More than 200 volunteers from the commercial real estate community and members of Valley Partnership took over the Save the Family Foundation’s Escobedo at Verde Vista Affordable Housing Development construction site on Saturday morning to lay sod, paint sidewalk games, plant trees and spruce up the exteriors of the community’s entryway.
Valley Partnership has a 26-year history of community service projects, but this year marked a few firsts for the organization. It was the first service project in Mesa and its first ground-up redevelopment project, on which it collaborated with developer City of Mesa and general contractor Tofel.
“We were so inspired by their vision for this project and they brought partners, resources, talent and time to make it a reality. It’s been a joy and a pleasure to work with Valley Partnership,” said Jacki Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Family.
Save the Family operates nearly 200 transitional and low-income housing units in the East Valley and is helping revitalize the Washington-Escobedo neighborhood that has declined due to an excess of vandalism and poverty. Escobedo at Verde Vista is a $29M public-private partnership that includes the construction of 126 new units and an education and resource building.
More than 45 corporate and 16 individuals donated a total of $100,000 to create a formal entry to the housing community. Ryan Companies, NAI Horizon, Caretaker Landscape
and Tree Management, Adolfson and Peterson, Cushman and Wakefield and DMB Associates were among many companies with representative volunteers at Saturday’s event — a culmination of nine months of planning.
Valley Partnership is an association full of leaders who are solution minded, who impact the community on a global level by partnering together to pay it forward. I am extremely proud to co-chair the community service project committee because it has given me the opportunity to be a part of something that is much bigger. Together, we have aligned our skills in a way that will impact the community for generations,” said Dena Jones, director of project development of Caretaker Landscape and co-chair of the Community Project Committee for Valley Partnership.
“Without such a strong member representation, we could not have pulled it off,” Valley Partnership’s President Karrin Taylor said on Saturday.
The development’s grand opening is set for Dec. 4
