Rebuild Together.

I've fallen behind in postings yet again. However, this time it is because I have been so busy doing amazing things that I can now write about. As the weather warms our frozen bones, the people of Chicago begin to emerge and I am reminded again what a truly awesome city I am currently living in. One of my adventures as of late was the nationwide Rebuild Together event on April 25th. This event takes place every spring in cities all around the country. It serves as a national day of rebuilding lower income, elderly, and disabled households and focuses on specific neighborhoods in order to promote community interaction and enhancement. Chicago draws a huge supply of volunteers, I heard rumor that there were over 3,000 of us this year working to repair over 80 houses! As a member of the AIA Chicago team, I am very proud of our accomplishments!

The house we rebuilt was owned by a 75 year old women living with seven adopted grandchildren. Let me tell you, if you ever have a desire to face claustrophobia head on, gather a huge household, 30 architects, and a stray dog together in a small house on a rainy day and rip out all the furniture piece by piece. Although the house was bursting at the seams with eager helpers, we worked quickly and efficiently and were able to replace the entire kitchen, both bathrooms, every carpet, repaint all the rooms, and I wish I could say install new doors, but due to technical glitches...those are probably still waiting patiently in the garage for installation.

It was a really fun, and really tiring day. I had so much fun meeting fellow architects interested in community involvement, and taking part in the excitement of a new home and the great achievements made in a single day. Here are some unartful pictures I was able to snap in between jobs....

So, I need to work on my blogging picture skills....
Regardless, what an incredibly satisfying Saturday...
Check it out. http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/