Earlier this month, more than 60 volunteers helped renovate Habilitative Systems, Inc.’s headquarters in West Garfield Park, where the agency offers health and human services to the community.
That Saturday morning and afternoon, volunteers installed flooring, a new outdoor deck, picnic tables and surrounding landscaping. They also striped the parking lot and helped fill in a large paint-by-numbers mural.
These efforts nearly wrapped up about a year of renovations to Habilitative Systems’ first floor, which houses the integrated employment center where people with developmental disabilities work on light manufacturing assembly and simulated training.
“With this renovated space, it’s going to enable us to attract more contracts, more business and create more employment opportunities for people with disabilities,” said Donald Dew, president and CEO of Habilitative Systems, Inc. He added that the renovations will also help Habilitative Systems expand other services, like those for people with severe mental illnesses or substance use disorders.
The renovations that took place Sept. 14 were funded by a $250,000 grant from Republic Services Charitable Foundation. The grant is a part of Republic Services’ National Neighborhood Promise Program, which aims to uplift communities through volunteer projects and financial donations.
Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago received that grant, one of 15 nonprofits across the United States that were awarded grants this year. Rebuilding Together allocated the grant money to renovate Habilitative Systems.
“Republic Services is a leader in the environmental services industry, and our vision is to partner with customers to create a more sustainable world,” said Joe Scaglione, general manager at Republic Services of Chicago. “This event really embodied that because it’s a way for us all to come together and revitalize an area of the community where we live and work.”
Wrapping renovations
Last year, Habilitative Systems received a congressional earmark from Congressman Danny Davis, which funded the start of rehabilitation efforts at the organization’s headquarters, which is over 100 years old, according to Dew.
In 2023, Habilitative Systems began renovating its headquarters’ front lobby. The organization also put in an accessible entrance.
More recently, with the $250,000 grant, Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago brought in contractors to renovate three treatment rooms on the first floor of Habilitative Systems’ headquarters. Volunteers helped install new flooring, build outdoor accessories, and fill in a mural designed by Minnesota-based Shane Anderson, with whom Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago has partnered with on previous projects.
“It’s got a lot of the things that culturally tie that organization together and really embodies what they stand for,” Scaglione said about the mural, which is about 48 feet wide and 10 feet tall. “When folks come up on that floor and they see this representation, I think it will inspire them.”
Now, Habilitative Systems is waiting on a permit to put in an elevator and finishing updates to first-floor restrooms. Dew said he hopes the building’s first floor will be fully renovated by late November or early December.
The first floor has been relatively closed off during construction. Those who accessed first floor services have been relocated to the building’s downstairs cafeteria area.
“It is definitely a fantastic collaboration of folks coming together, trying to create more opportunities for people with disabilities,” Dew said of the renovations.
“I think that it’s been great how we’ve seen a lot of private-public partnerships reinvesting in the West Side of Chicago,” Scaglione said. “And I think that will continue.”
Including the $250,000 grant to renovate Habilitative Systems, since 2018, Republic Services has donated over $1 million through 23 grants throughout Chicago, impacting more than 1.5 million lives.
“I couldn’t imagine a better partner to celebrate that milestone than Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago and Habilitative Systems, Inc,” Scaglione said.