Building More Than a Ramp: HHMR and the Home Builders Foundation

Last Friday, four members of the Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell team traded briefs, depositions, and construction litigation files for lumber, drills, and a day on a jobsite.

HHMR attorneys Ricky Nolen, Amanda Tynan, Kyle Thompson, and Tanner Davis participated in the Home Builders Foundation’s 2026 Blitz Build, helping construct an accessibility ramp for Andrea, a Denver-area resident whose mobility challenges had made something most of us take for granted extraordinarily difficult: leaving her own home independently.

The day after the build, the volunteers received an e-mail from HBF’s Terrina Reiber with an unusual request: set an alarm for 10:00 the next morning.

At 10:00 on a Saturday, she explained, they might be running errands, meeting a friend, or simply deciding what to do with the day.

When the alarm went off, she asked them to think about Andrea.

Because Andrea could now make that same choice.

Building Independence

That is the mission of the Home Builders Foundation.

Since 1993, HBF has brought together Colorado’s homebuilding and construction community to provide accessibility modifications for individuals and families with disabilities.  The organization has completed close to 2,200 projects, providing modifications such as ramps, railings, bathroom improvements, flooring changes, and widened doorways that allow people to live more safely and independently in their own homes.

Its annual Blitz Build program puts that mission into action.  Builders, contractors, tradespeople, suppliers, and volunteers work side by side to construct accessibility ramps for HBF clients throughout the Denver metropolitan area.  In 2026, HBF is holding Blitz Build weekends from May through October, allowing more clients to be served throughout the building season.

No construction experience is required.  That was fortunate for at least one member of the HHMR crew.  By the end of the day, everyone had contributed to building something that would fundamentally change another person’s everyday life.

Why HHMR Supports HBF

For HHMR, supporting the Home Builders Foundation is a natural extension of our connection to Colorado’s construction community.

For 25 years, our attorneys have represented the builders, developers, contractors, design professionals, and others who build Colorado.  We know what this industry can accomplish when people with different skills and specialties work together toward a common objective.

HBF harnesses that same collective expertise for an entirely different purpose.

A builder may provide project leadership.  A supplier may donate materials.  A contractor or trade partner may contribute specialized expertise.  A law firm can provide financial support, board service, volunteers, and a few attorneys and staff willing to discover whether their construction knowledge extends to actually operating the tools.

HHMR is proud to be a continuing sponsor of Blitz Build.  But our relationship with HBF is about more than putting the firm’s name on a sponsorship.

It is about participating.

That is why seeing Ricky, Amanda, Kyle, and Tanner spend a day working alongside other members of the construction community was particularly meaningful.  The best community partnerships are not simply transactions between a company and a charitable organization.  They become opportunities for the people within those organizations to get involved themselves.

More Than a Ramp

The physical product of Friday’s work was a ramp.  The result was something considerably bigger.

Before the project, Andrea could not simply decide to leave her house by herself.  Going somewhere required assistance and planning around a physical barrier that stood between her and the outside world.

After the project, she could roll out her own front door.  That distinction captures what makes the Home Builders Foundation special.  HBF describes its mission as “Building Independence. Elevating Lives.”  Those words can sound aspirational until you see what they mean for one particular person.

 

Sometimes independence is the ability to decide, at 10:00 on a Saturday morning, that you want to go somewhere.  And then simply go.

HHMR is proud to support the Home Builders Foundation, proud of Ricky, Amanda, Kyle, and Tanner for representing our firm on this year’s Blitz Build crew, and proud to be part of a Colorado construction community that gives its time, talent, resources, and expertise to make projects like Andrea’s possible.

To learn more about the Home Builders Foundation, volunteer, or support its work, visit the Home Builders Foundation’s Get Involved page.