Alan Jewell, construction director for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando, with tile donated by Coverings exhibitors in March.


Geoff Wilcock, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Orlando, stacks tile donated by individual exhibitors at Coverings.
Tile Partners for Humanity (TPFH) coordinated the donation of 150 palettes and 16 crates of tile and setting materials from individual exhibitors at Coverings to Habitat for Humanity of Orlando. Freeman Decorating Company donated labor and trucks to transport the materials from the Orange County Convention Center to the Orlando Habitat affiliate.

TPFH is a partnership between the tile industry and Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization working to eliminate substandard housing around the world. TPFH works within the industry to raise awareness of Habitat and to solicit donations of tile, installation materials, tile tools, cleaners and sealers, installation labor, and installation training for volunteers and homeowners.

"We are overwhelmed and overjoyed by the generosity of these exhibitors!" exclaimed Shirley Jones, manager of the Habitat Home Store. "This is a real win-win for us because we can put tile in the homes we build and we can sell tile to pay for new construction. We even got a donation of 29 palettes from one exhibitor - Roca/Laufen/United States Ceramic Tile Company - and I knew our ship had come in! This will benefit our community more than these wonderful exhibitors know."



Freeman Decorating Services loaded and transported seven trailers of tile donated by Coverings exhibitors.
The Coverings donation filled seven trailers with unused materials that will go to both new homes in the Orlando area and the Habitat Home Store, which sells building materials to fund new construction in the community. The Orlando affiliate also shared some materials with other regional affiliates, which will use the materials in their new homes and Habitat stores.

TPFH is guided by seven industry organizations whose representatives sit on its board of directors, including the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association, Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, Ceramic Tile Institute of America, National Tile Contractors Association, The Tile Doctor, Tile Council of North America, and Tile Heritage Foundation.

TPFH is supported exclusively by industry donations and accepts donations of financial support for its operations and communication efforts. For more information, please visit their website at www.tpfh.com. Contact Ally Fertitta, executive director, for more information or to contribute materials, labor or funding.