Monday, October 15, 2012

Restoring a historic building for the homeless

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/22/homeless-shelters-past-lives-pool-gym-and-10-downi/

Written by Mr. Robert Showley of the San Diego Union Tribune, the Saturday September 22nd business section cover featured a front and center article about the current construction of the former World Trade Center building on 6th and B street in downtown San Diego. (Before that it was known as HBJ Publishing and before that, the SD Athletic club) The building will soon be reopened as Connections Housing, a permanent homeless shelter offering permanent and temporary housing as well as an array of services for the homeless including service centers with offices, training/education rooms, counseling offices and meeting rooms. There will also be a full kitchen for residents and employees, administrative offices and training facilities. The article (linked above) highlights the history of the building, which was originally built in 1928, as well as how that has affected the construction progress of the interior.

As a result of the publication, I received a wonderful e-mail the following Monday morning, from a former member of the San Diego Athletic Club. Mr. Bill Hoffman frequented the club when he was a young man and was kind enough to share a whole slew of old images of his adventures at the old club.











(Click photo to enlarge)

(Above, is a collage of all the cool images Bill sent me) The rehabilitation of the building will fully restore the building to its original glory while serving an important underserved population of San Diego. We at Affirmed couldn’t be happier to be involved in this development. This is a landmark project that shows positive progress in San Diego. To learn more about Connections Housing, please go to the website: http://www.sdconnections.org. There is also a Facebook page for Connections complete with frequently updated images, information and other ways to get involved. http://www.facebook.com/SDConnections

Katelyn Silverwood
Marketing Assistant