On September 21, Lifeline Family Center will welcome a team of 30 employees from Home Depot, including executives from the Atlanta headquarters as well as district coordinators and locals, when two pro bono kitchen make-overs begin at its Cape Coral facility. The project, which required no grant application, is valued at more than $52,000 and will include 37 linear feet of cabinetry re-facing (including island and separate upper and lower storage cabinets), hardware, sink and fixtures, plus granite counter tops TIMES TWO.
Also contributing to the project with Home Depot are Deluxe Marble and Granite in Ft. Lauderdale and Thermovision Cabinets in Quebec.
Celebrating its 20 year anniversary this year, Lifeline Family Center is a maternity home for women (ages 16-22) in unplanned pregnancies. The 18,000 square foot complex includes two separate homes, in addition to a Learning Center, nursery, chapel, boutique and administrative offices. Lifeline can accommodate up to 12 moms, 24 children and three sets of house parents.
The project started as a mandate from the Lee County Health Department because the 10-year-old kitchen cabinet doors on only the islands had deteriorated and were peeling. The initial plan was to get three competitive bids for re-facing just the island cabinetry. Lifeline had already received one estimate and one gratis offer for all the cabinet doors, when Home Depot offered to completely redo both kitchens. The scope of this project is way beyond what Lifeline was expecting when seeking competitive bids.
The first point of contact was Pete Bardis, a local Home Depot design consultant, who submitted a 2-page request to Installation Manager Troy Wheeler. After being moved to tears, Wheeler, who oversees installations of 17 Florida stores from Sarasota to Marco Island, sent the letter from the North Fort Myers store straight up the Home Depot corporate ladder.
Under the gun with an October deadline from the Health Department, Lifeline staff were contemplating writing a grant for help getting the cabinets repaired. But knowing the length of time it typically takes for grants to receive approval, Grant Committee members suspected timing could become an issue.
Within days of Bardis’ first visiting Lifeline to evaluate the situation, Troy Wheeler and Tom Gumbrecht arrived for measurements and color selections. The next day representatives came to create the granite template. Once all the parts are ready for installation, Home Depot corporate representatives will visit Cape Coral from Atlanta and various Florida locations to see the start of the project on Sept. 21.
Lifeline Family Center invites the media to its facility at 907 SE 5th Ave in Cape Coral on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 10 a.m. to witness this project of Home Depot’s kindness get off the ground.
Since the first Home Depot store opened in 1979, giving back has been a core value for the Company and a passion for its associates. Through Team Depot, the Company’s associate-led volunteer force, thousands of associates dedicate their time and talents to these efforts in the communities where they live and work. To learn more and see Team Depot in action, visit www.homedepot.com/teamdepot.
About Lifeline Family Center
Lifeline Family Center, Inc. is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit corporation registered by the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies (FACCCA). Since 1996, Lifeline Family Center has been providing young women in unplanned pregnancies a safe home and learning environment along with educational training, job training, professional counseling, parenting classes, and spiritual direction during this most important time in their lives. A two-year Christian residential program, Lifeline Family Center prepares teen moms and their babies to become self-supporting, contributing members of society. In addition, Lifeline Family Center operates a confidential 24-hour hotline and offers free pregnancy testing, free limited ultrasounds, and abstinence education to middle-and high-schoolers.
