Crain Construction volunteers turned their focus from commercial construction to a kitchen renovation so a Nashville homeowner can finally cook her favorite meals safely and independently.
The weekend project is part of Crain Construction’s community give-back commitment and an ongoing tradition of teaming with Rebuilding Together Nashville to make critical home repairs for seniors and low-income homeowners so they can remain in their neighborhoods and age in place. Homeowners like Shanae.
A longtime Nashvillian, Shanae has lived in the house since the early 1990s and purchased it in 2007. She lives with a spinal cord injury and is wheelchair bound. She also is a fulltime caregiver for her mother.
Shanae has dreamed of having a kitchen that was accessible and would give her more independence. Her dream was almost postponed. Rebuilding Together’s power tools and equipment were stolen a few days prior to the scheduled renovation work.
“Insurance will hopefully help us replace the items quickly, but Crain crews got to work and kept us on schedule to create a new kitchen for Shanae,” said Kaitlin Dastugue, executive director of Rebuilding Together Nashville. “We are very grateful for Crain’s partnership and expertise.”
Working in four shifts over two days to meet COVID-19 protocols, the crews demoed the entire kitchen, removing cabinets, pulling up flooring and moving appliances. On day two, the volunteers leveled the floor, laid sub-flooring, removed debris, painted, made some small repairs and left the area clean and ready for cabinet installation the following day.
“It’s really fulfilling to use our construction skills and knowledge to help a Nashvillian who needs a hand up,” said Brent McGee, Crain Construction project manager who led the volunteer effort. “Many of our supplier partners generously donated appliances, cabinets, countertops, plumbing parts and labor so Shanae will have a beautiful kitchen.”
The kitchen renovation is the final phase of critical home repairs performed by Rebuilding Together volunteers. Without safety and accessibility repairs, it would have proved challenging for Shanae to stay in her home long term, which is in the McKissack Park neighborhood she has called home for years.
“This is our first project with volunteers since the coronavirus started,” said Dastugue. “Since Crain is one of our longtime supporters, we were able to work through COVID-19 protocols with them and develop a process we can use moving forward with our other volunteers.”
Crain’s partners donating materials and labor to the kitchen renovation include Architectural Granite & Marble, Bishop Cabinets, Cenwood Appliances, Franke, Hartert-Russell, Nashville Tile & Interiors, PDI, Rev-A-Shelf, Solid Surface Solutions, Top Knobs, USA Stone and Vavia.
