On Wednesday, September 21, Lifeline Family Center was honored to open its doors to Team Depot, a collection of giving Home Depot employees, as they arrived from across the U.S. to help with two kitchen rehab projects, valued at more than $52,000. Also contributing to the project with Home Depot were Deluxe Marble and Granite in Ft. Lauderdale and Thermovision Cabinets in Quebec.
Lifeline Family Center is a maternity home in Cape Coral for women (ages 16-22) in unplanned pregnancies. 2016 marks Lifeline’s 20 year anniversary of serving southwest Florida. The 18,000 square foot complex includes two separate homes, plus 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 Home Depot project at Lifeline focused on completely redoing two kitchens and required no grant application. Home Depot and friends refaced 37 linear feet of cabinetry, as well as replacing hardware, sinks and fixtures, plus granite countertops. And Team Depot didn’t stop there.
As if the kitchens weren’t enough, Team Depot also weeded the landscaping and spread 50 bags of mulch, in addition to painting 18 rocking chairs that adorn Lifeline’s porch areas, thanks to Store Manager Mark Scott of the Hancock Bridge location.
Those from Home Depot Interiors’ Atlanta headquarters who lent their expertise included General Manager Michael Albrecht, Director of Operations Andrew McGillivray, National Manager – Lead Generation Scott White, in addition to SE Divisional Installation Manager John Atti, along with district coordinators from across the U.S., and sales reps and contractors associated with the local Home Depot. Lifeline was facing an October deadline, which the Lee County Health Department had mandated during its last inspection. The cabinet doors on only the kitchen islands had deteriorated over 10 years and were needing to be replaced. In getting three competitive bids for re-facing just the islands, Lifeline had already received one gratis offer for all the cabinet doors. After the initial inspection, Home Depot offered to completely redo both kitchens. The scope of this project was beyond anything Lifeline was expecting when seeking competitive bids.
Upon departing, Home Depot employees promised this is not the last Lifeline has heard of them. There was even mention of job opportunities for the young moms living at Lifeline. As a divisional installation manager, John Atti has seen many projects over the years. His parting words were, “This has been like working with angels.” Yes, Mr. Atti, it most certainly was!
