How a Mount Prospect warehouse became a ‘Taj Mahal’ for volunteer homebuilders
A recently vacant Mount Prospect warehouse is now the hub of an effort to build 16 homes for needy families in Appalachia, thanks to the generosity of a local business, the diligence of volunteer “desk jockeys” and a happy coincidence.
Mount Prospect-based construction firm Nicholas & Associates donated the space in the Kensington Business Center this month to the Chicago-based nonprofit Solid Rock Carpenters.
The group of self-described desk jockeys and weekend warriors has been busy ever since, cutting, marking and bundling lumber for shipment to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. About 400 volunteers will gather there at The Greenbrier resort on June 5, and over three hours they will assemble interior and exterior walls for the new homes.
Ultimately, the walls will depart on tractor trailers and become the basis for new single-family homes. Eight will travel to eastern Kentucky, the site of devastating floods in the summer of 2022, and the other eight will head to northeast Tennessee, where they’ll provide housing for families in need.
The effort is a partnership involving the carpenters, the Appalachia Service Project — a Christian ministry performing volunteer home repair and replacement in Central Appalachia — and the Home Depot Foundation.
The Mount Prospect warehouse became available through a random connection between volunteer Bryan Mercado and Nick Papanicholas Jr., president of Nicholas & Associates. Their children play hockey together at the Nicholas Sportsplex in Mount Prospect, owned by the Papanicholas family.
“I got the phone call (from Solid Rock). ‘Hey, we need a space. Find us a space.’ And I said, ‘I know exactly who to call’ and called Nick,” said Mercado, a Park Ridge resident.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Nicholas & Associates had just acquired the warehouse, which it eventually plans to share with the woodworking firm Parenti & Raffaelli, Ltd.
For Papanicholas, the volunteer project fit into his company’s philosophy.
“Giving back has always been part of our story, and being able to provide the space and people power needed for this worthy project allows us to expand our ability to help in new ways,” he said.
Founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Solid Rock Carpenters helps build new homes or repair old ones in areas recovering from natural disasters or dealing with poverty. Its volunteers have built 51 homes in the Gulf Region, Missouri, Colorado and Appalachia, as well as Mexico and Guatemala, according to its website.
Volunteers said they’re thrilled with the Mount Prospect warehouse space, a vast upgrade over previous work sites.
“We have never had anything like this ever,” said Park Ridge resident Tom Klimmeck. “We have always been in miserable spots. Storing lumber outside. Covering it. Getting things stolen. This is the Taj Mahal for us.”