Habitat Toronto: Helping Others and Supporting Women in Construction

Photo: Elida Huignard, President 2006-2010, Head of Operations Wo-Built Inc.
at a volunteer shift with Habitat Toronto for the WOMEN BUILD: May 1-12, 2012
May 2012 © wobuilt.com

Photo: Elida Huignard, President 2006-2010, Head of Operations Wo-Built Inc.
at a volunteer shift with Habitat for Humanity Toronto's Women Build: May 1-12, 2012
May 2012 © wobuilt.com

Photo: Elida Huignard, President 2006-2010, Head of Operations Wo-Built Inc.
at a volunteer shift with Habitat Toronto for the WOMEN BUILD: May 1-12, 2012
May 2012 © wobuilt.com

Photo: Elida Huignard, President 2006-2010, Head of Operations Wo-Built Inc.
at a volunteer shift with Habitat for Humanity Toronto's Women Build: May 1-12, 2012
May 2012 © wobuilt.com

Photo: Elida Huignard, President 2006-2010, Head of Operations Wo-Built Inc.
at a volunteer shift with Habitat Toronto for the WOMEN BUILD: May 1-12, 2012
May 2012 © wobuilt.com

Recently Wo-Built's co-founder Elida Huignard took part again in the Habitat for Humanity Women's Build weekend; hammer, hard hat and all. As a crew member of the CAWIC team we achieved two of our goals which are dear to us: helping others in need and showing our ongoing commitment to support women in construction.

Thank you, Elida, for representing us in this great cause and judging by the pictures it was a lot of fun. I cannot think of anything better; helping others in a fun community way.


Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and

To learn more, read Habitat Toronto's 2012 Women Build: Wearing a Hard Hat, Supporting a Great Cause

Screenshot: Habitat Toronto for the WOMEN BUILD: May 1-12, 2012
Elida Huignard Fundraising Goal: $200; Amount Raised: $415
Sponsors: 6; 100% of Goal Achieved! Thank you for your support.
Credit: torontohabitat.ca

Get Peapod Life™ Indoor Garden Living Space for your Non-Profit or Community Organization at Cost

Peapod Life designs indoor garden living spaces for many applications.
Ask us how you can acquire Peapod Life™ at cost for your group,
non-profit or other organization that serves the local community.
2012 @ peapodlife.com

"Gardens, scholars say, are the first sign of commitment to a community. When people plant corn they are saying, let's stay here. And by their connection to the land, they are connected to one another."
- Anne Raver
Source: The New York Times: Home & Garden: Growing

Peapod Life™ is announcing an exciting offer for non-profit and other community groups in the Greater Toronto Area. Now you can get Peapod Life for your organization at cost.

As part of its community outreach program aligned with a social mission to increase food security for suburban and urban neighbourhoods, Peapod Life is offering organizations an opportunity to build fully useable community spaces that have integrated indoor vertical gardens, solar power and more.

The urban gardening movement is experiencing a renaissance in Toronto. Peapod Life supports all efforts to green rooftops and utilize other available green spaces. Our approach to healthy living brings the benefits of fresh air, natural light and organic gardens indoors, 365 days a year.

Peapod Life recognizes the need for indoor community centres for neighbourhood gatherings, meetings, young people, learning, spiritual development, meditation and worship, and a host of other uses. We believe such centres are ideal for Peapod Life’s approach to living structures that support life.

Be it the slow food movement, urban garden sharing, or food swapping programs, we believe Peapod Life represents the ideal space for grassroots initiatives revolving around food security and healthy living.

Imagine your neighbourhood or community with its own Peapod Life building, providing essential space for young and old alike to participate in whatever activities near and dear to their heart, at the same time producing organic fruits and vegetables all year round.

Peapod Life is committed to the future of neighbourhoods and communities: with strong bonds and grassroots efforts to improve everyone’s standard of living: from energy and food security to health and overall happiness and well-being.

That’s why we are offering Peapod Life to not-for-profit and other community groups at cost.

Contact us for more details.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Urban Farming and Peapod Life: Grow Kids’ Connection to Community, Culture and Curriculum

Collage: Children’s Lives Enriched with Gardening
Images Credit: MS Office Clip Art

"Students in a mostly Latino high school in Chicago improved their grades in science and the eating habits of an entire neighborhood with a program that began by installing greenhouses on the roofs of the school buildings and spread to one of the main parks in the city.”
Read more: Fox News Latino

This report Urban Farming Improves Nutrition in Chicago Neighborhood by Fox News Latino in the U.S., indicating the positive impact of urban gardening on kids and their community in Chicago is just the latest evidence in support Peapod Life’s push into education.

