Project Change

Carnival Games for Down Syndrome Guild of KC

The Down Syndrome Guild of Kansas City (DSG) holds several annual events in which family, friends, and volunteers of the organization come together for an afternoon of fun and games.  For each event, DSG rents several carnival games from a local supplier.  Each game costs about one hundred dollars to rent each time.  Over a couple years, it adds up!  We found to be the perfect opportunity for Burns & Mac and Spaces to apply our skills to help DSG in a creative way.  DSG already had the resources put aside for this project so our team did not have to spend a dime.  Additionally, we knew that February's theme of "Change Without $Change$” was not so much about things as much as people.  We decided to work with the DSG STARS (Special Teens Achieving Real Success) in deciding what games to build, and how to build them. Hanging out with the DSG STARS, getting paint everywhere, and dancing to some Jonas Brothers, was truly a treat (and entertaining) for all involved.

Over January and February, we met with STARS three times.  Our first meeting was an ice breaker in which we went through introductions (you work at McDonald’s??!!) and held a friendly competition of building the tallest possible tower out of toothpicks and marshmallows.  DSG is always looking for ways to expose STARS teens to different careers and so this small contest was a great way to show them some things that engineers do.   We then brainstormed as a group to decide which of their favorite carnival games we were to build.  We decided on Bucket Toss, Washers, Prize Wheel, and Sucker Tree.  At our second meeting, we utilized donated painting to let the teens apply some artistic flair to each masterpiece.  We also had time to play board games when the work was complete.  During our third and final event, we tested out the games by playing them and giving out prizes.  Everyone was a winner!  Perhaps the most memorable part of the meeting was dancing the night away with STARS to the Hannah Montana soundtrack. 

Working with STARS and DSG was fun, educational, and inspirational for us as volunteers.  Prior to these events, few of us understood what Down syndrome really was, and how it affects people’s behavior.  After spending some quality time with STARS, it is easy to see that each individual with Down syndrome has his or her own strong personality, and will say the darnedest things as any teenager will.  A DSG volunteer coordinator pointed out that she had never seen some of the STARS teens as animated as when they were interacting with us.  It’s great to know that we made a last impression on some of the teens we worked with.  And although we left DSG with some (hopefully) long lasting carnival games, we took away experiences that are even more valuable.  DSG has already expressed interest in working with our group in the future.  We hope to find some volunteers on the BMcD/Spaces team that would like to continue with future volunteer activities with DSG. 

Creating Change Without $Change$ at DSG

Redesign for TLC

Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center (CTLC) provides therapy in an educational setting for children who have mental and physical disabilities.  Services are offered to newborns through kindergarteners with the goal of helping each child reach his/her next grade level. Each of the five classrooms provides a teacher, a speech pathologist, a physical therapist, and an occupational therapist to work with kids with a wide range of abilities.

Children’s TLC shares facilities with Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI) as well as the YMCA.  When starting a facility tour, the first hallway seen is CTLC’s. Before the classrooms is a “bus room.” This is a multi-purpose child drop off, bus driver or parent waiting area, play room, and storage room.  After reaching the hallway, it’s easy to notice that the building looks much less like a school and more like a hospital.  The Burns and McDonnell/Spaces, Inc. team saw some needs to fill.

With over 20 volunteers and several donated supplies, the BMCD/Spaces team worked together to transform the CTLC hallway and bus room.  First, we painted the bus room with warming colors and helped CTLC purchase storage shelves to better organize their closets.  Second, we removed the classroom bulletin boards from the hallway walls and positioned them so each class had its own and the smaller children could see them.  Third, we painted zoo animals next to each classroom to make the hallway more kid-friendly. Additionally, we are providing canvas pictures of TLC children and activities to replace the photos taken in the 80s and make the hallway look more professional.

