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This is a story of many players, in which Fisher Group was privileged to participate. The story began with a house in the City of Alexandria, VA, that was used to provide transitional housing for non-violent women coming out of prison who had nowhere to go, and wanted to get their lives together. The house had fallen into disrepair, and was closed by the City. The population of needy women was so large, that Habitat for Humanity joined in the effort to get the house into habitable condition, and became an opportunity for designers to show their creativity as an "Alternative Showhouse." The call for participants went forth in November, 2003, and many answered, but the kitchen went unspoken for. Occupancy was slated for the end of March. On February 24, Peggy Fisher of Fisher Group L.L.C, was asked to "Jump in on the kitchen." Peggy, a CKD and principal in a design/build remodeling firm, knew the likelihood of getting a kitchen designed and installed in a month, did the only reasonable thing and turned it down flatly. But the project weighed on Peggy's mind. So she decided to check with her vendors, and if there was a strongly positive response, would commit. Cabinets had already been committed, and would have a 3 week lead time. A site visit and examination of existing conditions revealed it to be gutted, drywalled by the volunteers, and with no additional electrical service. A wildly uneven floor greeted us, and walls were out of plumb. Electrical service was inadequate for the new kitchen, gas and plumbing lines needed to be reconfigured. A plumbing chase installed for the new bathroom upstairs had a "saddle" slump in the kitchen ceiling, ventilation was a fan through the wall. We were told, "The Before photograph does not show cockroaches everywhere. This thing was so bad, the only way to clean it was to demo it." Work We committed to the project on 3/1, believing all major pieces had been donated. On 3/3, problems arose with the appliances as it became evident that we did not have firm donations. Numerous site visits followed with the plumber and electrician to execute changes and monitor progress by volunteers. Early donor commitments materialized for lighting and electrical, plumbing labor and materials, tile for floor and backsplash, and even granite countertops - but cabinets were not finalized, and no appliances. When we went to do the site measure at our next project, for some reason, each cabinet was measured and described. The thought came "Maybe these could go into Guest House - but we have a donor, so we don't want to dismiss that gift! How can I just put those nice cherry cabinets in the dumpster? Do we know anyone who could use them? On 3/9, informed that installation was moved up from 3/31 to 3/27, and the failure of the kitchen to be operational would cause the entire house to fail occupancy inspection. Sent out numerous e-mails appealing for help in locating appliances, as well as cabinet options. On 3/10, gave up on cabinet donor, as cabinets with a 3-week lead time had still not been ordered, as the donor was wondering who would pay for his portion of the cabinet cost. Maybe I can configure these cherry cabinets for the Guest House kitchen - well a few cabinet parts will need to be purchased - can I get them in time? Yes! Can I get more donors to help pay for them? Let's try. Additional cabinets were priced and ordered, would be received 2 days before scheduled finish. Planned to demo
cabinets from existing location, transport to Guest House in several
installments, since there was no place to store them. Countertop
configuration determined for fabricator, who agreed to fast track
fabrication.
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Guest
House Narrative