BrightView teams in Sandestin, Fla., joined the Gary Sinise Foundation and other supporters of their R.I.S.E. program Oct. 18 to dedicate a specially adapted custom smart home for U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brian Kolfage and his family. BrightView Landscape Development in Tampa teamed up with enhancement teams from our Santa Rosa and Emerald Coast branches to install an irrigation system and beautiful low-maintenance landscape for the Kolfage’s new home.

Sr. Airman Kolfage suffered catastrophic injuries on Sept. 11, 2004, when his airbase fell under rocket and mortar attack.  He lost both legs and his right arm.  He is the most severely wounded U.S. serviceman to survive his injuries. The Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. (Restoring Independence, Supporting Empowerment) program supports heroes like Kolfage by providing specially adapted custom smart homes, mobility devices, home modifications, and vehicles for them and their families.

BrightView announced its support of the Gary Sinise Foundation in September and has committed to providing low-maintenance landscapes for R.I.S.E. homes across the country. The Kolfages’ new home provides a sustainable, safe, and attractive landscape that marks BrightView’s second completed project with the Foundation.  

“Our teams were thrilled to provide a landscape and home environment that the family can enjoy for years to come,” said Todd Chesnut, Vice President and General Manager. “I had the pleasure of meeting the family and was inspired by their love and support for each other and their new home.”

BrightView Landscape Development started the project by installing the irrigation system and was later joined by BrightView Landscape Services teams to install trees, plant material, pine straw, mulch, and lay sod. Our teams worked with local suppliers to have nearly all trees and plant materials for the project donated. 

“The biggest thing for us, in addition to helping such a great cause, is seeing how our three teams pooled our resources and skills to make this happen,” said Charlie Bland, Branch Manager. “We worked together and brought our local vendors into the process to really make this a community of support.”  

BrightView will continue supporting the R.I.S.E. Program and has future projects underway in Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia.

“It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of this project,” said Michael Dozier, Southeast Region Senior Vice President. “Our teams embraced this opportunity to give back to a hero and we look forward to seeing our future projects.”

Our teams were thrilled to provide a landscape and home environment that the family can enjoy for years to come. I had the pleasure of meeting the family and was inspired by their love and support for each other and their new home.
- Todd Chesnut, BrightView Vice President and General Manager

BrightView team members in South Carolina recently held a Community Day in which volunteers helped create a new landscape for the Julie Valentine Center in Greenville, S.C.

The nonprofit center provides free confidential services to sexual assault and child abuse survivors and their families.  The center’s mission is to “stop sexual violence and child abuse and the impact of these crimes through prevention, investigation, collaboration, treatment, and advocacy.”

Scott Smith, Branch Manager at BrightView’s Greenville branch, is credited with getting the partnership with the center moving a few years ago.

The center is supported entirely by volunteers. The center honored BrightView as its Partner of the Year in 2015 and Smith wanted the branch to do something special in return.

“Scott said this year, ‘let’s pull out the stops and do something really nice for them,’” said Jeff Molizon, Account Manager for the branch. “We had one of our team members design a portion of the side of the building and once he designed it, we collaborated with (the center).”

The Julie Valentine Center approved the designs and BrightView provided team members and supplies to bring the design to life.

“The branch Account Managers and Production Managers went out there and we spent the full day ripping everything out and installing all new plant material,” Molizon said. “It was a fun project. We’ve done things out there before, but not to this scale.”

The new landscape features mostly perennial flowers and shrubs, but also includes trees, a bench, and pathway for the center’s volunteers and their clients to use.

Not only was the landscape completely rehabbed, but the Greenville team also built a custom fence for the center.

The branch Account Managers and Production Managers went out there and we spent the full day ripping everything out and installing all new plant material. It was a fun project. We’ve done things out there before, but not to this scale.

- Jeff Molizon, Account Manager

“We had guys that built that fence piece-by-piece – it was not prefabbed or anything,” Molizon said. “They designed it and put it all together.”

The center has already received positive feedback from their clients about the new landscape.  It has become an area of healing and comfort for people who may need it during the difficult times in their lives.

“It always feels good to support those in need” Molizon said. “I believe our branch is full of people who don’t  want to take all the time – we’d rather being giving back to the community and Scott is the spearhead of that. His heart is making sure we are giving back.”

Students at the Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn., returned to class for the new school year with a brighter, friendlier playscape, thanks to a combined effort from BrightView, UnitedHealthcare and Groundwork Bridgeport, a nonprofit which brings about the sustained regeneration of the environment.

The school’s playground area had become dull and lackluster over the years, including an overgrown, worn-out garden space.

