Mark Teixeria wanted to help.

When the North Port builder heard that more than 190 future homeowners were left with nothing after several contractors inside the city folded, Teixeira picked up the phone and called the North Port Building Department.

Because of his sacrifice, Teixeira was recently named North Ports 2007 Citizen of the Year. “Everyone kind of stepped up a little bit here,” said Teixeira, who has been building high-end homes and commercial buildings for 15 years in Southwest Florida. “All of my subcontractors, suppliers stepped up and helped. It’s a joint venture of everyone trying to help. Several homes throughout this 103-square-mile City were left unfinished when several builders started folding in 2006 following a downturn in the house market. Families were suddenly abandoned with new homes in various stages of construction,” said Plans Division Manager Bud Korte.

Builders are in the business for profit and (Teixeria) chose to do this without any money, Korte said. He’s an outstanding man. Teixeira, a Massachusetts native, moved his contractor business to Charlotte County in 1988. In 1996, Teixeria moved his family to North Port Estates. “When my wife and I were going to build our house, we were thinking about our kids,” Teixeria said. You never know who your neighbors are going to be. We wanted to have some land where my kids could be kids. Teixerias commercial buildings have included the Lakeside Plantation clubhouse and Paradise Dental. In the last two years, he’s built between 25 and 30 homes.

Teixeira said he is concerned about the building industry getting a bad reputation because so many companies folded. “The saddest part about the whole thing is that building industry itself has taken a big hit,” Teixeira said. “In reality, 98 percent of the builders are good, legit businessmen. Its just a small percentage that are the bad apples.” A year later, Teixeira has placed six families in their homes. The families were charged only the cost to finish the construction; Teixeira forfeited any profit for himself.