Kicking off Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and aiming to improve the quality of life of others through service, students from the University’s American Institute of Architecture Students chapter renovated bathrooms at the Raven’s Outreach Center for Homeless Veterans on Saturday.
At Raven’s, located on North Street, students spent their Saturday replacing rusty mirrors, painting bathroom walls and installing toilet paper holders. Transforming peeling paint and rusty mirrors to a revitalized bathrooms, the group renovated two bathrooms with three stalls each.
Charlston Britton, architecture sophomore, said he participated in the service day to get involved and found it rewarding to make the changes happen.
“In the studio, we do projects that’s very conceptualized stuff, but out here you can actually make something happen,” Britton said.
Andrew Pharis, Freedom by Design program director and fifth- year architecture major, said this is the first Freedom by Design project and the group hopes to continue this in the future. The group partnered with the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance to find Raven’s, Pharis said.
Raven’s has been providing homeless veterans with food and shelter for five years. Veterans can stay at Raven’s for two years and the center provides counseling and resources for job searches.
Robert Caramanica, a Navy veteran, has been living at Raven’s since August and said he was taken aback by the students’ unity and enthusiasm for the project.
Caramanica said the service carried a greater meeting because it reflected students’ love for servicemen.
“It’s fascinating to watch them put their hearts into it,” Caramanica said.
Joseph Clarke, direct care assistant at Raven’s, said the veterans and Raven’s alike were thankful for all the volunteers, saying the renovations help boost morale.
“It makes them feel like their services were being thanked,” Clarke said.
Ashley Webre, fifth-year architecture major, said by volunteering, she was able to see firsthand the need for upkeep in the community, describing the service project as a peek “behind the scenes.”
University AIAS president and fourth-year architecture major Marcelle Carmouche said the service day was a great way for students to pair design with seeing their projects become a reality.
Carmouche said the group hopes to increase the scale of the service projects in the future.
Fourth year Architecture studen Andrew Layman and second year architecture student Charlston Britton repaint the lavatories with other members of Freedom of Design on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 as a service to Raven's Outreach Center for Homeless Veterans located at 1913 North Street in Baton Rouge.
