Sub-zero temperatures prompted the cancellation of several Martin Luther King Day projects on Monday, but that didn’t stop volunteers from crowding Envision Unlimited’s hallways for a floor-to-ceiling paint job.
“You just take it step by step and it’s easy,” said William Claiborne, a member of Envision, a service provider for more than 4,500 people with developmental disabilities in Illinois.
Claiborne is in charge of custodial duties at Envision’s Westtown center, where Monday’s paint job took place. But he’s also a resident artist who’s in the middle of crafting a delicate blue-and-gold rug that he plans to sell.
It’s just a few of the activities offered at the center on Spaulding Avenue, adjacent to the 606 Trail in Logan Square.
Although the center was closed Monday, the painting project took on the life of a project that Envision would normally host.
“The trick is making people feel like they’re helping, no matter what level of skill they have painting,” said Justin Harris, a project architect at the firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz and a board member of Envision.
Volunteers from architecture firm SCB paired up with Envision members — the term they call themselves — and walked them through the process of preparing the surface, applying masking tape and painting.
It's the second year the firm SCB has helped Envision beautify its campus. Last year, volunteers recreated a sign reading “Envision Westtown” on a chain-link fence outside.
The building offers its members a variety of activities. Members use looms to weave insider art that’s sold at farmers markets and the Cultural Center’s art shop. Members collect 70% of the sales price, with the rest going to fund Envision.
Its adaptive cycling program allows members who use wheelchairs to ride along the adjacent 606 Trail. Members now participate in the 30-mile Bike the Drive each year.
A commercial kitchen in the Westtown building is rented out as a “ghost kitchen” to restaurants seeking rentable space, but it’s also a space for workforce training for Envision members with food handler licenses, said company spokeswoman, Suzanne Ross.
Envision’s programs are about helping members figure out what type of work they’re interested in. Job coaches have helped members find jobs at the Shedd Aquarium, Jiffy Lube and Do-Rite Donuts.
Envision’s philosophy is to help its members live as they see fit, said Jake Jones, a program coordinator.
“Our mantra is: We want members to live like any other,” he said. “So if they want to go bike, we make sure that’s possible. If they want to loom and work, we make sure that’s possible.”
That’s what made Monday’s event so special, he said.
“If we have a bunch of volunteers who want to help paint, it’s great. We bring the same amount of members to do the same thing because we’re together,” he said.
