Being Gifted the Opportunity to Make Good Places🎄
|
|
|
|
Glimpses of a few of the wonderful projects we had the privilege to be involved with in 2023.
|
|
Greetings <<First Name>>,
I hope the 2023 holiday season finds you well! Thank you so much for all your love and support over the last 12 months as we’ve been hard at work trying to equip – through design and project management – those using placemaking to do good in their communities. We couldn’t be where we are today without you, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
This year, I (Neal) have been blessed to be able to work on some of the most exciting projects of my career. I say this every year, but I honestly mean it every year and this year is no exception.
Design and construction projects in 2023
Navigating a confusing campus – In February, we began working with Ethnos360 Training Center (a.k.a. ETR) in Camden County, Missouri to design a network of signs and landscaping that will help visitors, delivery drivers, students, and faculty navigate their Ozark campus more easily. This project is particularly important to ETR’s mindset of hospitality as the hills, winding roads, and rural woodland that make up the campus have the potential to cause confusion for anyone on the campus. We’ve been blessed to continue this relationship with the wonderful people at ETR since helping our friends at Engineering Ministries International (EMI) develop ETR’s current campus-wide master plan in early 2022.
|
|
|
|
Initial mockups of signage at ETR.
|
|
Less cost, more beauty, more fun – In our September newsletter, we featured a project we were working on for a retired couple in Brighton, Colorado (refer to “A home that rocks”). Through the process of getting to know this couple, we learned how important family time and the beauty of their property is to them in addition to their expressed desire for a reduced water bill. In response, we developed a design that…
- …expands the surface area of usable contiguous lawn for family yard games, such as croquet, yet reduces overall total surface area of lawn to reduce water usage.
- …proposes swapping the existing lawn species for a different species that better handles environmental conditions and a playful pet dog.
- …replaces a portion of lawn area with water-saving shrubs that create an aesthetic similar to an English-style garden.
At the request of this client, we also developed the first edition of a list of contractors and collaborators we recommend. If you would like a copy of this list for free, please reach out to us via email.
|
|
|
|
Excerpt of the planting plan we developed for the Brighton, Colorado residence.
|
|
A cozy garden suite – In August, we began permitting and remodeling part of a property my (Neal’s) wife and I own in the Denver, Colorado area for the purpose of lodging. Blue Spruce Hideaway – a cozy, restful, and joyful garden-inspired guest quarters – is on track to be available for booking on Airbnb by January 2024. (This will be a separate business for me from Heidt and Depth, as my wife and I will serve as the managers and hosts of the property.)
If you would like to stay at this exciting design-build project or be notified when the listing is published online, please send an email to Blue Spruce Hideaway.
|
|
|
|
A few of the spaces at Blue Spruce Hideaway taken shortly before construction was completed. Clockwise from top left: the living room, the entrance, and the bedroom. Photos credit: Blue Spruce Hideaway
|
|
Outreach initiatives in 2023
Quality time for domestic violence survivors – Joy House – a member of Providence Network – is a group recovery home in Denver, Colorado for survivors of domestic violence. We are excited to announce that Joh House has won the pilot grant of The Common Place Fund (CPF). Therefore, Heidt and Depth is sending a predetermined percentage of our 2023 revenue to Joy House to assist them in building a therapeutic garden for their residents. In other words, Joy House residents will be provided an opportunity to experience the heights and depths of God’s love through a placemaking project partially funded by our clients!
|
|
|
|
An existing courtyard at Joy House that will be transformed into the therapeutic garden. Photo credit: Providence Network
|
|
The following is a summary about the project from its director:
|
|
“The goal of revitalizing the outdoor space is to promote community and cultivate healing family relationships. A place where mothers can connect with other mothers as they use the space for fellowship. A new privacy fence and play areas for the children contribute to the sense of peace and security that Joy House provides. For women and children who have endured domestic violence, a sense of safety is paramount to overcoming trauma. Playing in a private, enclosed area with spaces designed for their enjoyment and well-being allows the children to safely connect with each other, creating healthy friendships and rebuilding resiliency. A section will include small family plots for each mom and child to nurture their gardens together. These collaborative exercises are intended to augment therapeutic work to enhance parent-child attachment and bonding.”
– Karen Huston, Deputy Director of Providence Network
|
|
|
Tentatively, Joy House management intends to use the specific funds from the CPF grant to purchase new playground equipment for toddler- and preschool-aged children for the garden.
If this project intrigues you, or if you are interested in seeing an organization in your community receive funding for a similar project, please let us know by sending us an email!
Enabling design and construction around the world – As I alluded to earlier in this newsletter, EMI is a nonprofit based on Colorado Springs, Colorado that we often collaborate with. To make our work for ETR in 2022 free of cost, donors like you pitched in. In fact, we received much more funding than we needed! In 2023, EMI reassigned this surplus funding to the EMI General Fund. This fund provides the following:
- Disaster response, such as structural engineering evaluations following the Turkey-Syria earthquakes earlier this year
- Growing Globally initiative funding – 2023’s initiative is supplementing overhead costs in the Cambodia office, such as mentorship
- Salaries for EMI employees who struggle to obtain donor funding
Thanks to all of you who made this contribution to such a worthwhile cause!
|
|
|
|
Click here to watch a personal testimonial from an EMI Cambodia employee about his experiences with EMI. Video credit: EMI
|
|
A support group for leaders of small placemaking firms – After about a year and a half of brainstorming and pitches, together with the help of some friends in the industry we were able to launch a new support group for people in leadership roles at small placemaking firms like ours. You can read the backstory about this initiative towards the bottom of our September 2023 newsletter. Tiny Office Big Design meets virtually once a month, and we are always eager to welcome others who want to get involved! To learn more or attend a seminar, please shoot me an email.
Church relocation committee – I (Neal) continued to serve on a real estate evaluation committee for a small neighborhood church in Centennial, Colorado, a role I have been in since January 2021. In 2023, this committee determined that at present, the church should continue investing in the relationship it has with its current landlord, another church.
Looking forward to 2024 and beyond
Thanks in large part to your continued support and encouragement, we’ve been able to share God’s love as best as we are able through these projects and initiatives in 2023. This has been a rewarding year for us at Heidt and Depth, and you’ve played an important role in that. We are excited to see what God plans for the future of our company.
|
|
|
Merry Christmas,
Neal Heidt
Placemaking Strategist | Heidt and Depth
HeidtandDepth.com | 303-519-9453
|
|
|
|
|
