14 October 2004

The Home Depot, City Year, and ICI Paints Make Improvements to the Community Women's Shelter.

Floors & Walls Repaired.   Shelves, Racks, Screens, and Benches Installed.

On the morning of Thursday, 30 September 2004, ten teams of Home Depot employees and City Year volunteers, each led by a Home Depot "Build Captain" and a City Year Representative, converged on the Community Women's Shelter in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  They were joined by workers from ICI Paints and Rubbermaid.

Workers met with members of their team, and studied their work assignments.   Truckloads of materials were unloaded and organized in a staging area in front of the buildings on Payne Avenue.  For the next six hours, workers and volunteers patched and painted walls, repaired floors and fixtures, installed cabinets, blinds, and shelving, built outdoor benches, and installed commercial washers and dryers.

Their efforts transformed the Shelter by making long-needed renovations, and adding features that make the physical facilities better suited to the needs of the 100-140 women and children who stay at the Shelter each night. MHS thanks all the organizations who provided the materials and talented workers for this project.

September 27 through October 2 was a "Week of Service" for The Home Depot, in celebration of the company's 25th anniversary.  Volunteers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China help with local community improvement projects.   City Year is a member of the AmeriCorps network, and "seeks to demonstrate, improve, and promote the concept of national service as a means for building a stronger democracy."  Its Cleveland Youth Service Corp of 17- to 24-year-old volunteers worked with Home Depot staff on renovation projects. ICI Paints contributed materials for the project, and was represented on-site by Mr. Larry Porcellato, its Executive Director, and a team of industrious ICI workers.

Kelly Schnatter, Human Resources Manager for The Home Depot (center), stands with two of the MHS staff members who created and direct Shelter operations: Cynthia Chaytor (left) and Susan Neth of MHS. Ms Schnatter's enthusiastic leadership helped to effectively coordinate the efforts of the many volunteers.

Debra Pence-Meyenberg (center), the Service Director of City Year, stands with the Shelter Program Director, Suellen Saunders and Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D., MHS Executive Director. Ms Pence-Meyenberg organized the efforts of City Year's 17- to 24-year-old volunteers in the renovation project.

Larry Porcellato, CEO of ICI Paints, (back row, center, behind the woman with the towel on her shoulder) brought these and other ICI employees to work on shelter improvements. Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D., Executive Director of MHS (at far left, in black shirt) met with them to thank them for the time and materials they donated to the project.

Dan Cassano and Pete Capel, District Managers of Home Depot, lead the ten teams of Home Depot and City Year volunteers in a cheer to begin the day's work.

Utilization of shelter beds has grown by more than 30% since March, as shown here. In both August and September, average daily utilization exceeded the shelter capacity of 134 beds. Additional women or children must use mats.

Average age of adult women is 39 years. Average age of children, who comprise about 25% of shelter clients, is 6 years.

Women and children returning to the Community Women's Shelter were delighted by the repairs, improvements, and additions that had been made by the renovation teams that day.  Rosemary Etheart, the shelter's nurse, reported that the clients were particularly thrilled with the new commercial clothes washers and dryers that will now allow them to launder clothing when needed.

On behalf of the women, children, and staff members of the Community Women's Shelter, MHS thanks all of the employees of The Home Depot and ICI Paints, and the volunteers and staff of City Year, for their generosity and kindness.  Your hard work expressed how much you value and care for all members of our community, and this expression will go a long way to help clients persevere in their efforts to achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency. We thank you.

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Copyright (c) 2004 Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS)
All Rights Reserved. MHS, 1736 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 U.S.A.
Voice - 216-623-6555 / TDD - 216-623-6540
Julie Rittenhouse, President, Board of Trustees
Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D., Executive Director

MHS is a contract agency of the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, and is honored to be a new agency of United Way Services of Greater Cleveland, Inc. The MHS website is at http://www.mhs-inc.org