Yuki Klotz-Burwell – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Sun, 23 Aug 2015 23:50:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Yuki Klotz-Burwell – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Stanford Ronald McDonald House announces major expansion https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/16/stanford-ronald-mcdonald-house-announces-major-expansion/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/08/16/stanford-ronald-mcdonald-house-announces-major-expansion/#respond Mon, 17 Aug 2015 06:31:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1102835 Last year, the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford announced its plans for expansion, which will make it the largest Ronald McDonald branch in the world. Construction is underway and the Stanford house is projected to be completed in spring 2016.

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The construction team from Vance Brown poses with Ronald McDonald at the topping off ceremony for Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.  (Courtesy of Larriva Productions)
The construction team from Vance Brown poses with Ronald McDonald at the topping off ceremony for Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. (Courtesy of Larriva Productions)

Last year, the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford announced its plans for expansion, which will make it the largest Ronald McDonald branch in the world. Construction is underway and the Stanford house is projected to be completed in spring 2016.

A topping-off ceremony last Wednesday, Aug. 5, marked the entrance into the final phase of construction. At the ceremony, workers placed the final truss, signed by hundreds of supporters, on the top of the construction, symbolizing the end of the structural work.

The idea of expanding started 10 years ago, when the Stanford house executives had to turn down an average of 40 to 50 families each night. The new house will nearly triple the number of guest rooms from 47 to 123.

“It was after an expansion that we got to the 47 rooms we have now, so we thought at that point there would a little bit of breathing room, and there really wasn’t much,” said Annette Eros, chief executive officer of the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. “We knew at that time we needed to start looking toward the future to start figuring out what solutions we needed for the families that need us.”

The house’s team explored many possible locations for the expansion and eventually received a donation from Stanford for the land next to the house’s current location. The building’s framework will be finished by the end of 2015, after which the design process will begin.

“At that point, [Vance Brown Construction] pretty much hands us they keys, and we’ve got to come in and make it become a Ronald McDonald House,” Eros said. “That process will probably take us through next spring.”

The final beam was placed during the Topping Off Ceremony on August 5th. (Courtesy of Larva Productions)
The final beam was placed during the Topping Off Ceremony on August 5th. (Courtesy of Larriva Productions)

The Stanford house has partnered with the San Francisco Design Center, which has also worked with the Ronald McDonald House in Long Island, to outfit the new building. Fifty-one designers have signed up to be a part of the project. The Center will help create different spaces within the building, such as a computer room, a massage room and a playroom for elementary school children.

“This partnership has been a blessing for us,” Eros said. “The designers are all coming together to help the families so that when they walk into our new space, it feels inviting, comforting and relaxing.”

In addition to the 67-room expansion, the Ronald McDonald House is planning to add nine extra family rooms to its existing space and adjust the interior of the building so it matches the new one.

“We’d like the feel of this building to reflect the feel of the new building, so it doesn’t feel like one is old and one is new,” Eros said.

The entire expansion project will cost a total of $40.5 million. With financial support and donations from many organizations as well as the surrounding community, the Stanford house has almost reached its goal. At the topping-off ceremony, the house announced a donation from Taube Philanthropies that will help reach the 87-percent marker of the total sum.

Founded by Stanford alumni Tad Taube ’54 M.S. ’59, Taube Philanthropies is a charity that focuses on helping underserved adolescents. It has already donated an initial $1 million and promises to match an additional $2 million if the community raises the same amount. In total, $5 million would be contributed to the house.

“The impact in philanthropy is really like the profit in a corporate setting: If you don’t make a profit, you don’t stay in business,” Taube said. “Here at the Ronald Mcdonald House, the impact is all around us.”

The Ronald McDonald House provides rooms for families of critically ill young patients at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Families stay in private rooms and have access to amenities such as dining rooms, a library and a fitness center.

Donations toward the project can be made by contacting chief development officer Jay McCullough or visiting the campaign website.

 

An earlier version of this story misspelled Larriva Productions and stated that the $40.5 million cost covered the entire development project, not just the expansion project. The Daily regrets these errors. 

Contact Yuki Klotz-Burwell at klotzburwell.yuki ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Stanford educational startup Enza Academy empowers low-income youth https://stanforddaily.com/2014/08/12/stanford-educational-startup-enza-academy-empowers-low-income-youth/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/08/12/stanford-educational-startup-enza-academy-empowers-low-income-youth/#respond Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:57:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1087456 Sponsored by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) and the Black Community Services Center, Enza Academy, a recent startup that focuses on empowering low-income youth, embraces its slogan, “Design your revolution.”

