Name | Sande |
---|---|
Last Name | Lambert |
Home Address | 20 Mason Dr Apt 214 n/a Chattanooga, Tennessee 37415 United States |
Organization Name | Signal Centers, Inc. |
Describe Your Role In The Organization | Chief Impact Officer: ensure work of agency is impactful to participants; development including grant writing, reporting and managing; community outreach |
Organization Address | 109 North Germantown Road n/a Chattanooga, TN 37411 United States |
Website | https://signalcenters.org |
Best Phone Number To Reach You | 14236988528 |
Alternate Phone Number | 423-637-2333 |
Email Address | sande_lambert@signalcenters.org |
Alternate Email Address | donna_mcconnico@signalcenters.org |
Please Describe Your Project In Detail | To continue to meet the needs of Chattanooga families and children, Signal Centers must make an investment in usable space and capitalize on our plentiful footprint on North Germantown Road. We have learned many strategies to successful services in challenging times these past two years as we continued services and remained open during the most difficult times of the COVID 19 pandemic. While schools, child care providers, and many public service organizations were forced to close for periods of time, Signal Centers continued to meet the needs of children and families. Although we experienced temporary setbacks due to the exponential spread of the virus in our service area, we always persisted in finding a way to move the mission of Signal Centers forward. We also learned of obvious vulnerabilities in our adaptability during exigent circumstances and made note of ways to combat these weaknesses. Over the past two years our strategies have evolved when it comes to strengthening families and supporting the many objectives of Chattanooga and we have a plethora of unique needs to remain resilient in the new environment. One clear and constant recommendation for a service enhancement which surfaced during every dialogue among our many stakeholders has been the need to create greater outdoor space for the provision of services. We are blessed with a sizeable footprint in which to create useable areas and do so in a manner that enhances the historical architecture of our existing turn of the century facility. The consensus of volunteers that have participated in our planning is that we should create a pavilion that is multi-functional. The pavilion would include restrooms to avoid unnecessary exposure and to properly serve those using the facility. It would also include storage space that would suitably house the table and seating equipment and other learning and training related materials used in the provision of services. The multi-faceted facility would be located on the land adjacent to our Learning Activity Building which has ample room to house the facility and accommodate a walking track around the facility. The lot is 80 feet wide by 350 feet long. The pavilion would be 20 feet wide and 40 feet long with an additional 16 feet added for the inclusion of two restrooms and a storage room. With the restrooms and storage area the total size of the pavilion would 20 feet wide by 56’ long. This facility would be constructed slab on grade with a gable style roof. Plumbing and electrical are easily accessible from the service connections feeding the existing Learning Activity Building. It would be unnecessary to further disturb any of the land for parking as the existing parking would meet the needs of anyone utilizing the facility with the field serving as adequate overflow parking. In addition to the pavilion learning center, a walking track is an added component which would create the needed activity training as part of our plan of care for both early childhood learning services and adult services for people who are aged and/or have disabilities. The walking track will span almost the entire area of the lot the pavilion learning center would be constructed on. The track would be over a tenth of a mile as it would form an oval around the entire field. A walking track would serve to maintain the health of people accessing our services as well as other people supported by organizations in Chattanooga. When combined with the pavilion learning facility, it will also create a more adaptable service component during timeframes when outdoor space is the preferred alternative to indoor learning. Both the pavilion learning center and the walking track would not only be used to serve the population supported by Signal Centers but would also be made available to every reputable organization in Chattanooga without a charge for use. This is just another method by which Signal Centers could further the objectives of the city and strengthen its citizens. |
Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | We will use the new outdoor space to safely provide direct and support services during the current pandemic and beyond. As well, we welcome community entities to reserve the space to use themselves. |
Where would your project take place? | the large field on the main Signal Centers campus at 105 and 109 N Germantown Road, Chattanooga |
How much will your project cost in total? | 144000 |
Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | Yes |
Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | Signal Centers is most fortunate to have a nonprofit group of volunteers and supporters who raise funds exclusively for the projects and services we provide. Friends of Special Children hold several fundraising activities in our area throughout the year in order to assist with unique needs or startup requests. We pledge to raise $43,200.00 with the help of our many volunteers and supporters throughout the community. We have had great success with local support with prior ventures and can easily validate our ability to raise these funds. With this supporting grant we can guarantee the fruition of this new and exciting service component that Chattanooga will undoubtedly successfully utilize for numerous community purposes. |
What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | $100,800 |
If funded, when would your project start? | June 1, 2022 |
How long would your project take to complete? | 10/31/2022 |
What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | The completion of each component of the project--such as the slab, the pavilion, the bathrooms, etc.-- would be a milestone, as would the finished product. |
How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | Signal Centers always maintains transparency and accountability on every program and service provided. With this project, we would first ensure that costs are closely monitored through a rigorous competitive bid process. As is always the case, we would attempt to utilize contractors that live and work within Chattanooga and prioritize the acquisition of bids from minority owned contractors. We would ensure the proper use of the facilities by maintaining a log of use and the populations that benefitted from the service. We would provide routine assessment of its use and report the results in publications to the public. We would utilize ongoing queries to people served as well as community partners to determine better uses of the facility and publish such findings in our routine newsletters. |
If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | We look forward to having the children and adults who receive services on this campus (around 250 annually) and our other Chattanooga locations (around 1500 participants), their families, our staff and volunteers (over 500 individuals), and nonprofits from around the community use this new outdoor space. The new space will have the capacity to host community events, small and large. It can be used alone, or in conjunction with our large, ADA-compliant existing facilities that include two playgrounds, meeting rooms, a small amphitheatre, and an outdoor music system. |
How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | We will communicate with our large number of staff and volunteers and our 28-member board of directors to make sure the space is used to the fullest of its potential within our Signal Centers family. Our Marketing department will publicize the space using social media. There will be a press release, and possibly a grand opening if deemed safe. Signal Centers will notify our many connections in the nonprofit community and let them know the space is open to reserving for their events. |
Name | Donna C. McConnico, CEO |
Contact Information | 423-698-8528; donna_mcconnico@signalcenters.org |
Name | Kyle Hauth, COO |
Contact Information | 423-598-8528; kyle_hauth@signalcenters.org |
Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? |