Our MLK Day of Service is an annual skills-based program supporting a variety of community-focused initiatives proposed by non-profit organizations. Each year, Payette donates more than 1,000 hours to design projects that range from urban planning, to landscape design, to interior renovation. Through this highly collaborative process, we help our community partners tackle problems they are facing while building stronger relationships.
Payette’s YDC (Young Designers Core) recently traveled to New Hampshire to learn more about sustainable forestry. Led by @unh_forestry_club foresters Andrew Fast & Steven Roberge, as well as Ricky McLain from @woodworksusa!
A big thank you to our wonderful tour guides. Visit our blog today to hear about all that Payette learned during the tour!
Link in bio. 🌲🪵
#PayettePeople #YDC #tours #forestry #sustainability
COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Weeks of preliminary planning and collaboration prior to Martin Luther King Jr. Day are spent to ensure that the design solutions are tailored to the needs of each individual community. We meet with the community partners to listen to their needs, define the problems and come up with the most effective deliverables. We use hand sketches, plan drawings and renderings to help our partners envision the solutions come to life. The Day of Service program creates an environment where we can engage with different organizations and utilize our skills as architects, landscape designers, interior designers and building scientists to support them in their mission.
positive impact on larger community
This first-hand experience on community-focused projects, provide us with a deeper appreciation of how our creative skills create a positive impact on the community. Each year, more than one third of Payette staff volunteer in the Day of Service program. With such a wide range of design talents, we are able to support projects of different scales and typologies, from converting existing rooms into a maker space and art workshop in a museum, to developing a cultural district map for East Somerville, to improving a pedestrian path for public use.
PARTICIPATE IN THE MLK DAY OF SERVICE
In October each year, we put a call out to the Greater Boston area and the Massachusetts community to submit proposals for projects that require architectural and planning services. Selected community partners pair with a team of 5-10 Payette staff. In January, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Payette teams dedicate the entire day to designing solutions for the issues posed by the projects. At the end of the program, each team presents their design solutions and deliverables to their community partner.
Check out previous projects from the MLK Day of Service, learn more about the details on proposal requirements, program timeline, and how to apply for the MLK Day of Service 2023 here.
