About Erik

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Born into a military family and moving every 1-2 years around the US, Erik grew up in a loving environment surrounded by change, equality, justice, and honest caring for others. His sense of home was not the everchanging houses, but the family within those walls. 

It was not until his 50th high school reunion in 2018, listening to the former vice-principal speak, that Erik realized the impact our educators and parents had on influencing our beliefs and fostering our ability to recognize needs, create solutions, and take affirmative action. 

At an early age, Erik was instilled with a passion for life and work that focuses on improving life for others. Erik remembers his mom telling him, “If you want to eat well, learn to cook well.” As he grew in years, those words became both tangible and metaphoric.  

As an after-school and weekend job, Erik worked at the Officer’s Club at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. As a busboy, he loved his service job of clearing and cleaning tables for others. 

One summer job for Erik was as a laborer for a team of masons building a small building in suburban Maryland. Learning not only some of the physical complexities involved in building walls, he also learned firsthand how a team can accomplish something lasting. He does not remember exactly where that building is located but is confident those walls are still standing and providing a place of employment and customer service, and literally holding up the roof that protects them all.  

In 1968, Erik and his family watched from a distance as fires burned in Washington DC during protests for equality. That memory is forever ingrained as an impassioned cry for help and motivates Erik to find solutions before escalation.  

Attending the University of Maryland, Erik joined a group of volunteers who shopped in bulk, bagged orders, and provided low-cost/high-quality food for his fellow college students. During a trip to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, as Erik sat in a small inner-city park, he noticed a lone worker trying to pick up the massive amounts of trash left by the revelers. After asking if he could help, Erik invited others to join him. In a very short time, they collected many bags of trash, and the park was immaculate. Also, during that same trip and sleeping on church pews offered by a local church, Erik and his friends realized they had not enough money for restaurant meals. Erik collected their meager funds, bought veggies from a small local market, chopped them all up into a large, bagged salad and they ate like queens and kings for several days. 

Attending the University of Maryland, College Park Campus, Erik participated in the anti-war protests in 1970. Seeing his classmates overcome by tear gas and police batons, Erik and his friends formed a small group that would run into the fracas and carry the injured to safety. Disillusioned with the educational system, further disrupted by the widespread protests, Erik left college.

Erik’s professional career in the commercial building industry ranged from a licensed trade apprentice to senior project manager in the Washington D.C. area. He learned intimately the components and skills necessary to build and renovate service-oriented buildings, including schools, a flagship police station, medical and research laboratories, and public housing. He continued refining his skills and leading teams who could build anything, with quality and professionalism.  

In the late 1990s, Erik worked for an $80M private government-contract-only company. As one of twelve project managers, he managed one-quarter of the company revenue with a team of office support staff and hundreds of skilled tradepersons. His work increasingly included some of the most notable and innovative public housing projects in the nation. As Erik quickly learned the regulatory systems governing those projects, he began to envision how to improve those systems, effectively lowering costs and increasing project impact. He openly shared his ideas with officials from both the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a result, Erik was offered a position as a U.S. Presidential Appointee to oversee and improve our national public housing system. He declined the Appointment, having already made a decision to marry and move to Colorado.  

Starting a new life in Colorado with his daughter Jasmine and new wife Frances, Erik moved to Evergreen, a relatively small, non-incorporated community in the mountain foothills just west of Denver. Recognizing his community’s need for a high-quality and innovative home renovation company, he successfully created a full-service company serving Evergreen and the Denver metro area. His company was modeled after commercial work with a full time supervisor on every project.

Shortly after moving to Colorado, Erik learned of Habitat For Humanity through his local church. He began volunteering with the local affiliate. Learning of the need for funds to build homes, Erik quickly created a program of selling Blue Spruce tree seedlings outside of the local grocery store. He quickly modified his ‘sales pitch’ from selling trees to simply asking if shoppers would donate $20 to Habitat, and they may take a tree home to plant. This approach was very successful with many contributors giving more than the requested donation and not taking the trees. Later, Erik was quietly thanked by that first local Habitat family for raising more funds than anyone else.  Erik’s local church sponsored a mission trip for him to Nicaragua with Habitat For Humanity International. This experience was eye-opening for Erik and increased his understanding of the range of needs worldwide and opportunities for service.

Erik then became involved with the Denver Area Habitat affiliate. First serving as a volunteer on building projects, then chairman and president of the board, he accepted a full-time position as Executive Director. During his two-year tenure, he established a strategic business structure, hired staff, and helped turn the internal focus to the needs of the staff and volunteers. This shift created more opportunities for volunteers, increased housing production, and significantly increased the number of recipient families. During that time, he produced the first-ever Habitat Executive Directors National Conference and introduced to Denver the concept of accepting donations for resale. That concept, from only a few stores nationally when Erik learned of the idea, to now over 900 U.S. outlets, providing employment and opening involvement  opportunities for many more.

Erik served several volunteer roles in his church, including Chair of the Church Council overseeing the various committees.  Other community involvement included serving on the Foothills Home, Garden, and Lifestyle Show committee, and working with the much larger Denver Home Show. 

Erik produced and presented many seminars at those shows, business and service organizations, etc.  He became involved and served volunteer and leadership roles within several industry associations, including the National Kitchen & Bath Association, National Association of the Remodeling Industry, National Association of Home Builders, Society of Certified Senior Advisors, American Occupational Therapy Association, and others.  

Erik served for several years as a volunteer supporting community based iniatives with local governments. Notable was a two-year process of changing Jefferson County regulations for accessory dwelling units, serving on the Aging Well in Jefferson County project, the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and the City of Arvada.  

In his local community and the greater Denver area, Erik is widely recognized for his caring and compassion when he and his wife, Frances, in their hand-made red suits, have delighted children of all ages for three decades.