Help Set the Table for Life in 2026: Meet Lee Chapman

Meet Lee Chapman

Volunteer leverages his time, skills for Habitat

Lee Chapman grew up with a WWII veteran grandfather who rose to become the head carpenter for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Felix Page Branham could make seemingly anything, including toys and skateboards for his grandson. 

With his grandfather as a role model, Chapman takes pride in figuring out things himself, like constructing a shed completely from items purchased at Habitat ReStores. Working for Truist Bank in Manchester, he had done volunteer days with Richmond Metropolitan Habitat and Rebuilding Richmond. His first project with Habitat-Powhatan was at the whole-house renovation in Holly Hills. 

Chapman is now a regular at house builds and at critical home repair outdoor projects. His most memorable repair came in March for two parents in their late 80s, and their adult son who had lost a leg. “This son had no way to get in and out of the house safely for his dialysis appointments,” Chapman says. The project included disassembling a donated wooden ramp and then retrofitting it to work in front of this family’s manufactured home.  “It took some creative engineering.”

“Helping people who truly [are without resources], be it financially or physically, is what it’s all about for me – the ramp just improved his life so he could be more independent, and the bonus is that we have so much fun while we do the work together.”

Chapman also has leveraged his volunteer hours through Truist. He discovered that for every 40 hours worked in a year, his company would donate $600 to Habitat. “The clock will start again [in January]!”