Overcrowding is a problem in many schools, and given the choice between building new greenhouses and new classrooms, most schools would probably opt for applying shrinking budgets to more learning space. Peapod Life gives educators a third option: indoor garden learning spaces.

The connection between children and gardening is both elemental and elementary. I certainly remember working our family’s three-quarter acre lot in the summertime, not to mention countless trips to “pick-your-own” farms. It was a connection to the earth that I’m sure has served me well.

The National Gardening Association has “been working to renew and sustain the essential connection between people, plants and the environment” for over 35 years, and have a website dedicated to children’s connection with gardening: www.kidsgardening.org.

One cannot help but wonder how urbanization and modernization are adversely affecting future generations, as children become less in-tune with the natural world, and more connected to artificial, synthetic and/or virtual representations of reality. Certainly, Jamie Oliver seems to think so. Peapod Life’s idea of combining an indoor garden space with a fully functioning learning space counters the disturbing trend highlighted by Jamie Oliver and others. It gives children living in urban centers a taste of living and working the land, an authentic connection with life. And this is only the beginning.

Studies have shown that focus and attention improve dramatically with the presence of plants. Peapod Life’s indoor garden learning spaces could offer parents and educators a natural remedy for ADHD and behavioural problems, as opposed to overmedicating children. The healthy organic food they eat will help counter the negative neuropsychological impacts of MSG and other excitotoxins present in processed foods.

Finally, no matter what their cultural origin, children deserve to connect with the best traditions of their past, including native dishes, ingredients, flavors, and recipes… and by connect I mean prepare from scratch. Peapod Life gives them the chance to grow, harvest and prepare authentic meals from scratch.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Peapod Life: Applications for Better Living

Collage: Building Applications for Better Living
Images Credit: MS Office Clip Art

“Gone are the days of dead structures providing shelter for living things.
Now is the time for living structures that support life…all life…Peapod Life.”
– Our Motto

So you know Peapod Life builds indoor garden living spaces, right? And you probably also know we can build you a Peapod Life extension and/or addition to your home. Great! But is that it? Is that the limit of Peapod Life’s technology? Far from it.

Peapod Life designs indoor garden living spaces for many applications: residential, commercial, institutional, public, non-profit. Its standardized modular bio-structure can be scaled, configured and customized with any combination of plants and enabling technologies to accommodate your social, environmental and economic needs.

Let’s consider some building applications for Peapod Life:

Residential
Build your entire house or cottage using Peapod Life’s bio-structural indoor ecosystem. Add an affordable guest suite to your home and show your guests how much you care for providing them a healthy space. Move your kitchen inside a Peapod.

Health & WellnessStress reduction is the key to health, happiness and productivity. Invigorate your health and wellness program, practice or business by adding Peapod Life to your building. Give your employees, patients or customers an on-site sanctuary space like no other: cafeteria, lounge, exercise room, yoga/meditation studio, relaxing spa/treatment room, and much more.

Hospitality IndustryHotel, restaurant, lounge, café, tea-room, banquet hall… imagine patrons enjoying organic fare grown and picked before their eyes as they enjoy the Peapod Life courtesy of your business.

EducationPlants stimulate the senses, improve concentration and make for a better environment. Add indoor organic gardening part of your curriculum: teach valuable life skills and instill a renewed sense of “connection” for future generations. More advanced students? Think hydroponics.

Community / Not-for-ProfitImagine a communal space that can be used in a myriad different ways, 365 days a year, all the while contributing valuable electricity and organic food to the community. Meeting hall, meditation centre, food share/swap site, recital hall…imagine a living space supporting your community.

At Peapod Life, our motto is pretty simple: gone are the days of dead structures providing shelter for living things. Now is the time for living structures that support life…all life…Peapod Life.


Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

A Message from the CEO: What Guides Us

CEO Message: We will be able to serve you, our clients,
and the community even better than before.
2011 @ wobuilt.com

Taking all the experiences we got over the last five years, ... we will be able to serve you and the community even better than before.

The Exhibition just started again, signaling the end of summer. The great weather over the summer allowed me to visit our great patios in Corso Italia and, since I am not actively involved in the day to day running of projects, reflect on the last five years. Yes, Wo-Built is almost 5 years old.