All that changed Aug. 30 when 30 volunteers from BrightView’s Bridgeport Team joined with dozens of volunteers from UnitedHealthcare and Groundwork to make a difference for these lucky schoolchildren.

“Painting the playground showed a real transition and dramatically changed its appearance,” said Justin Wolf, Branch Manager at BrightView. “The garden went from an unused space to a place that can bring tangible learning opportunities to students.”

Now, with the cleaner, crisper space, teachers will have the opportunity to take learning outdoors and give their students a different perspective outside of the classroom.

Along with the work to the playscape structure and the rehab of the vegetable garden, the BrightView Team also built and painted 11 benches, all made out of recycled wood, and planted perennials around the school’s entrance.

“We are committed to helping build stronger communities and helping people live healthier lives, particularly with the kids in our community by encouraging them to be active, as well as to eat healthy,” said Teresa DeNicholas, of UnitedHealthcare. “Our joint efforts will help that happen for students at the school.”

Even though UnitedHealthcare is no longer BrightView’s client locally (since moving out of its Connecticut office), that doesn’t stop partnership opportunities BrightView has teamed up with the organization several times in Bridgeport.

“We want to extend a very special thanks to Justin Wolf and his team for collaborating with us and bringing their expertise to literally transform the children’s playspace,” DeNicholas said. “We appreciate all their hard work, efforts and commitment to giving back to our local communities.”

The Marin School, which teaches pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is the fourth school in the area that BrightView and UnitedHealthcare have volunteered at together.

“The team from (Bridgeport) stepped up once again,” Wolf said. “I couldn’t be happier to be their leader. Special thanks go out to the enhancement crew and managers for spending time to give back. It’s always great to give back to the community and be part of something bigger than any one individual can create. Having a great team makes this possible.”

Painting the playground showed a real transition and dramatically changed its appearance. The garden went from an unused space to a place that can bring tangible learning opportunities to students.
- Justin Wolf, Branch Manager at BrightView

It started off as just a regular day for BrightView’s Antonio Lopes, who was on his way to work Sep. 7, when smoke wafting from an apartment building caught his attention.

Lopes was at the Hillside Garden apartment complex in the El Cerrito section of San Diego at 7:20 a.m. when he saw the flames.

He was on the phone calling 9-1-1 when he heard yelling coming from the building and immediately jumped out of his BrightView truck and ran into the burning building.

I was banging on the doors of the apartment complex and telling them to get out,” Lopes said. “The older lady was still in (the apartment) where the fire was coming from, so I kicked the door down and went inside.”

The thick smoke obscured Lopes’ vision, but he followed the screams from the woman and was able to carry her out of the apartment while his fellow BrightView teammate Gabriel Robeles attempted to put out the fire with an extinguisher.

Lopes then ran to the upstairs apartments to get other people safely out of the burning building.

“It was a pretty crazy experience,” he said.

Fire crews arrived a few minutes later and were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes, according to NBC San Diego. 

Daria Martin, the resident saved from the building, told Lopes he was her savior.

Others, including Lopes’ own family and friends and even people he has never met on social media, have hailed him as a hero.

"I keep thinking about it every day,” Lopes said. “I was at the right place at the right time. It was like God calling me to help these people. I shouldn’t be considered a hero. I just did something hopefully somebody would do for my family.”

Seven people were displaced by the fire, which started in the downstairs apartment and caused smoke damage in the two upper apartments.

According to NBC, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

I was at the right place at the right time. It was like God calling me to help these people. I shouldn’t be considered a hero. I just did something hopefully somebody would do for my family.
- Antonio Lopes, BrightView

Haitian citizens will little forget the devastating, magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck the island Jan. 12, 2010, killing more than 300,000 people, injuring another 300,000 and displacing 1.3 million, including children in an orphanage that was destroyed in Port-au-Prince.

Shortly after the disaster, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) assembled a design team and conceptualized a new orphanage in the capital city, which will also be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certified.

The entire plan, called Project Haiti, is being led by the USGBC, which is how BrightView got involved.

BrightView’s Enterprise Sales Team was in talks with Transwestern to potentially become a provider for maintenance, as well as future design and build projects, which led to a phone call between Allan Skodowski, Managing Senior Vice President and Director of LEED and Sustainability Services at Transwestern, and Kurt Buxton, Vice President of BrightView Design Group.

“(Skodowski) had this pet project in Haiti that he was working on,” Buxton said. “By chatting with him, he said he had a favor to ask and that they needed a landscape architect for the job. I said we were interested and would love to help them out.”