During our first tour, we were shown some of the physical therapy equipment CTLC uses.  One of the pieces of equipment is a bicycle that helps kids ride a bike who wouldn’t otherwise be able to ride a bike.  CTLC informed us that this bike was only available through a loan, because they were unable to afford the $2,000 to purchase it.  The BMcD/Spaces team held a poker tournament/fundraiser, and raised $5,000 for CTLC.  This money will go toward purchasing the therapy bike and other future bus room upgrades.

We would like to extend a special thank you to all who participated in our tournament and/or raffle, Sherwin Williams of Westport, and Ace Hardware.  Your donations and time made these efforts possible!

To see al our pictures please visit our shutterfly website: http://bmcdspaces.shutterfly.com/

In need of a vegetable garden!

Tucked away on the outskirts of Kansas City is an organization that brings hope to many (I changed this because you say 50, which is not really countless) lives.  For over 40 years, the Community of the Good Shepherd (CGS) has been serving adults with disabilities.  Roughly 50 adults live at CGS, and many more actively participate in the great day programs that CGS provides.

After meeting with the amazing staff and residents at CGS, we realized just how special this place is.  We quickly learned that their biggest desire was a garden, where the staff and residents could grow fresh fruits and vegetables. What a great opportunity to Grow Change -> Create Hope!

Our Burns & McDonnell + Spaces Inc. team was thrilled with this opportunity. The excitement and desire to help was contagious. We managed to get Kansas City Community Gardens on board to help with planting and garden design, and Turner Construction (insert 50-100 words about how awesome the Turner team leader was) to donate their time and materials and build the facility director's dream shed.  How cool is that? (avoid using double punctuation, it makes it seem like a teenager is writing)

The first day we got the team together to start building raised beds for the garden, and it was snowing!  How are we supposed to garden in the snow? Somehow, our crew worked through it, and managed to get 14 raised beds built.  The next work day was our big day, and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We had over 20 people show up to build a garden, a shed, and create change!  Volunteers were all over the place:  digging post holes, shoveling dirt, putting up the fence, and having fun.  Of course we couldn't have done it without residents Jeff and Larry, overseeing the work and manning the water and snacks tent.  Before long a garden appeared before our eyes.  Now it was time to get dirty and do some planting.  It was a fantastic sight to see the plants in the beds, beginning to grow. (I’m not sure about this sentence)

CGS will continue to provide their wonderful services for years and years. The residents may come and go, but the bounty of the garden will live on for years to come.

People - Hope House Makeover.

Benefiting: Hope House

Burns & McDonnell and Spaces, Inc. Bring Change to Hope House. 

With over 13,000 occupants since 1995, Hope House has brought “hope” to many women and children escaping domestic violence, but this month the facility itself was in need of hope. Home to up to 52 women and children at a time, the Independence shelter was experiencing problems with infestations and heavy wear. As part of the Project Change initiative, the Burns & McDonnell and Spaces, Inc. team came together to make a difference for families in need.  

The weekend of February 6th marked the challenge in which volunteers came together to rehab the living quarters within the shelter. The team removed old furniture, carpet and base boards, then cleaned the rooms, put on a fresh coat of paint and laid new ceramic tile in six separate rooms. “This team completed work in two days that would have taken us at least six weeks,” said Gary Ashmore, Hope House Facility Manager. By implementing these changes in two days, the Project Change team enabled Hope House to keep its facilities open to as many survivors as possible during the renovation period. In 2009, 754 women and 474 children found shelter at Hope House; a total of 35,000 bed nights. For 337 nights out of the year the shelter was full. When the rooms are closed for rehabilitation, they can’t be used.  

The passionate collaboration of Burns & McDonnell and Spaces, Inc. provided shelter and hope to some of the region’s most vulnerable families by keeping the beds open and revitalizing six living spaces for those most in need.

Images: 

Places - Reading Center Makeover

Benefiting: Reach Out and Read

Read While You Wait – Facilitating Early Childhood Health and Literacy in Medical Waiting Rooms

The Kansas City Chapter of Reach Out and Read serves thousands of young children annually by providing books in pediatric doctors’ clinics throughout the metro area. Their focus is to make literacy promotion a standard part of early childhood development, allowing children to grow up with books and a love of reading. A special focus of Reach Out and Read is having a robust corps of volunteers to read to the children in the waiting rooms while they wait to see the physicians.

