2. “Designs for Dignity helps create environments
that sustain people’s highest self.”
-Torrie Flink, former CEO and Executive Director of Zacharias Center
3. Dear Friends of Designs for Dignity,
It is hard to believe that yet another year has come to a close. It seems
as though we just hosted our second annual Spirit Awards Breakfast,
where we presented service grants to eight deserving nonprofit organizations
throughout the Chicago area. As we look ahead now, we see that our work
is never-ending.
With your support, we create environments that lift the human spirit
and nurture individuals in a space that is safe, healing, and dignified so that
they can become their best selves. Your generous donations of furnishings,
fixtures, and materials are at the core of what we do, and your financial
contributions keep our operations running so that we can continue our work.
Your service—more than 3,000 pro bono hours deploying design and
installation for 10 to 12 projects each year—is critical. This year our work
touched over 70,000 lives—the greatest impact we have ever had in a
single year.
As we embark on our 15th year as an organization with nearly 150
completed projects under our belts, we stand ready to do more. This year we
have grown our staff, expanded our warehousing efforts, and have begun to
establish a national presence by launching projects in Atlanta, Boston, and
Pittsburgh. Help us grow. Together we can create more, build more. Join us
in transforming more spaces and more lives than ever.
Thank you for standing for our work,
Jennifer Sobecki, Executive Director
Susie Fredman, Founder
Diane Falanga, Board President
“D4D is one
of the most potent
outlets for design
professionals
to give back to the
community.”
- Anna Barton, 2014 Spirit Award Recipient, project lead
4. Creating Access to Healing Spaces
Home is where the heart is. Imagine, however, that the heart is broken.
Must the home then be broken, too?
So many people in communities throughout Chicago suffer daily from
a host of afflictions: mental illness and substance abuse, domestic violence,
physical disability, and for some, feeling like they don’t matter or don’t
belong. Some who are more fortunate may have support from family and
friends, and perhaps personal resources to get the help they need.
For those who don’t, community-based organizations work to fill the void.
Designs for Dignity—or D4D, as our friends sometimes say—helps these
nonprofits focus on what they do best.
Often the physical environment in which many community-based
organizations are housed is not inviting and is sometimes even unsafe:
peeling paint, crumbling fixtures, and furniture that is stained and worn.
But lean budgets don’t allow funding for space improvements.
That’s where Designs for Dignity steps in: It brings pro-bono high-end
professional design services and pools resources from the design industry
and the community-at-large to enhance nonprofits’ workspaces at a fraction
of the actual costs.
How can the heart begin to heal when there is no space to nurture it?
Designs for Dignity transforms the physical environments where people
go to seek support for healing, enabling them to feel dignified, valued,
and safe.
“Clients were so inspired and transformed.”
-Rosie Burke, Anixter Center
5. “Those in the design industry need to be a resource to each other to
impact others’ lives, and D4D is good at that—positive spirit,
collaborative, working together to celebrate the outcome.”
-Rashmi Ramaswamy, design volunteer
6. Up Close with C4:
From Cluttered Places to Healing Spaces
Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4) opened in 1972 as a
one-room storefront providing psychiatric services. Today it offers
comprehensive services for individuals and families throughout the North
Side. C4 received funding in 2012 to expand its facilities, but there was
a small gap in the budget. Enter Designs for Dignity, which helped make
a real difference starting with the flagship site.
D4D had to think creatively about how best to plan the space to be
functional yet comfortable for clients. Rooms were cluttered, small, and
crammed with bulky furniture. The challenge was to create open spaces
with better lighting, within tight confines.
When We Feel Better, We Do Better
Paulina Chirinos, a clinician at C4, says, “[In the] old space I was often
sitting knee-to-knee with clients.” Clients take ownership of the space, she
says, and were also excited about the change. “Designs for Dignity created
a space for the healing to begin—a space that replaces sadness, anger, and
hurt with optimism, hope, and comfort.” Kathy Calderone, clinical supervisor,
adds that, “space was so cramped that clinicians’ desks were placed in
cubby holes and families would crowd together on a single sofa.” The new
space helps the staff feel more organized and grounded.
Like a Picnic
Jesus and Nancy have been coming to C4 with their children, 6-year-old
Leo and 15-year-old Melibel, for various services over the years. “ The rooms
were small and crowded before,” Nancy recalls. With the new space came
plenty of toys and games, which help keep the children engaged.
For Jesus, “It’s like being at a picnic—bright colors, comfortable, the kids
Leo and Melibel enjoy playing games with mom, Nancy, and dad,
Jesus, in the new playroom D4D built at C4’s expanded facility.
7. Community Counseling Centers of Chicago
Designs for Dignity’s model of repurposing donated materials and
employing the talent and skills of design volunteers enabled C4 to
complete its expansion into a new, functional, and beautiful space.