The planned 6,000-square-foot building in the Delmas District will feature landscape architecture designs from BrightView and is anticipated to feature papaya trees, roughly 600 square feet of vertical wetlands, a bamboo grove, rooftop garden, raised vegetable garden and a unique tile-mosaic play structure modeled after the Rhinoceros Iguana, a species native to the island.

It’s sustainable for three days independently in terms of water and sewer. When there’s a storm, the storm pipes in the street fill up and knock the manhole covers off. If we connected to that, it would actually fill the site up with water. We have to retain the water onsite and infiltrate it into the ground.
- Kurt Buxton, Vice President of BrightView Design Group

Since the building is being designed and built to LEED standards, it  will be resource efficient, creating a healthier place with “reduced stress” on the environment, according to LEED.

The building itself is planned to have training and office space and will also have a safe space to protect children from hurricanes.  It also will feature a ground-level safe zone for any future earthquakes.

“It’s a place of refuge, so it goes beyond just an orphanage,” Buxton said. “It’s sustainable for three days independently in terms of water and sewer. You can’t tie in traditionally to the sewer and flush a toilet, so we’re treating it on site. When there’s a storm, the storm pipes in the street fill up and knock the manhole covers off. If we connected to that, it would actually fill the site up with water. We have to retain the water onsite and infiltrate it into the ground.”

With these unique needs for the site, the design team did run into a few challenges along the way.

“The biggest challenge was trying to figure out what to do with the stormwater because it’s below the street as well as below the properties around it, so the site doesn’t drain,” Buxton said. “We had to get creative with how to drain it. We also had to learn what was feasible in Haiti because we’re trying to limit bringing stuff from out of the country. We actually flew over with the USGBC and met with local suppliers to try and make sure the design was something that could be implemented as much as possible (with) local resources.”

Working on Project Haiti has given BrightView’s Design Group the chance to go global, thanks in part to the USGBC, and to allow the company to thoughtfully contribute to a country still in need of assistance from the devastation six years ago.

The new orphanage will be named The William Jefferson Clinton Children’s Center in honor of the William J. Clinton Foundation for its assistance immediately following the earthquake and will be run by the Foundation Enfant Jesus, which ran the original orphanage.

The center’s mission is not only to provide health and emotional needs and a pathway to adoption for orphaned children, but also to create programs to consolidate communities, uses education to give families more support and provides the community skills training and job assistance.

“Being BrightView has given us the opportunity to do this,” Buxton said. “If we were a smaller design firm, it economically wouldn’t be feasible for us. Having the opportunity to travel to somewhere I’ve never been and really see firsthand what’s going on was really interesting and intriguing and gets you excited about doing these things. It’s a good opportunity for our team to take care of a community far away.”

Project Haiti is currently under construction.

BrightView in Chicago is teaming up with the Chicago Bears, PNC Bank, and Gateway Green to enhance a park and construct a garden for El Valor, a nonprofit that supports and challenges urban families to achieve excellence and participate in community life in Chicago’s South Side. El Valor is the second largest provider of early child education in the city, yet the park at their Ray Gonzales Facility is outdated and surrounded by caution tape.

BrightView recently completed the design for a new park and community garden at the facility and is scheduled to begin construction this month. 

BrightView’s collaboration with high-profile partners in Chicago goes well beyond funding. Their plan is to work together – literally. BrightView teams have worked alongside more than 100 volunteers from PNC Bank and the Chicago Bears to remove dangerous playground equipment and conduct demolition to prepare for the new park. During the project’s construction phase, PNC and the Bears will be sending groups of five to 10 volunteers to work with our team on a daily basis.

“The collaborative approach of this area is focused on environmental stewardship, educational achievement and physical activity,” said Rey Gonzalez, CEO of El Valor. “These three elements ensure future generations can grow, learn, and find success.”

The new park and community garden will support education for children, increase family engagement in children’s early education and increase awareness of natural environments, urban conservation, and healthy food choices in the community.

More than 60 volunteers from BrightView donated their skills, time, and resources to transform the campus at St. Stephen's Community House, an organization that advances the self-sufficiency of residents in the Columbus region by providing services in workforce development, social development, counseling, an urban garden program, a bike loan program, and education and after school childcare. 

BrightView team members enhanced the landscape, built raised planter beds, and constructed new benches and tables to create an environment that will enable St. Stephen's to fulfill its mission of Brightening Lives. In addition to these projects, BrightView will be providing St. Stephen's with an in-kind donation by installing an irrigation system and new pathways for St. Stephen's community garden, Project AquaStar, valued at over $30,000. 

