Storefront for Community Design is excited to announce the selection of Shawn Balon as its new Executive Director.
Shawn brings a wealth of experience in design, non-profit, and educational environments with expanded knowledge of organizational management and strategic planning. He has the strategic vision necessary to elevate Storefront for Community Design and its programs in the years to come and will bring a creative, innovative, and collaborative approach when working with staff, board members, donors, partners, volunteers, and the community-at-large.
“I appreciate the board’s confidence in me, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead such a great organization. It will take innovative and purposeful solutions to create a path for Storefront for Community Design to continue addressing the challenges in our communities, and I look forward to advancing my efforts to focus on the importance of participatory design to honor differences, challenge injustices, and create vibrant neighborhoods,” said Balon.
Current Design Sessions seeking volunteers!
The fall season is one of the most robust times for our Design Session program. We are currently seeking volunteers for 4 projects in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design.
Here is a taste of each of the current projects:
A park project, which transforms unused public land in Richmond city into a park that encourages unity in the community, needs a landscape architect as a consultant.
A social enterprise hub and food court concept need interior and architectural conceptual help with the renovations of their warehouse space.
A historic school building seeks help (and muscle) with transforming its ruin into a community park and stage.
A neighborhood community arts center is looking for innovative and low-cost ideas for transforming their existing space into an art gallery for neighborhood artists, youth, and residents.
If you are interested in any of these projects, please email adele@storefrontrichmond.org for more information!
Jackson Ward Community Garden Seeks Assistance
A year and a half ago in her Jackson Ward apartment, Jourdan James began dreaming about how to access more green garden space in her neighborhood. Now she is applying for non-profit status and furthering her plans for turning the triangular plot of land at 620 Chamberlayne Parkway into a community garden and educational space.
The plot is uniquely situated at a major gateway to the neighborhood, which sets it up to be a verdant usher into the neighborhood.
She is seeking assistance with a landscape plan of the 8,200 sq. ft. space, using approximately 4,000 sq. ft. for 12 raised bed gardens and the remaining space for storage, education, bee-keeping and leisure. The Jackson Ward Community Garden will be a space to learn about native flowers and vegetables as well as sustainable gardening practices. Some concerns she faces already include water access, fencing, and accessibility to all neighborhood residents. She also has plans for an updatable mural site for the dreary winter months.
For those who are interested, the scope of this work requires about 2 to 6 hours of your time. The deliverables are a site-plan and elevation rendering due by the end of October to help this forming non-profit raise funds and share their ideas for community green space and sustainability education.