Like any start-up company we had our ups and downs, but what fantastic ups we had.

• Our addition projects: the Classic, the Ranch, the Tower, the Lodge, each is unique in their own way.
• Our social mission: helping women in construction and the trades.
• Our anime: WoBinna.
• Our community involvement: Corso Italia.

But as any start-up company we also had a huge learning curve over the last 5 years, especially since we based our company on a social mission. I am still convinced that for profit companies should have a social mission as the core. (In the same way that I believe any not-for-profit organization should have for-profit programs to offset some of the peaks and troughs of operation brought on by the uncertainty of funding.)

Over the last 5 years we have added to our original mission to help women in construction. Community, Green Building and Eco Consciousness now play a large role in our company. Hence, to give our original mission the attention it deserves, we are now going to form our own not-for-profit to help women in construction.

One of the other areas of change is our operation. Even though we had rewarding smaller projects in the past, we are now going to concentrate on larger projects, due to our change in organization structure. Our former president Elida Huignard has kindly agreed to head the not-for-profit organization and is therefore stepping back from the day-to-day running of projects, which she did so amazingly over the last years. In the future our projects will be run by project management consultants who are committed to our high standards of ethics, construction expertise and excellence.

One of the corner stones of our operation is transparency in both our financial and operational dealings. We have now decided to be even more transparent, and we will be embarking on a multi-year project of producing our own Best Practices Manuals.

In the past we said that we wanted to be the best builder while doing good, we still maintain this for the future. Taking all the experiences we got over the last five years, implementing the elements discussed above and we will be able to serve you and the community even better than before.

But first let’s enjoy the rest of the summer.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
wobuilt.com/blog: What Is Special About Our Design And Built Construction Company?

wobuilt.com/blog: Our Achievement Lunch

Home Renovation Tip: Donate Reusable Items to Non-For-Profit Organizations

Screenshot: Habitat for Humanity ReStores are building supply stores that accept and resell quality new and used building materials. They generate funds to support Habitat's building programs, while reducing the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills!

Credit: habitat.ca

Tip: Please consider donating your used items when renovating

Very often when looking to renovate a bathroom or kitchen there are items which are still in good shape, such as kitchen cabinets, sinks, bathtubs, doors, windows and many items more. A great idea is to donate these items to organizations that help out the community, such as Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army and shelters. Habitat for Humanity will also accept building materials.

Please go to Charity Village.com for more information on not-for-profit organizations in your area.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

links:
twitter.com/wobuilt: Renovating? Have items to donate? Go to Charity Village to find where to donate
Wo-Built Inc.: Renovation Design Tips: Tip 1: Know Your Zoning and By-laws
Wo-Built Inc.: Renovation Design Tips: Tip 2: Design Time
Wo-Built Inc.: Renovation Design Tips: Tip 3: Professionals Involved in the Design
Wo-Built Inc.: Invest in Your Home Renovations and Be Eligible to Receive up to $1,350 in Tax Relief
Wo-Built Inc.: Smart Home Improvement with ecoENERGY Retrofit Grants
Wo-Built Inc.: The Foundations of Renovating Your Home
Charity Village: A list of organizations across Canada that accept goods as charitable donations
ehow.com: How to Donate Used Appliances to Charity
By eHow Culture & Society Editor
City of Toronto: Solid Waste Management - ReUseIt: Reuse before you recycle: Donate leftover renovation supplies

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Wo-Built Inc's Commitment to the Community

Wo-Built Inc's Commitment to the Community

For those of you who have not heard of us, WO-BUILT INC is a women led construction company for women using a "Woman’s Touch". Part of the "Woman’s Touch" is our commitment to the Community.

I am in danger of repeating myself, but we are a construction company with a social mission. As mentioned in previous postings we want to help women succeed in the skilled building trades.

However, our commitment to the community goes beyond our training mission. Many Women and Youth Not-For-Profit organizations in the Greater Toronto Area need construction help at some stage. We want to be of help to these organizations using our talents as project and construction managers so that during construction projects they obtain the best value for their money. We offer this service at very much reduced rates to these organizations. This is our way of giving back to the community.

Of course we have to strike a balance between our Design and Build projects and our community projects. Hence, each project is looked at for its merits and the level of need and if we can accommodate it, we will try to help.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc

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