Pouring the first floor

After much preparation, the steel deck for the first floor was complete and the concrete was poured this week.

Welding the Steel, Construction Webcam

Construction crews have been busy welding steel to the frame for the lower level. Concrete will be poured for the first floor in the next week.

We now have a webcam with live coverage of the construction site:

http://70.90.90.161/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0

The feed works without any add-ons in Firefox and Chrome. If you want to use Internet Explorer, it will ask you to download and install an ActiveX control.

The Steel Has Arrived

After a few months of working in the basement, the steel has arrived on site. The crane is ready to start moving steel into position in this first picture, and the first beams are in place in the second picture.

Windows into a New Building

Brick by brick, the Green House Residences building is coming into view. As construction of the lower level of the continues, Mitch Posner talks about the construction project in this short video, filmed by Kavan Peterson, Co-Founder & Editor of ChangingAging.org. These pictures show the windows for the GEDCO offices in the lower level and the start of the utility work in the basement area.

Decade's Top 10 Senior Design Innovations

Thanks to THE GREEN HOUSE PROJECT Blog and Long Term Living magazine's March issue, which rounds up the top 10 senior design innovations that have transformed nursing home and long term care in the past decade. "It's no surprise that The Green House Project not only makes the top 10, but it embodies nearly every other item on the list. Here's a quick synopsis of the top 10 innovations compiled by Margaret P. Calkins, PhD, for Long Term Living."

The list includes intentional elder-friendly communities, smaller is better, THE GREEN HOUSE Project, codifying person-centered care and the household model, private bathrooms are better, eliminating nursing stations and medicine carts, lighted grab bars, and better ceiling lifts.

For more questions about The Green House Residences at Stadium Place, and to add your name to the mailing list, please call Catholic Charities at 410-646-6580.

Meeting with OHCQ, Building the Foundation

Foundation work has continued during the past week at the Green House Residences Construction site. Work has started installing the cinder block foundation as well. We also took pictures during the deluge this week.

Today we had another in a series of positive meetings with representatives from Office of Health Care Quality, Catholic Charities, NCB Capital Impact, GEDCO and Marks, Thomas Architects. Planning is moving forward to open the building in early 2012. We discussed how the Green House model brings a different approach to dining services. Shahbazim (universal care workers) receive special training in food safety, meal preparation, and even knife skills. The shahbazim will engage elders in tasks around the home, including meal preparation, as they build relationships with the elders.

Elevators for the Green House Residences

Yesterday, the permiter for the elevator shaft was poured. While most Green House homes are small cottages, the Green House Residences at Stadium Place will have four stories, since we are located in an urban environment. Each story, or Residence, will be home to twelve elders.

Each floor will have a small elevator lobby, with a secure entrance to the Residence. When visitors enter the Residence, they will be standing in the Hearth area, looking at a living room with a fireplace, dining room with a large table for the Elders and Shahbazim to eat together, and the country kitchen. For more information about the Green House Project, visit, http://www.thegreenhouseproject.org/.