"Our teams across the region are very inspired by the work St. Stephen's is doing so we decided to rally together and lend our skills to give back," said BrightView Vice President and General Manager Glenn Popieski. 

BrightView is also working with St. Stephen's Learn to Succeed program to provide workforce training and job opportunities in the Linden community. At the event, BrightView announced that they will be providing participants of the program with full-time employment for the summer. The participants will work alongside BrightView teams based out of their East Columbus branch. 

It is because of partners like BrightView that our doors stay open and families find comfort and hope here. This project has transformed our campus and their donations will allow us to expand Project AquaStar and provide more services to our community. 

- Michelle Mills, CEO of St. Stephen's Community House

"We seek to forge long-term strategic partnerships with community organizations in our local markets to provide jobs and career pathways," said BrightView Vice President of Human Resources Jeff Robinson. "The opportunity to partner with St. Stephen's and contribute to their mission of Brightening Lives in our community is something we are all proud to be a part of."

At the June 17 event, Columbus City Council presented BrightView and St. Stephen's Community House with a Certificate of Recognition, highlighting the impactful work the partnership has generated for the Greater Columbus Region. 

"It is because of partners like BrightView that our doors stay open and families find comfort and hope here," said CEO of St. Stephen's Michelle Mills. "This project has transformed our campus and their donations will allow us to expand Project AquaStar and provide more services to our community." 

For BrightView, this project is an extension of a partnership with St. Stephen's Community House that began in December 2015, when the company donated over two tons worth of food to St. Stephen's food nutrition center, a key community resource that serves over 1,700 residents per month. BrightView's employees take pride in being a part of such an inspiring cause. 

"At BrightView, we believe it is important to invest in the communities in which we live and work," said BrightView's Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Marketing and Communications Rick Martella. "'Taking Care of Communities' is a core component of our brand and something we proudly do every day."

For photos of the BrightView Volunteer Day, click here.

More than 1,000 people in Newport Beach, Calif., attended the unveiling of a statue July 6 honoring fallen lifeguard Benjamin Carlson. Carlson died two years ago while saving the life of a man who was in distress. The Ben Carlson Memorial Statue was installed by BrightView’s Orange County and San Diego Development teams led by Cruz Diaz, Phillip Germann, and Jonathan Fabry.

Ben Carlson was the first lifeguard to die in the line of duty in the Newport Beach Lifeguard Department’s 100-year history. His actions have earned four Medals of Valor, a letter from the President, and a dedication from the city of Newport Beach with the naming of the Benjamin M. Carlson Lifeguard Headquarters, located just steps from the new statue. The statue is constructed of marine-grade stainless steel.

Jake Janz, the artist who designed and fabricated the statue and Ben’s brother-in-law, reached out to Lifescapes International and the BrightView Development Team. Together, they donated more than $100,000 in materials and labor to the project. BrightView teams managed the procurement of materials, securing permits, and an electrical contractor and consultants to review the design and installation. Over the last two weeks, BrightView teams performed the staging, demolition, irrigation, concrete and stone paving, and plaque installation.

“The story behind this project was a great inspiration to our teams,” said Diaz, General Superintendent at BrightView Landscape Development. “We do a lot of work in the Newport Beach area so the opportunity to lend our expertise to help memorialize a hero who means so much to this community was really something special.”

The Ben Carlson Memorial & Scholarship Foundation believes this statue is not only a tribute to Ben’s heroism for the community of Newport Beach, but also a sign of respect to all lifeguards. Members of the Carlson family also thanked the BrightView teams and were honored by the level of sophistication that went into the project.

“Our teams could not have been more proud of their work that honors a hero who gave his life in the line of duty,” said Germann, Senior Vice President of BrightView Landscape Development. “This was a great opportunity to take care of the community where we have worked and played for many years.”

The story behind this project was a great inspiration to our teams. We do a lot of work in the Newport Beach area so the opportunity to lend our expertise to help memorialize a hero who means so much to this community was really something special.
- Cruz Diaz, General Superintendent at BrightView Landscape Development

More than 100 volunteers from BrightView Landscape Services company donated their skills, time and resources to transform Miracle Manor, a newly renovated 28,000-square-foot, 12-unit apartment complex that provides homes to families at risk of homelessness while their child is receiving treatment at CHOC children’s hospital.

Miracle Manor is the newest endeavor from Miracles for Kids, a non-profit organization that provides financial aid, health, wellness and advocacy services to families in Southern California with children battling life threatening illnesses. Thanks to this project and donations from other community partners, Miracle Manor’s renovations, valued at more than $1 million, are being completed at minimal cost to the organization. 

