AFH : DFW | January Update
Hello all,
Thanks to everyone who came from near and far (Jessica came all the way from Norman, OK!) to Trinity Hall for our first meeting of 2010.
We had an outstanding meeting with many new faces, and are looking forward to a great year. It seems that our chapter is growing as are the opportunities for AFH DFW to make a difference. In case you missed us, here is a summary of our January meeting:
1. Please register as a chapter member on the new Architecture for Humanity chapter network at:
www.chapters.architectureforhumanity.org.
( If we can get everyone to sign up now we could be the largest chapter in the world!)
Also, in the coming months we are going to nominate and elect chapter officers, so please be thinking about how you'd like to get more involved or if you know of someone who would. This will be our first election, so we are open to the types of positions created; public relations, fundraising, project managers, just to name a few. For questions, please contact Stephen (stephen@afhdfw.org)
2. We are working to organize a fundraising event with the 'One Campaign' http://www.one.org/us/ and the 'Nobelity Project' http://nobelity.org/
The Director of "The Nobelity Project" and "One Peace At A Time" Turk Pipkin (from HBO's Sopranos) has agreed to donate ticket sales to Haiti relief efforts as well do promotions for a local event. It is up to us to host a screening. We are currently looking for venues, please let us know if you have any contacts that would help us secure a theater (ideally, as a donation) to screen the movie. Please make sure they know that all proceeds would go to AFH's Haiti relief efforts. We would like to host this as soon as possible. For more info, please contact Jared (jared_w@att.net)
3. USGBC is hosting a competition to design LEED Platinum homes in New Orleans, and four finalist will work with the families to build their designs. Registration is open to students and "Emerging Professionals" no more that 5 years out of school, early registration ends March 1 and final registration ends May 31. http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/competitions/naturaltalent. For anyone interested you are welcome to submit an individual entry, as AFH is a partner we will not be submitting a chapter entry to this competition.
4. Mike Wallace gave an update on 'A Place to Sleep' http://www.aplacetosleep.org. He is currently building a home for an individual Joshua, Texas and things are progressing well. Jared has been working with Mike to produce CAD drawings of the current home design to present to city officials and potential donors for future homes. Also, we are working with Mike and a local school district to eventually host a series of design build workshops with high school kids in the summer or fall, so stay tuned. For more info on what Mike is doing, please e-mail him at director@aplacetosleep.org.
5. Most importantly and immediately are the needs in Haiti. Last Monday,several of us met with our dear friend Michael Brewer of Haitian Street Kids, Inc. (HSKI) http://hski.org/ who has since returned to Port-au-Prince.
We began formulating ideas on how to address the permanent building needs for Michael and his 75 kids in Port-au-Prince. Since that time, as you all know, the earthquake has left Haiti devastated and the children homeless, hungry and in desperate need of medical care. Clearly, his and our priorities have shifted.
As the needs of HSKI have become even more immediate amidst this tragedy, Michael put us in touch with a professional fundraising friend of his who is working with us to gain funding for a new home for Michael and the children. Based on our last meeting with Michael, their building needs are as follows:
1. Sleeping quarters for 100 children + ( room to grow); 2-4 per room; no AC
2. Kitchen/living; charcoal cooking
3. Medical care; i.e. ‘Doctors w/o Borders’, ‘Brothers of Charity’
4. School; several classrooms
5. church
6. recreation
7. guest or staff rooms
You might also begin learning about Haiti's culture, history, climate and geography. As these will be important things to know if we are to respond in a most appropriate way. Also, as you have time, look into precedent studies of similar program (needs) and construction type.
In talking with our fundraising partner, we have established an initial goal of producing a high-quality, video rendering as part of a sponsorship package for HSKI's building needs. For this, we have established a tentative due date of Feb 15th. This means, WE NEED ALL OF YOUR HELP as we begin come up with ideas, research and design a most appropriate response to the needs of Michael and the kids.
The deadline will come up quick, so over the next 7-10 days let's break out into groups and start brainstorming! Soon after, we will reconvene as a group a decide on a design to push forward with. Our tentative schedule is as follows:
Through Jan 30: individual/small group research and prelim design
Week of Jan 31: AFH group meeting, select design scheme going forward
Week of Jan 31 - Feb 15th: develop schematic design & video animation
If you have any questions about the project for Haitian Street Kids, Inc., or would like to help and were unable to make the meeting on Wednesday, please e-mail Ryan (yan_b@afhdfw.org) or Stephen (stephen@afhdfw.org).
***To learn more, or donate to Michael and the kids immediate needs please go to his website (which has a secure PayPal link) at:
Their needs are immense; food, water, medical care and temporary shelter. Above all, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.***
Thanks,
Jeremy (& Ryan)
