Team Black Bamboo decided to focus on the renovation of the Emancipation Station House as our Challenge Two for Project Change. True Light Family Resource Center (TLFRC) is an organization founded in order to contribute to the well-being of the E. 31st Street community.  It offers a variety of empowerment activities, all delivered with a personal interest in those who come through their doors. While we were not sure of our construction skills, team members Tim Butt and Beverly Ahern were inspired to visit TLFRC’s Executive Director Alice Piggee-Wallack to get a tour of the house and evaluate how own special skills and energy could help the cause.

Team Black Bamboo joined in on the project with BreakPointe Community Church, expertly led by Sharon Beck who has coordinated and received donations, donated materials and volunteer labor from many people in the construction trade. As a community service to True Light we decided to paint the ceiling, woodwork and walls of the second floor bedrooms of the house. With donations for paint and painting supplies, our team would complete the project by mid to late March, once the construction and repairs were made. 

On our tour Tim noticed signs of the original architectural details, hidden by poorly executed past renovations. These could once again be uncovered to bring character back into the house. Tim showed Sharon and her crew the stairway railing leading up to the second floor that had been covered up by a make shift wall.  Once uncovered, the Mission-style staircase added a handsome architectural detail back to the house and allowed natural light, or “true light” to illuminate the first floor living area.  Tim also suggested a place for built-in storage off the living/dining room for new residents to keep their personal items. The three bedrooms, on the second floor, intended to house 5 women all together, needed space planning, plaster repair and fresh paint.  Tim figured out a way to extend a wall and move a door, allowing for privacy and practical furniture placement for the women.