserves until it would be safe to start building again.

Although it’s hard to put myself back in that frightening time, I do remember that the decision to suspend remodeling work was agonizing. There was no precedent we could turn to, no guide for navigating a viral pandemic. We could rely only on our sense of what was right and faith that we would get through it.

We now find ourselves in a similarly frightening time without precedent or guide for how to respond. Again, we must rely on our sense of what's right and our faith that we'll get through it.

We are horrified by the actions of the administration. This isn’t solely or even primarily about policy differences, although many of the administration’s actions — from tariffs to gutting federal agencies — directly threaten our business and conflict with our mission to serve as exemplary stewards of existing homes and to help build a more equitable and sustainable future.

Like all businesses and institutions of civil society, we rely on a stable, functional federal government. We rely on the government to serve the public good. We rely on the government to uphold the rule of law. We rely on safety for everyone in our community. And we rely on the freedom to live our values and express our opinions without fear of retribution.

It’s hard to believe that we can no longer rely on these things, but this is our new reality – incompetence, cruelty, chaos and corruption on a massive scale.

While there may be little that a small business like ours can do on the national stage, there is a lot we can do closer to home.

We can continue to publicly champion justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in our company and industry.

We can make red cards available on our job sites so that our crew and subcontractors are aware of their rights if an immigration agent shows up.

We can direct our charitable donations to those who have been harmed by the administration’s actions.

We can join with other businesses to let our elected officials know where we stand and what we need to flourish.

Finally, we can redouble our efforts to decarbonize existing homes – doing whatever we can to help Massachusetts achieve our climate goals.

We have agency. And we intend to use it.