For the second year in a row, volunteers from the Morrison Hershfield Ottawa office were excited to collaborate with Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) for a neighborhood beautification project. OCH is the largest social housing provider in Ottawa, providing about 15,000 homes to 32,000 tenants in communities across the city.
This year’s initiative benefitted the Kilborn Community, a townhouse development of 36 units. We constructed garden planters and planter benches to revitalize the large outdoor area and make it more inviting and enjoyable for the community. Last year, we helped improve the outdoor space at the Fairlea Court townhouse units by clearing overgrowth to improve the safety and security of residents.
Our team of volunteers included transportation designers, environmental planners, building science specialists, biologists, civil engineers, a structural technologist, and a contract
administrator … just to keep everything on track!
“One of the things that I enjoyed most is that we had representation from every single department of our Ottawa office. It’s a big office and this gave us an opportunity to work side by side with colleagues from other areas of our business. The diverse team also made it possible to provide the OCH staff with advice on engineering, construction and ecological issues,” said Ferenaz Raheem, Environmental Planner.
The OCH CEO and staff were very thankful for our volunteers and impressed with our collaborative skills! Alexandria White, Program Administrator, Volunteer Engagement was delighted with the effort: “Thank you for everything you did to bring the event to life! Despite a curveball or two
(like having to dig out part of the ground to make the benches sit properly!) you all were lovely to work with, and we really appreciate your drive to get things done right! The tenants are so happy with the new benches and planters. What a successful day!”
The group also had a surprise visit from Ward 18 Councillor, Jean Cloutier, who acknowledged our efforts and thanked the volunteers from Morrison Hershfield and OCH for beautifying the neighborhood.
Morrison Hershfield is proud of our efforts to build stronger communities. We look forward to participating in this initiative with OCH in 2020!
For more event photos, please visit Ottawa Community Housing’s Facebook Page.
