Rotary work day held at Acres of Hope a big success with new retaining wall, mural

Rotary of Auburn held its annual work day on April 23 at Acres of Hope. Acres of Hope is a spiritually-based renewal center that provides a safe family environment and healthy living program for women with children. Their balanced approach sets the foundation of change and breaks the cycle of homelessness. Sixty Rotarians showed up bright and early to lift, move, shovel, load, spread and paint to complete AOH's two requested projects. Project 1: Construct and install a 125-foot-long, 4-feet-high retaining wall made of stylish locking pavers. Rotarian Jeff Ambrosia, designer and architect at Yamasaki Landscape Architecture, spotted the need of a retaining wall to improve livability/functionality of an earthen berm behind the cottages on the AOH campus. Ambrosia donated his services to design the stylish wall that was installed. Ambrosia and Rotarian David Gibson organized the pre-work day site prep and reached out to numerous local businesses for the materials and labor needed for the retaining wall base preparation. A big thank you to local business Verde Creations and Josh Peterson, a local landscape contractor who donated services and materials to cut the dirt berm. Verde Creations also performed extensive preparation of the site to establish the foundation of the wall, upon which Rotarians were then able to swoop in, stack and lock the stylish locking blocks and secure the wall with gravel. Verde Creations completed the first part, which was the hard part. A shout out also to local business Basalite, which donated half of the blocks needed to complete the wall. Thank you to A&A Stepping Stone, which also donated materials to the project. Said Lisa Risdal, executive director at Acres of Hope, "The retaining wall surpasses anything that I expected and is not only a long overdue needed structural improvement but it also looks beautiful. It is an asset to our campus." Project 2: Design and paint a mural of hope on a 300-foot-long, 8-feet-high cinderblock wall. As a member of Auburn Rotary, I connected with Sierra College graphic arts student Roxy Reynolds. They teamed up with Risdal to give the project an appropriate artistic direction. The former utilitarian wall was an eyesore but has been transformed by Roxy's whimsical, uplifting art design and drawing and painting skills. The mural depicts silhouettes of children and mothers successfully moving through the Acres of Hope program in a park-like setting, complete with colorful butterflies to encourage them along the way. The resulting mural has a hopeful, playful feeling with Dr. Seuss-like trees and children that run, cartwheel and jump, accompanying their moms as they journey toward more stability and happiness in their lives. I organized and advised the project, working to aid the design process, secure materials, project and sketch the mockup, recruit and direct 30-plus volunteers. And the volunteers responded with excitement! Many Rotarians, Placer High students and friends and families turned out on work day to kneel in the dirt and climb ladders to paint the oversized sketched figures that brought the mural to life. Said Risdal, "Speaking of beautiful new assets to our campus, the mural speaks for itself! Roxie, Rachel and your crew have created something truly beautiful and inspiring for everyone to see and enjoy for years and years to come. You have transformed a big ugly block wall into something that represents the life, renewal and happiness that happens to the women and children at Acres of Hope." A shout out to Warehouse Paint on Palm Avenue, Mark Reynolds and Mark Allen for donating paints and materials for the mural, as well as a lot of technical support regarding the preparation of and seal for a large cinderblock surface. Rotarians served volunteers a tasty, energy-boosting lunch. Bob Santin brought out a trailer barbecue and, with his enthusiastic crew, cooked up a delicious lunch of grilled chicken and many tasty side dishes to feed and entertain the large contingent of volunteers.