“When I was introduced to the Miracle Manor project, I was instantly inspired and we decided to rally together our teams across the region to support this endeavor,” said BrightView Vice President Chuck DeGarmo.

DeGarmo and his Southern California regional teams quickly united to create the exterior design for a colorful, safe and healing landscape. Local BrightView teams then sourced all of the materials and donated their time to provide instillation services. 

“Fighting a life-threatening illness requires an immense time commitment and often results in depleted savings or income loss,” said Autumn Strier, CEO of Miracles for Kids. “Thanks to the generosity of community partners like BrightView, Miracle Manor will provide these families with not just housing stability but also convenient access to CHOC children’s hospital and a family-friendly community during their time of need.”

In addition to their pro-bono services, BrightView volunteers completed final touches on the landscape and prepared each apartment unit by building furniture, decorating kitchens, cleaning the interior and assembling welcome baskets filled with basic essentials for families moving in at the end of the month. BrightView’s Design Team  also designed a 170-foot mural, depicting a day in the life at Miracle Manor, which teams painted during their volunteer day.

The first five Miracle Manor families moved in this past December, and an additional seven families are now able to move in upon completion this April, bringing Miracle Manor to 100-percent occupancy.

For BrightView, this project is an extension of a partnership with Miracle for Kids that began in early 2015. The company held a previous volunteer day with over 60 employees last December to install phase one of the landscape and prepare the first five units. BrightView’s employees also held a gift drive to fulfill holiday wish lists for the over 200 families that Miracles for Kids supports across the region.

“It’s inspiring to have the opportunity to utilize our skills to support our community,” DeGarmo said. “The work done here at Miracle Manor is humbling to everyone involved and as a company we will continue our commitment to take care of our communities by lending our expertise.”

Thanks to the generosity of community partners like BrightView, Miracle Manor will provide these families with not just housing stability but also convenient access to CHOC children’s hospital and a family-friendly community during their time of need.
- Autumn Strier, CEO of Miracles for Kids

At Centro Campesino Farmworker Center, volunteers from BrightView Landscapes volunteered time and resources to transform the exterior of the soon-to-open Education Center, which will serve farmworkers and other low income families living in the Homestead and Florida City communities of rural Miami-Dade County.  

Centro Campesino’s new Education Center will include two classrooms and a computer lab. This addition will increase their capacity to serve an additional 40 children in their after school program, provide weekend and evening classes, conduct computer trainings and orchestrate community meetings.

The partnership between BrightView and Centro Campesino is part of an effort to collaborate and develop a workforce development and job training program. 

“We seek to forge long-term strategic partnerships with community organizations in our local markets to provide jobs and career pathways,” said BrightView Vice President of Human Resources Ralph Acevedo. “While discussing the potential of a job training program, we learned of Centro Campesino’s new Education Center and became inspired by the opportunity to utilize our skills to support our community.”

This project that BrightView has undertaken is truly a blessing. We had run out of funds to complete the building and work was at a standstill. Their huge contribution has inspired us to complete the interior and start using the building.
- Ana Castilla, Centro Campesino Board President and TD Banks Community Development Manager

BrightView provided in-kind support of specialized landscape design and installation for the center’s exterior as they prepare to open their doors later this year. Today, team members from local branches participated in volunteer activities to help put the final touches on the landscaping and also built benches, picnic tables, and flowerbeds to transform the property. 

“At BrightView, we believe it is not only our responsibility, but a privilege to give back to the communities in which we live and work,” said Rick Martella, BrightView’s Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Marketing and Communications. “‘Taking Care of Communities’ is a core component of our brand and something we proudly do every day.” 

“This project that BrightView has undertaken is truly a blessing," said Ana Castilla, TD Banks Community Development Manager and Centro Campesino’s Board President. "We had run out of funds to complete the building and work was at a standstill. Their huge contribution has inspired us to complete the interior and start using the building." 

For BrightView, this project is the initial activity for their partnership with Centro Campesino. “We want to stay involved and continue to explore job training opportunities and volunteer activities to support the economic development of the community,” Acevedo said.

About Centro Campesino

Centro Campesino has been serving the Southern Miami/Dade County since 1972. Our importance to the community was never clearer than after Hurricane Andrew destroyed most of the existing homes in 1992. We have developed more than 500 units of affordable housing, and still manage 131 residences for senior citizens and other low and moderate income people. Since that time of intense rebuilding, Centro Campesino has continued to be a mainstay in the community, providing home owner and home buyer assistance, vocational services, and an afterschool program for children. For more information, visit www.centrocampesino.org.