Health-Club CEO Offers His Dallas Home to Houstonians Uprooted by Hurricane Harvey
North Texas executive Chris Roussos, who became CEO of health-club pioneer 24 Hour Fitness in May, has offered his Dallas home to the company’s district managers in Houston who’ve been displaced by Hurricane Harvey.
Thirty-three of the fitness company’s 71 Texas locations are in the Houston area, Roussos said, and all 33 have been shuttered in the wake of the devastating storm due to “safety concerns, and the inability of people to travel” within the city. 24 Hour Fitness, Roussos said, “set up emergency teams right away,” lining up volunteers and maintenance and reconstruction teams to deal with the storm’s destruction.
Most of the company’s locations, which range in size from 30,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet, have two stories, Roussos said, adding, “the first floors [of the Houston clubs] are gonna be pretty much wiped out.” A couple of 24 Hour Fitness employees were taken out of one club Sunday after being stranded and “eating protein bars and other products” from the club retail store until they could be rescued, he recalled.
In addition to offering his Dallas home to managers needing shelter—as of Monday evening, no one had taken him up on the offer—Roussos said that San Ramon, Calif.-based 24 Hour Fitness has made funds available to Houston employees from its Helping Hands Foundation. Established in 2011, the foundation provides financial relief grants to company employees who experience “significant and unavoidable hardship,” like Harvey. Grants are approved up to $1,500 per incident and are usually provided via direct deposit to the recipient.
Read more: https://www.dmagazine.com/business-economy/2017/08/dallas-health-club-ceo-offers-his-home-to-houstonians-uprooted-by-hurricane-harvey/
