Design Challenge:

A senior homeowner and legacy resident in the Greenmount West neighborhood was living in truly unsafe and unhealthy conditions. She owned a home on her block for nearly thirty years. However, after being taken advantage of by unscrupulous contractors, her home was left in a state of disrepair. She reached out for help from local government agencies and her community association, but she was denied at every turn. Underresourced and overwhelmed, she was in danger of losing the home she worked so hard to buy and keep over all these years.

Design Solution:

A core team of five individuals, myself included, came together to address this challenge and launched the Bell House Community Build. We mobilized over 130 individual donors and 70 volunteers who logged over 400 hours in restoring Ms. Bell's home. Through mutual aid, we were able to unite individuals, businesses, and organizations under a shared goal: supporting a legacy resident, Ms. Bell, so that she could age in place with dignity and grace. The three-story rowhome was fully restored in a span of 7 months.