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(Courtesy of Milton Achelpohl)
(Courtesy of Milton Achelpohl)

Sponsored by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) and the Black Community Services Center, Enza Academy, a recent startup that focuses on empowering low-income youth, embraces its slogan, “Design your revolution.”

The group holds workshops every Saturday morning for mentors to help students discover their creative capabilities through different educational activities. By building students’ senses of self-esteem and confidence, the academy provides them with a base for achievement.

 

Support for Enza

The Enza team, now composed of around 20 mentors, has been working on creating the academy since last winter. They wanted to develop a program that helps minorities in the Bay Area construct ideas for how to work on problem solving, as well as to learn about their culture and history, according to Brandon Hill ’16, the founder of Enza Academy.

“What happens when you pair low-income students with marginalized backgrounds with the tools to architect their own futures, and also solutions to their own ecosystems, instead of people doing it for them?” Hill said. “You get a really exciting outcome – so we just came together and want to make a difference.”

In May 2014, Enza won the Zahn Innovation Challenge, a social entrepreneurship competition run through the City College of New York. It received two awards and a grant of $4,000 to help kick-start their company.

According to Hill, the money will go directly to the welfare of the students. Enza plans to use the funds for transportation and materials for the students.

Many other organizations, including the d.school and the Black Community Services Center, also support Enza by providing the students with transportation and lunches.

 

Growth

Although Enza started with only six students at its first workshop on April 27, the academy has grown to more than 20 participants in just a few short months. There is no age limit for prospective students, and all children ranging from elementary school to high school are welcome.

“We haven’t restricted the age,” said Enza team member Mikos Jenkins.  “We want to bring in as many students as possible.”

Jenkins explained that the current Enza students are mostly high school sophomores working on learning more about the college application process.

“They can benefit more because they have the time to make the changes to get into the schools that they want to apply to,” Jenkins said.

However, a few younger students have also joined the workshops, typically with their older siblings. One student, a nine-year-old girl named Tochelle, used the workshop and its allotted problem-solving segment to design a bully-prevention contraption.

Her device alerts teachers of a problem when a student pushes a button. Tochelle’s invention is a display of not only the values and moral lessons being taught at Enza but also the different, creative problem-solving methods that are being built.

“You see nine-year-olds being social entrepreneurs,” Hill said. “That’s really inspiring.”

 

Identity, trajectory and design

In addition to building self-confidence and learning problem-solving skills, the students are taught three main principles that they develop further over time: identity, trajectory and design.

To focus on identity, mentors use presentations that help the students gain a better understanding of their history and heritage. Using relatable historical figures as role models, Enza encourages students to realize that their actions can make a difference, too.

“We call that ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ to get them to try and acknowledge that their success has been continual,” said mentor Amber Farrell ’15.

Trajectory learning helps students plan for their future, according to Hill. Students are given advice and guidance about career options and college choices, and Enza provides resources such as money to assist putting their plans into actions.

“[Trajectory] is basically empowering them to be their own change-makers and agents,” Hill said.

Design, the last component, pushes students to practice their problem-solving skills. Students recognize real-life problems around and in their communities and try to come up with creative, helpful solutions for the issues.

 

Revolutionizing their futures

According to Hill, the Enza mentors also instruct pupils about the three types of revolution that occur at Enza: revolution in itself, revolution in the future and revolution in community. These ideals focus on heritage awareness, trajectory and big dreams for pupils’ future.

Enza, which means both “generate” and “generation” in Zulu, also helps students work toward becoming entrepreneurs, pioneers and innovators.

“We believe all children are born with the creative ability to change the world we live in,” Hill said. “And we aim to empower youth to be change-agents in their own lives in the ecosystems around them.”

Hill also explained that the prominent startup industry in the Bay Area has caused Enza Academy to concentrate on innovative challenges.

“People are using creativity to create and build problems out in the world,” Hill said. “That entrepreneurial process is such a valuable learning force.”

By focusing on identity, trajectory, design and revolution, the mentors help the students create solid plans for their futures that are achievable. Tangible resources are given to further help the students’ progress.

Enza concentrates on helping students who may not have had previous encouragement to understand their own identities and goals and to believe in themselves.

“We want to bring about change in a lot of these communities that are overlooked or underserved.” Hill said.

 

Contact Yuki Klotz-Burwell at klotzburwell ‘dot’ yuki ‘at gmail ‘dot’ com.

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