“Good things come to those who wait.” “Patience is a virtue.” There are so many old adages about being patient and giving things that you are working toward time to happen.
All those old sayings rang true in the CARE building last Tuesday morning as we opened the renovated third floor to a very excited group of children who were attending summer art camp. As they bounded up three flights of stairs with ease and hurried into their seats in the art room, it made all the months and months of fundraisers and saving worth every minute and every penny.
Damage to the walls due to roof leaks had caused the plaster to crumble to the floor, and a portion of the ceiling was discolored and falling down due to an air conditioner leak. Visitors to the CARE building were steered away from the third floor on purpose due to embarrassment because of the poor condition of the walls and ceilings. As a result, CARE was faced with two options moving forward: repair the third floor or think about cancelling summer camps. The latter was just not an option that anyone wanted to admit. So, a plan was put into place to repair the space just in time to open for Summer Camp 2024.
These repairs would not have been possible without the support of the community, the CARE Board of Directors, our donors and a lady with a vision, Patti Gregory. Successful initiatives that she organized such as our Kentucky Derby Watch Party and Ladies’ Fall Fashion Show contributed to the renovation.
The CARE Board of Directors entrusted this project to Charleston native Jamie Anderson, whose repairs did not disappoint. Jamie removed all of the crumbling plaster down to the bricks, replaced it with Sheetrock and painted to perfectly match the existing color palette. He not only replaced the trim, but again matched the beautiful dark mahogany color to the wood that makes the CARE building so beautiful. The area under the air-conditioning unit was also repaired and painted to match the walls. As a result, the third floor of the CARE building is once again bright, beautiful and ready to welcome visitors who venture into her doors.
Again, thank you to everyone involved who worked to see this wonderful project through to completion. In this instance, patience and teamwork definitely paid off in a big way for our community.
See you at CARE in 2024!