PRO BONO HOURS: 45
DESIGN SERVICES: $5,625
MATERIAL DONATIONS: $90,000
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $95,625
BEFORE BEFORE BEFOREAFTER AFTER AFTER
8. Helping Hands All Around
The design industry is not particularly known for giving back to the
community. Of course, that’s not because those working within the industry
don’t want to help others who are in need. Most just don’t know where
their skills and expertise can make a difference. What do cabinetry-making,
interior design, architecture, plumbing, and the like have to do with treating
patients living with HIV and AIDS or counseling survivors of sexual and other
abuse?
Designs for Dignity provides the perfect outlet for industry professionals
to donate critical services to Chicago’s communities. By volunteering for
Designs for Dignity-supported projects, design professionals can use their
skills to help transform people’s lives. Designers’ high-end concepts and
products not only help non-profit organizations advance their own mission,
but create healing spaces for the people these organizations serve.
Jonathan Sondergeld
Project Volunteer
Barry Howard
Project Partner
Corporate Sponsor
Anna Barton
2014 Spirit Award Recipient
Project Lead
“What D4D
does results in
new energy for
work and a drive
to improve.” -Rosie Burke, Anixter Center
9. Anixter Center
Designs for Dignity renovated three high-impact public spaces
for Anixter Center. Anixter Center provides an array of services
to help people with disabilities and related challenges live,
learn, work, and play in the community.
PRO BONO HOURS: 450
DESIGN SERVICES: $45,000
MATERIAL DONATIONS: $37,500
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $82,500
BEFORE BEFORE BEFOREAFTER AFTER AFTER
10. “Donations
become part of
D4D’s service
and can inform
the design.”
On the Upcycle:
Repurposing Materials for a Good Cause
Some in the design industry cringe at how much waste the profession
generates. Unused commercial and residential project materials—that extra
box or two of marble tiles, those light fixtures that the customer decided
were too overstated, or the brass-plated kitchen faucet that now clashes
with the silver flecks in the granite countertop—just get tossed. Designs for
Dignity repurposes items donated by vendors, manufacturers, companies,
and individuals in its service grant awards to nonprofit organizations.
Why it Works: High Impact at Low-Cost
The projects that Designs for Dignity supported in the 2014 fiscal year varied
in size and scope, from improving the aesthetics and functionality of a single
room to building the entire interior of a new wing on an existing building.
These projects are valued at an average of about $121,125, mostly in donated
materials and volunteer time. The actual hard dollars spent on each project
is only a fraction of the total value, at around just 10 percent.
Average donated material furnishings per project: $62,500
Design volunteers: 375 hours of service at $46,875
Average subtotal: $109,375
Hard costs: $11,750
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $121,125
-Rashmi Ramaswamy, design volunteer
11. Catholic Charities
Designs for Dignity renovated the kitchen, dining room, front meeting
room, and upstairs lounge at the three-story St. Francis DePaula Family
Shelter, which is operated by Catholic Charities. The facility has provided
shelter and support to homeless families for 20 years, and is part of
Catholic Charities’ network of missionary services.
PRO BONO HOURS: 167
DESIGN SERVICES: $20,875
MATERIAL DONATIONS: $19,885
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $40,760
BEFORE BEFORE BEFOREAFTER AFTER AFTER
12. EdgeAlliance
D4D designed all four floors of Shawn Feeley Alpha House, a home for
previously homeless veterans operated by EdgeAlliance. EdgeAlliance
enriches the lives of vulnerable individuals and families by providing
comprehensive housing services and support.
PRO BONO HOURS: 300
DESIGN SERVICES: $37,500
MATERIAL DONATIONS: $80,000
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $117,500
BEFORE BEFORE BEFOREAFTER AFTER AFTER
13. Chicago House
D4D built and designed the entire
interior and backyard garden for
the TransLife Center, a program of
Chicago House and Social Service
Agency that serves individuals and
families who are disenfranchised by
HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ marginalization,
poverty, homelessness, and/or
gender nonconformity.
PRO BONO HOURS: 244
DESIGN SERVICES: $30,500
MATERIAL DONATIONS: $186,320
TOTAL PROJECT VALUE: $216,820
BEFORE BEFORE BEFOREAFTER AFTER AFTER
14. Join us in our work to enhance and beautify
the physical environments where people in our com-
munities go for support.
Make a financial contribution to sponsor the work. Donate materials
to be used on a service grant project. Volunteer time and both design and
non-design skills. Be our guest at our spirit awards breakfast and our many
other events. Bring a friend to volunteer on a project or as your guest at our
events.
“The work and impact of D4D is needed more than ever in these times,
creating spaces that enable nonprofits to attract and retain talent and
provide a sense of security, autonomy, belonging, and achievement.”
-Kameko Gay, Herman Miller, Inc.
Designs for Dignity | 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 9-102 | Chicago, IL 60654 | www.designsfordignity.org
Contact Us:
Jennifer Sobecki
Executive Director
T: 800.351.6354
F: 800.351.6354
jsobecki@designsfordignity.org
Annie Place
Development Coordinator
T: 800.351.6385
F: 800.351.6385
annie@designsfordignity.org
Claire Tulloch
Design Coordinator
T: 800.351.6357
F: 800.351.6357
E: claire@designsfordignity.org
