Volunteering to build affordable housing

2025’s focus
In 2025, we joined the ‘Empty Spaces to Homes’ initiative in Poland with Habitat for Humanity. The initiative tackles the challenges posed by the severe shortage of affordable housing and an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions by repurposing vacant properties into affordable, energy-efficient housing.  
 
VKR Group volunteers for this programme have helped to prepare apartments for people at risk of social exclusion, such as people with disabilities, refugees, and people at risk of homelessness. The Employee Foundation covers the costs of VKR volunteers’ travel, hotel, meals, and the volunteering contribution to Habitat for Humanity.  

VKR Group employees joining forces
Each year, volunteers from across VKR Group companies come together, bringing with them a mix of languages, cultures, and experiences. What unites them is a shared commitment to helping communities and leaving a lasting, positive mark. Many arrive as strangers but quickly form strong bonds through teamwork and shared purpose.

The work is hands-on and varied—one day might be spent plastering, sanding, and painting; the next, drilling, demolishing, or constructing. Along the way, volunteers hear the stories behind the project and the families who will call these homes their own, deepening their understanding of the impact their efforts will have.