Honeywell’s UOP partners with CRI to build community deck, pergola

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For release: Jan. 5, 2010

Funded through a $5,000 Honeywell Hometown Solutions corporate grant, employees from UOP, a Honeywell company, have joined with Community Renewal International and neighborhood residents to build a beautiful deck and pergola shade structure in Shreveport’s resurgent Allendale neighborhood.

The 16’ by 16’ deck sits close to a CRI Friendship House and playground and will serve as an outdoor gathering place, enhancing the many efforts already underway to strengthen the sense of community there.

Once a section of the city frequented by gang members, drug dealers and prostitutes, the area of Allendale anchored by two Friendship Houses is now a place of neighborhood renewal and transformation. The Fuller Center for Housing has built 40 houses here in partnership with CRI. Children now play safely and neighbors work together on block parties, a neighborhood garden and more.

Many of the UOP employees volunteering on the deck-building project were working with CRI for the third time. Previous projects included a yard makeover and the painting of a house.

“When you can give your time and make a difference, it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Curtis Gentz, UOP contractor coordinator.

“This deck will be here for years to come and it will be a place for community gatherings. It’s rewarding for me to be a part of that. I hope there are many celebrations here.”

Volunteers worked over two days, including a frigid Saturday morning in which the temperature had plunged into the 20s, to assemble the structure. They also planted 12 azalea bushes and 10 crape myrtle trees in the same area, as well doing other landscaping improvements with local homeowners.

“This is great for me because I’ve only been here for two years and it gives me an opportunity to volunteer. One Saturday of work can make a big impact,” said Cari Welch, human resources manager, who moved to Shreveport from Chicago two years ago.

Neighborhood resident Felicia Schneider was moved in more ways than one by the volunteer effort.

“This shows me there are still very caring people. For them to spend their Saturday and come out here and help means a lot,” she said. “It inspired me to come out and help plant some flowers and make our neighborhood more beautiful.”

Plant manager Bill Capon said the company wants to be a good neighbor and that working with an organization like Community Renewal International is a natural fit.

“We live here and want to do our part. This is what it’s all about,” he said.

“When you bring everyone together, it empowers individuals to come out and bring what they have. Together, we make a difference for everyone.”

Community Renewal International operates nine Friendship Houses in five disadvantaged Shreveport-Bossier City neighborhoods. A Friendship House is like a community center in a home, reaching out to at-risk youth and families with after-school programs, community service projects and activities that build positive relationships among family members and neighbors. The proven impact of a Friendship House ranges from significant reductions in crime to major improvements in education.

CRI is a nonprofit effort to restore safe and healthy communities through caring relationships. Founded in 1994, Community Renewal reaches at-risk youth through Friendship Houses built in impoverished neighborhoods, strengthens education through the Adult Renewal Academy, partners with The Fuller Center for Housing and connects caring partners who turn their neighborhoods into safe havens of friendship and support.

Contact: David Westerfield, director of communications
(318) 425-3222
davidwesterfield@communityrenewal.us