A group of “HSAwareness” volunteers from HSA Commercial Real Estate recently spent an afternoon at Chicago Commons’ Paulo Freire Family Center in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood enhancing the natural playground used by children who attend the facility, which offers Head Start classes, child care, and after-school programming.
The group, led by HSA CEO and Chicago Commons board member Bob Smietana, and HSA Senior Vice President Josephine Thomas-Hoytt, assisted the center by staining toy chests and benches, spreading fresh mulch and woodchips, and planting flowers throughout the play area. It’s the latest project in a long-term partnership between HSA and Chicago Commons, a 120-year-old non-profit that works to improve the economic, social and educational well-being of residents living in communities that are at the highest risk for poverty, violence and low educational achievement.
A video on the playground restoration is available online.