Although all Reach Out and Read clinics have the same mission, not all of them have comparable facilities for a kidfriendly reading environment. Because of this, our team undertook a redesign in four of the clinics: Sam Rodgers Clinic, Mercy and Truth, Swope Health Services (Independence), and Johnson County Health Department. A custom-tailored solution was created and implemented for each clinic based on their individual needs.

Over three weeks in March, the Burns & McDonnell and Spaces team constructed and assembled bookcases, tables, chairs, carpet, and specially-made banners which were then delivered to the clinics. A floor plan was set up to achieve a coherent reading environment for children that minimized disturbances from other environmental factors such as televisions. At Sam Rodgers Clinic a wall was even painted in blocks of various colors as a fun visual stimulus for the kids. The last portion of our project was a book drive to fill the new bookshelves in the clinic. Through donations of books and money, Reach Out and Read will be able to provide hundreds of new books for these clinics!

Things - Outdoor Classroom

Benefiting: Operation Breakthrough

Over three weeks in April, the Burns & McDonnell and Spaces team worked in the Outdoor Classroom rehabbing a recycled door fence, laying a gravel path edged with salvaged bricks, and assisting with the design and planning of numerous Eagle Scout projects to be integrated with the site master plan developed by our team in 2009.

According to the Sustainable Cities Institute, construction and demolition waste account for 45% of what goes into US landfills. This year our team salvaged 20 old doors, diverting them from landfills, and installing them on a fence made out of doors! In addition our team salvaged nearly 900 old bricks ranging from 60 to 80 years old and installed them as edging around the gravel path. The improvements that were made will enable the children of Operation Breakthrough to not only interact with nature but learn how common “things” can be repurposed to be fun and functional.

Burns & McDonnell and Spaces have worked with Operation Breakthrough for over a year and half and will continue to work on the project in the coming months. These projects will include installing an additional segment of recycled door fencing with gates made out of doors, designing the street entrance off Forest Ave., and helping to plan an ecological education event involving parents and children. The team will also be working with 5 Eagle Scouts on the design and construction of a three-bin composting system, an additional tumbling composter that children can spin to watch waste break down over time , signage to denote the various interest areas, children size benches, and art easels for children to paint on. This project continues to be so much fun that the Burns & McDonnell and Spaces team can’t fit all the work into one month! 

Warm the Homeless

On a Saturday morning in February the Burns & McDonnell/Spaces team gathered downtown at Hope Faith Ministries, their mission underscored by the heavy snowstorm that had blanketed the ground and continued to fall. The team was here to distribute 80 handmade blankets, lovingly sewn by area school children and church groups from donated commercial fabrics. Bearing in mind the needs of those displaced by misfortune and fate, these blankets folded compactly into pillows that could be easily transported, and which bore a list of area homeless services and bus routes. Over 300 needy Kansas Citians shuffled through the shelter that morning, looking for a hot meal, some warm clothes and a break from the cold. It is our hope that they found much more: a unique and beautiful item for them to own and cherish, stitched with the care of a community that surrounds and supports them.

More can be seen of our team’s progress at:http://bmprojectchange.blogspot.com/

Feed The Hungry

Benefiting: City Union Mission

For our March event, Burns & McDonnell together with Spaces Inc. partnered with City Union Mission (CU Mission) - Family Center to provide breakfast for about 100 women, men and children living at the center. City Union Mission provides shelter, food, and spiritual guidance for those in need. The Family Center is a sub-organization of CU Mission which provides a home feel residence for the families who need assistance for a short period of time to get back on their feet.

