Sasha Bruce Youthwork and AEC Cares
Every young person needs a home. One Wednesday this summer, approximately 100 volunteers came together to renovate two historic townhouses that provide safety, support, and structure for youth who are facing adjudication in juvenile court. In a buzz of activity — painting, landscaping, installing lighting, assembling furniture — the volunteers manifested a spirit of support and community for vulnerable youth while also creating a homelike physical space.
The houses involved in the project are part of the Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s Residential Empowerment Adolescent Community Home (REACH). The REACH provides a temporary home for boys ages 12 to 17 who are awaiting trial in Washington, DC. The facility provides an alternative to institutionalization where residents can receive services including individual, group, and family counseling; educational remediation; life skills development; substance abuse counseling; and self-esteem building.
The nonprofit AEC Cares, which brings together members of the architecture, engineering, and construction industries for a day of service, hosted the volunteer renovation of the REACH facility. Community Forklift’s Executive Director, Trey, and Community Giving Manager, Susana, volunteered with the renovation by preparing and painting rooms. Community Forklift also provided furniture and lighting for the project through our Community Building Blocks program, which supplies free materials to community groups and nonprofits.
Sustainability is an important goal for AEC Cares. Jennifer Johnson, President of the AEC Cares Board of Directors and EVP Chief Product Officer at ConstructConnect, and Lalitha Bommanahal, an AEC Cares Project Committee Member, visited Community Forklift’s reuse warehouse to see how they could incorporate reuse into the REACH design.
“Like others in the industry, AEC Cares is committed to diverting as much waste as possible from ending up in landfills, including designing and building in a way that uses recycled materials,” Jennifer says. “We are thrilled to be able to incorporate sustainable building principles as we work to make Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s REACH property a more hospitable environment for its young residents.”
Please visit Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s website to learn more about their mission and the REACH. Thank you to AEC Cares for including Community Forklift in the day of service and for their commitment to service and sustainability!
“We are thrilled to be able to incorporate sustainable building principles as we work to make Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s REACH property a more hospitable environment for its young residents.”
Every time you donate or shop at Community Forklift, you’re helping us lift up local communities through reuse. We turn the construction waste stream into a resource stream for communities in the DC region – by keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill, preserving historical materials, providing low-cost building supplies, and creating local green jobs.
