Behind the scenes of any nonprofit are businesses who support them, a reality recently demonstrated at The Chase Home, which welcomed four local organizations for several projects of varying sizes.
In total, The Chase Home received more than $6,000 of in-kind support over the course of 4 days from Liberty Mutual, GreenPages, Portwalk Place and fellow nonprofit Gather.
In the garden project, Liberty Mutual and Gather cleaned out and prepared vegetable garden beds for planting, while additionally building out 4 new garden beds.
In support of Chase Home’s Independent Living Program, which provides apartment-style living to older youth residents, Liberty Mutual helped build a fourth bedroom and remodeled a living room to include a kitchenette.
In collaboration with Portwalk Place, Liberty Mutual also helped remove fallen branches from the property, clean garage bays, paint 18 bedrooms and several other areas, and made several “dump runs.”
In the final project, GreenPages painted several areas and executed their annual extensive clean-up of the property and trails, which sit on 26 acres near downtown Portsmouth.
For Chase Home Executive Director Meme Wheeler, the projects, which took place over 4 days in May, mean “so much.”
“We get the chance to work alongside these people and get to know them,” she said. “I cannot stress enough what an impact this has had on our building and grounds.”
Wheeler estimated the amount of labor hours invested by all four organizations totals nearly 190 hours.
“From the staff and the Board, we thank of all you so much,” she said. “You have made a huge difference here.”
Founded in 1877, The Chase Home serves more than 140 at-risk youth annually statewide through prevention, early intervention, residential and community-based programs. Some youth are served in the community while others live at Chase Home.