The breakfast menu included: breakfast burritos made of tortillas, scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, salsa, potatoes; donuts, bagels, sweet bread, and orange juice. The day began at 6:00 a.m. when the team met to begin cooking the burritos.   With the help of 24 volunteers, we made over 120 burritos for the residents who came in for breakfast in the morning of March 28th. Along with the burritos, we served 20 dozen donuts, 14 gallons of orange juice, and a variety of rolls, breads, and bagels. As the people came in for breakfast, our team handed out an information card with details on Kansas City's various organizations dedicated to helping those in need. Overall the day was a great success and we were able to meet all our goals!

Our team was able to get food for the event by working with local businesses to donate the items we had planned for our menu. Our event could not have been as great a success as it was without generous donations from Panera, Krispy Kreme, LaMar's, Mendolias Sausage, Silva Foods, and Target.   Thank You to the CU Mission, businesses and volunteers!!!

For more pictures please visit:http://lauractorres.shutterfly.com/projectchange

Visit us at: http://bmprojectchange.blogspot.com

Save the Planet

Benefiting: Operation Breakthrough 

The Burns & McDonnell and Spaces team worked for Operation Breakthrough to plant the seeds of an engaging and nourishing outdoor space for urban youth. The vision is a natural, restorative oasis amidst the asphalt jungle of the city's urban core. The Outdoor Classroom will be a safe place where children can immerse their senses in natural surroundings. 

Throughout the month of April over 50 volunteers came together to produce a site layout, build a fence out of recycled doors, and start laying the groundwork for an outdoor oasis for the children of Operation Breakthrough. Burns & McDonnell and Spaces worked closely with Operation Breakthrough to develop a vision for the site. The site plan includes features to stimulate all of the senses. A vegetable garden, a sound garden, butterfly garden, toddler area, rain garden, and a center stage are just a few features of the site plan. Each piece can be completed individually as more volunteers and supporters come on board. 

The fence is the most important piece of the site as it provides a safe barrier from the outside world. In an effort to use recycled materials the fence was constructed of discarded doors. Seldom Found Architecturals donated 100 beautiful used doors. Turner Construction provided skilled labor by digging all of the post holes. Paint was provided by Habitat For Humanity Kansas City Restore. Volunteers worked during three Saturdays to wash and paint each door, place each post, and hang the doors.

Visit us at: http://bmprojectchange.blogspot.com

Nurture the Children

Benefiting: Operation Breakthrough

The Burns & McDonnell and Spaces, Inc. Team worked with Operation Breakthrough to accomplish our fourth challenge, “Nurture the Children”.

We have been busy constructing the Outdoor Classroom for the Operation Breakthrough children throughout March, April and May. It was a natural transition to develop a curriculum to assist the professional personnel at Operation Breakthrough with their plans to nurture and engage the children in this environmental classroom. The curriculum includes lessons that will provide learning materials for all seasons and is sustainable in its philosophy to bring education to hundreds of children year after year. It includes workbooks, teaching guides, books and tool kits for hands on experiences. This took us two months to develop but will last forever. Each workbook consists of twelve areas in the garden that were constructed for the instructor and child to work within. The workbooks contain questions that the children answer to help in their educational process. There is the Digging Area for exploring soil, the Art Area for creativity, the Butterfly Garden and Bird Watching Area for observing, the Stage Area for expression, the Sand Area for touching, the Vegetable Area for sight and taste, the Wind Area for creativity and touching, the Rain Garden for environmental education, the Prairie Restoration Area for them to care for, the Storybook Nook for independent or shared reading, and the Hippo Area for physical education

Within each of these venues we provided various reading books to relate the visual experience to the written education and direction. The tool kits include a clipboard, a magnifying glass, binoculars, measuring tape, and note pad assisting with the hands-on and experimental parts of the lessons. The curriculum also includes classroom activities for both the child and instructor to experience and learn from within the individual venues. These activities include games, science projects and other experiences for the ultimate, five-sense, learning environment. Each lesson plan follows the State of Missouri School Standards to bring a secured, solid foundation of learning for Operation Breakthrough, its teachers, children and their families and caregivers.

Visit us at: http://bmprojectchange.blogspot.com