Service Spotlight: Building a Better Community

7/23/2019 - By Stacie Everhart & Nancy Patton

With less than 500 hours remaining until we hit our goal, the Saltmarsh staff show no sign of slowing down now!

On June 25th, our Pensacola office visited the Gulf Coast Kid’s House, a children’s advocacy center that serves children in Escambia County. Their mission is to facilitate the investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child abuse and neglect and to promote child abuse prevention awareness through community education. GCKH opened its doors in 2004 and in 2018 alone, the House provided services to over 3,000 children in Escambia County.

Our staff members got an in-depth tour of the facility that includes therapy rooms, legal service offices, a clinic, and a donation room filled with clothes and shoes for every age. We spent the day cleaning the therapy rooms, installing an organization system for puppets and assisted staff in the heavy lifting of office moving.

On Friday, June 28th, the Tampa office hit the ground running at 8 am with Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County. Habitat for Humanity has been creating homeownership opportunities for low-income people and families since 1985. The Organization has served over 700 families to date in the Pinellas and West Pasco counties. The Organization requires the candidates to not only work on their own house but also volunteer for other projects.

With Saltmarsh’s heavy construction client base, the firm thought it would be rewarding to get together to help build a home for a family in the area. The began with an informative safety meeting provided by the staff, then it was off to the races! In a record-breaking four hours, the team, along with homeowner candidates, were able to paint the exterior of the home and install hurricane shutters.

When we set out to contribute 1,944 service hours in honor of our founding year, we thought it would take the entire year to complete… but at the rate we’re going, we will surpass our goal in no time! Stay tuned to see what service projects come next!