Architecture, engineering and construction professionals will be rolling up their sleeves to give back to the community on June 5.
For this year’s #AECCaresProjectDC about 100 volunteers will take part in a one-day blitz build to benefit Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY) in Washington D.C., which provides services for youth.
This is the second time AEC Cares has done a project in Washington, D.C. and they decided to partner with the Sasha Bruce Youthwork again, this time to improve another one of their facilities.
The event is sponsored by not-for-profit organization AEC Cares, including founding member and primary organizer ConstructConnect, which engages the AEC industry to come together for a day of service every year.
The day will consist of renovating SBY’s Residential Empowerment Adolescent Community Home (REACH) located at 716 I Street SE in Capitol Hill, a residence for boys ages 12 to 17 years old who are awaiting trial and in need of additional community and social support.
No better feeling than participating in AEC Cares Day
One of the benefits of volunteering is feeling like you have concretely done something to make someone else’s life better, Jennifer Johnson, AEC Cares president and ConstructConnect chief product officer, told the Daily Commercial News.
“You literally have no other better feeling than participating in an AEC Cares Day,” said Johnson.
“You not only get to radically transform a space where someone who is in need is living, you also get to hear from a resident who is either still actively there or who has benefited from their services in the past. In this case, we have a resident who used to live at a Sasha Bruce house. You get to hear how the organization really transformed their lives and gave them hope.
“You hope the work that you’ve done that day is going to have a similar impact on someone else who walks through those doors.”
Since its inception in 2011, the event has organized projects in the cities where the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Conference on Architecture and Design is held.
“We work to get funding, we get pro bono designers, pro bono general contractors, we get materials donated from manufacturers, all in an effort to create a radical transformation for a really deserving charity,” Johnson explained.
Big transformation happens in just one day
The current facility consists of two historic townhouses that will be completely renovated.
The improvements will focus on creating a homelike environment for the young residents of REACH while also creating spaces to support the home’s mission to provide an alternative to institutionalization through individual, group and family counseling, educational remediation, life skills coaching and self-esteem building, indicates the project website.
“We are taking the basement level and creating a usable space out of something that was very underutilized,” said Johnson. “They had rooms where nothing was going on. We’re creating a family counselling centre, a family lounge and a gym for the young men to use. We’re sprucing up a kitchen that they used for storage.”
They will also be rebuilding stairs, putting in new flooring and completely renovating the first floor.
“Theres a couple of administrative offices, a foyer in the main kitchen where they’re cooking, their main dining area and we’re creating a study room,” said Johnson.
“We’ve got this big space called the living lounge. That’s where the kids hang out most of the time. It’s very dimly lit. It’s not configured very well right now, so we’re excited to change the footprint a little bit, brighten it up, bring in some better furniture and just provide a significantly more engaging environment for them.”
The bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor will also get a facelift. The exterior of the building is being painted, exterior stairs will be rebuilt and some landscaping will also be done.
Whiting-Turner Contracting is the general contractor and has been doing the heavy lifting on the project, said Johnson, adding they have already started work, including painting the outside of the three-storey building.
“It’s like a year of work but really we say we do it in a day because the big transformation happens in one day,” Johnson noted. “You’re only able to get to that point because you spent all this other time planning and preparing and getting everything ready.”
Having volunteers to do the work on June 5 is a critical piece, she added.
Other industry partners include YKK AP America Inc., Andersen Windows & Doors, Levolor, Mapei, Material Bank, PPG, RAB, ROCKWOOL Insulation, Sika USA, Spartan Surfaces, and USG as well as pro bono team members Ian Walker, CRB, CannonDesign, Perkins Eastman, WDG, Teass Warren Architects, and Stantec.
Listen to tomorrow’s (May 31) Construction Record podcast for more from Jen Johnson on this initiative.
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