Building with Community

If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you know way back in October (seems like so long ago!) I traveled to Tulsa, OK for an episode of Today’s Homeowner. And the episode is airing this weekend!! (You can check your local listings here to see when it airs in your area!)

But since I’m super excited about this project, I wanted to give you, my readers, a preview of what Dad and I did in the episode! We joined forces with the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa to makeover a patio for a great cause!

This is the backyard area of Manna House, a residential community primarily for young ladies aging out of foster care. They provide housing, training, tutoring and counseling to help them get and keep a job, take classes at a nearby school, and give them a hand up in life.

It obviously lacks pizazz. And the director of Manna House, Ade, really wanted it to be another living room for the ladies to relax in and enjoy. Enter the Tulsa HBA. The members of the HBA raise money and complete a community service project every year. This year, Manna House was selected to benefit from their generosity.

We thought it’d be fun to document and participate in the process of the patio revamp as part of our Today’s Homeowner 20th season celebration. There’s a lot of good happening in our great country, so we wanted to highlight one such project to show ways, big or small, you too can better your community. That’s especially true during this holiday season!

In addition to the patio lacking ‘pretty’ it also had an air conditioning unit sitting on the concrete slab. Talk about scenic…

So moving it was the first thing on the to-do list! This is definitely something you want to hire a licensed professional to do. The HVAC contractor in this scenario, simply brought in an AC pad, unhooked the unit, set it in place, and then hooked everything back up!

It obviously gave them more space on the patio itself, but will also help a little with noise control from the unit!

Next they painted the concrete slab to give it a fresh coat and some color. They used something similar to the 1-part epoxy I used to paint a rug on my concrete garage floor. That all took place on a Friday.

Saturday was the main build day. A group of volunteer HBA members came out early on their day off to work together to build a beautiful stained cedar pergola on top of the slab.

It’s funny because during the week they are technically competitors working for different construction companies. But they put (most of) their differences aside to join forces for a great cause! It’s so cool to see that in action!

Additionally we installed a commercial bike rack for the ladies to park bikes they use frequently to get around town. You’ll have to watch the episode for this since I don’t have any pictures!!

We called in a few brands we’ve worked with before to help contribute to the finished patio. Overstock.com provided beautiful furnishings, Southern Patio sent pretty planters for us to incorporate fresh plants, and we were able to hang solar-powered lights from Moonrays. (You can see the project I completed at my house using Moonrays in this video.)

Since there were around 20 people working on this project, it went by fast! It was mostly done by noon that day which was perfect timing to enjoy lunch under the pergola for the first time!

Of course you can see more details about this project in the episode of Today’s Homeowner airing this weekend!

I hope you’re enjoying my last few posts (like this one and this one) with glimpses into my other ‘job’! While they might not be as how-to as some of my other posts and videos, I hope you can still glean a little inspiration from them! Let me know what you think in the comments!

What are your plans for New Years?? I haven’t slept well 2 nights in a row since the night before my son was born (which was January 30th for those not keeping track), so I’ll be going to bed by 10 and (hopefully) sleeping in too! No crazy night out for this tired mama!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea