News Room

LPA's Charlie Williams and Rochelle Veturis, ProRepro's Cindy Kennedy, and HomeAid Orange County's Carolyn Baker talk of Project Playhouse and how it helps house the homeless.

Listen here.

RADIO ANNOUNCER: 710 ESPN, Southern California Experience. Broadcasting from L.A. live, inside the Carmike Studios continues. Here’s LaFern.

LaFern Cusack: And welcome back to the Southern California Experience, I’m LaFern Cusack here on 710 ESPN Studio, the HomeAid Orange County’s 19th Annual Project Playhouse and it takes place at the Spectrum Center in Irvine, Saturday, July 31st there’s an Open House. Weekends, August 1st through September 5th so you have plenty of time. You can log on to www.projectplayhouse.org.

And in the studio with us, so happy to have back with us, Ms. Carolyn Baker, she’s Director of Community Relations Public Affairs for HomeAid Orange County. We have Rochelle Veturis, Director of Media and Public Relations for LPA Inc., Charlie Williams, who is an Architect for LPA Inc., and the Playhouse Designer; they have a great house, and Cindy Kennedy, President of ProRepro and a member of the Playhouse building team. Welcome to the show.

Carolyn Baker: Thank you.

LaFern Cusack: I’m so excited to have you on. You guys always have great little houses for everyone to purchase and donate and to help the homeless of Orange County here in Southern California. Carolyn, can you tell us about HomeAid Orange County.

Carolyn Baker: Well, HomeAid Orange County is a founding chapter of a national non-profit organization. We’ve been around for over 20 years, and what we do is build housing for homeless families and individuals.

LaFern Cusack: And with the Project Playhouse…

Carolyn Baker: Project Playhouse is our signature fundraiser. It enables us to be able to build these special dignified specialized housing. What we build, I don’t like to call them shelters because they really are homes. The families and individuals that live there are given a stable, secure place to rebuild their lives.

LaFern Cusack: And you guys are building a Net-Zero house. Can you tell our audience about that, Rochelle?

Rochelle Veturis: Well, it’s an Ocean Adventure Lab and it is a Net-Zero Playhouse, which means it produces as much power as it consumes. It’s got photovoltaic cells up on the roof, it’s a very green, sustainable playhouse so the kids – there’s a little thing called a truth wall inside, it has, what is that material that’s over it?

Charlie Williams: Flugene insulation and we will include – at the front of the building will have a wall that has the studs exposed, the windows exposed, the structure – so we can use the structure itself as a teaching moment for the kids to learn about construction and sustainability.

LaFern Cusack: And Cindy, can you tell us more about this sustainability and what you’re teaching the kids at Project Playhouse, and again, www.ProjectPlayhouse.org for more information.

Cindy Kennedy: Absolutely. The children and especially in Orange County, we live so close to the ocean that we want to teach them how important it is to sustain their environment. Not to use or consume more power than they produce, so Net-Zero means that the Playhouse uses the same amount of energy that it produces itself, as Rochelle said. We have PV or photovoltaic cells on the roof producing; we also have a rain catcher so that any water that is caught will now be recycled back through the facility.

LaFern Cusack: Nice.

Cindy Kennedy: So the children actually have water experimentation and clean water projects that they can understand what it means to do this at home.

LaFern Cusack: And Carolyn, if anyone, if any parents are out there listening that would like to purchase this and the donations go, again, to HomeAid Orange County and it helps the homeless, what can they do?

Carolyn Baker: Oh, we’re going to have an auction party on September 10th. Auction Par-tay!

LaFern Cusack: Auction Party! All right!

Carolyn Baker: It’s going to be really nice and really special this year, so we’ll have that and you can go to www.ProjectPlayhouse.org to get more information on it. And it’s really exciting because our whole thing this year is turn a playhouse into a home.

LaFern Cusack: That’s fantastic. And again, a home is what you make. And Charlie, how did you guys come up with this concept of building this Net-Zero house and making it so educational for kids?

Charlie Williams: Yeah, absolutely. It was a real opportunity when we had first been approached to participate in this project with all of our other team members. The first thing that came to our mind was sustainability. It’s first and foremost in our company’s mind and we wanted to bring that to the kids that may have a chance to participate and interact with this facility. So, including the items that Cindy has mentioned, the photovoltaic panels, recycled material, we’ll be using a lot of that. And exposing the actual structure so the kids can see how a building goes together, learn about the materials, learn the fact that recycled content can make a beautiful project for them. Something’s that’s fun and exciting to play with and learn about.

LaFern Cusack: And Cindy, how did you guys come up with the dimensions of the house? I mean, because you’re taking a full-scale house and you are shrinking it.

Cindy Kennedy: Absolutely. That part was a little challenging, but the actual platform where we build the house on is determined by the Project Playhouse Group and it’s an 8×10 platform. So we had some pretty big ideas to push down into a very small space. So we were given the parameters of both the dimensions of height as well as the width and length and so we had to be very creative in a very small space for these children.

LaFern Cusack: Very much so. What was the most difficult thing about it, Rochelle, for you?

Rochelle Veturis: The most difficult thing about doing a playhouse? Well, we actually like when there’s all these little challenges because it makes us better designers. So, it’s kind of fun because it really stretches you and this was just so great because a challenge for us, like that we’re still working on is using 100% rescued materials. So, we’re going to try and salvage each and ever piece so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill. It ends up as a beautiful playhouse that not only provides a great place for kids to play and learn and it’s going to have a little honorary LEED Certification, which is the green building rating nationally and we’ll get that from our local chapter, but it also, again, goes further and lives on to help HomeAid and provide homes for people that really, really truly need them. So we’re really blessed in Orange County and we know it.

LaFern Cusack: And Carolyn, how again can we get tickets, can we participate, can we purchase a house, go to the auction; go to the Par-tay?

Carolyn Baker: Yes, definitely, well we’re going to be – our Grand Opening Party is July 31st at the Irvine Spectrum Center right under the giant Ferris wheel, we transform that area into this incredible village. There’s going to be eight playhouses. So the first Grand Opening day is really exciting. Just a $10 donation, again, that’s helping us support HomeAid, and you’ll be able to tour all the houses and on that Grand Opening day is the only day you can go in the playhouses. So you’ll be able to go right inside the Ocean Lab, Ocean Adventure Lab, and see all the experiments and experience on top of the eight other – seven other playhouses.

LaFern Cusack: Do you have a list of other playhouses that are going to be there, or not yet?

Carolyn Baker: Well, we do have the buildings, but they’re still kind of in that – they’re not –

Carolyn Baker: They’re not secretive but they’re in the development –

Carolyn Baker: I know for sure, we’ve got this one incredible house that’s built by Shea, beautiful, just bright colors and really exciting. I wouldn’t call it dollhouse, because your kids can go in it, but it’s just this really bright-colored exciting little house.

LaFern Cusack: Can you tell us some of the houses from last year?

Carolyn Baker: Oh, last year. Last year we had, for those of you that wanted to be the little miniature up growing chefs, William Lyon developed this beautiful little pizzeria, Italian kitchen. It was incredible with a little pizza cooking round thing, and little bistro table, it was so adorable. We had another one that was called, Sitting Pretty in Provence. It was like a miniature little French home that you would see in the countryside. It was beautiful. We had Rock the House for Ebony, all the Guitar Hero fans and it was every technology you want in the world, Wii, everything was in it. The Opportunity Drawing House last year from McCarthy and Choc was a farmhouse.

LaFern Cusack: Yes.

Carolyn Baker: It was beautiful.

LaFern Cusack: I remember they came in. They were so excited about it.

Carolyn Baker: Yes. Yes. It was very exciting. They were one of our first commercial builders. And Ocean Adventure Lab is a – we’re excited because we brought in another commercial builder, which is Turner. And so that is very exciting too to have them join us this year.

LaFern Cusack: If you’re just tuning in, I’m LaFern Cusack and we’re speaking with Cindy Kennedy, Charlie Williams, Rochelle Veturis, and Carolyn Baker. And they have the great Project Playhouse, www.ProjectPlayhouse.org, and they have the great house that they are building. And again, Carolyn, what is your website for HomeAid Orange County where all the money is going to help the homeless.

Carolyn Baker: It’s www.HomeAidOC.org.

LaFern Cusack: And Rochelle, can you tell us more about your, your, well LPA Inc.?

Rochelle Veturis: Well, LPA is a green architectural design firm, and we actually are one of the top sustainable design firms in the nation, and there is an accreditation that you get when you’re an expert in green building, and we have 78% of our professional staff LEED accredited professionals.

LaFern Cusack: What establishes that?

Rochelle Veturis: Well, the U.S. Green Building Council establishes that and LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

LaFern Cusack: That is fantastic!

Rochelle Veturis: So, we take it very seriously, it’s really special to us and – we don’t have a sustainability Director, it’s spread out throughout our entire firm.

LaFern Cusack: I know that a lot of people may go, yeah, I want a green house; I want to be sustainable. What does that mean?

Cindy Kennedy: In terms of developing a green house or a sustainable project, Charlie knows because you’ve been involved in so many of these. LPA and our firm provide the technology to help drive their firm. We look at every project in terms of what can you do to minimize the impact on your environment, your surroundings, and leave the smallest footprint you possibly can.

LaFern Cusack: And Charlie, if some people out there want to – want to green their house, or want to make it sustainable; can you give us some tips on that?

Charlie Williams: Yeah, there’s some really simple things you can do. A lot of people have heard about looking into your existing lighting conditions, replacing all your incandescent bulbs with florescent, reaching out to companies out there that will come out to your home and help you do an inventory, connecting with an architect when you’re looking at doing a remodeling project and express to them that you’re interested on focusing in on LEED sustainable projects.

There’s different products that LEED offers and new construction is typically used for large scale commercial constructions, and there’s also home product as well that’s offered and you can go in, there’s a range of points that are out there. There’s about 110 total. And of those 110, you try to select as many of those as possible that range anything from about site development, recycled content, water use, energy efficiency, and you try to implement as many of those points as you can into this project. The more you implement, the more certifiable your project becomes.

So the entry level project is about 40 points, and then you can range from Certified to Silver, Gold, and Platinum, each level indicating a higher level of sustainability that you’ve introduced into the project.

LaFern Cusack: What would you say to people out there that might think that all of this is too much, and, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that ‘cause it’s just too much to be sustainable, too much to be green!’

Charlie Williams: No, that’s a –

LaFern Cusack: That’s a myth.

Charlie Williams: That’s a gross misconception. We believe at LPA that, including sustainability is just part of our DNA, and it doesn’t have to cost any more. It’s beautiful and even if you weren’t to pursue a LEED project, you can still do things that are sustainable and bring some quality to the project.

LaFern Cusack: Right. And by doing that, you can go to HomeAid Orange County’s 19th Annual Project Playhouse. Carolyn, can you give us the run down on that again?

Carolyn Baker: Okay, our Grand Opening is Saturday, July 31st, and we’re open from noon to 6 p.m. at Irvine Spectrum Center. After that, we’ll be open on the weekends all the up till, all the month of August on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Fridays we’re open from noon to 4 p.m., on Saturdays and Sundays, we’re open from noon to 6 p.m. and the finale will be the Closing Party, which will be on Saturday, I mean, Sunday, September 5th. And at that Closing Party, we’re going to present the People’s Choice Award. We do that every single year and people can vote online. It’s very, very exciting. So you’ll be able to see that and cheer for your favorite playhouse. We also will do the drawing of the ticket for the opportunity drawing house on that day too. And you don’t have to be present to win, but it’s really exciting to be there to see if it’s your ticket.

LaFern Cusack: I know! You can take one home.

Carolyn Baker: Yes.

LaFern Cusack: And I know when you were on a couple of years ago, someone bought the, the house for a – an extra computer room in their backyard.

Carolyn Baker: Yes, we’ve had that happen. We had another one a couple of years ago, in fact, it was called the Wii Green Playhouse, and a family bought it and it ended up that it became the dad’s favorite place. So he hung out there.

LaFern Cusack: Oh my goodness. That is so great. And you guys put so much of your time and so much of your love into these houses, for the playhouses. And all the money, again, helps the homeless of Orange County, helps the kids. Can you tell us, Cindy, what you have done that you didn’t know was going to touch the life of a child or someone that is in a homeless state right now?

Cindy Kennedy: Well, actually Rochelle and I started talking about this project last fall and two of the tenets of our firm, ProRepro, are both sustainability as well as philanthropy. So, we’re very much aligned with LPA, and we started to talk about what could we do together as a team outside of the working environment that really touched the community? And when we started to understand that you can combine a teaching experience, like sustainability, with actually touching children’s lives and giving them a home, giving them a place where, as Carolyn said, they can feel like they can live in a dignified fashion, the whole thing came full circle to where we could understand the combination of both sustainability and dignified living and philanthropy.

LaFern Cusack: Can you tell us about ProRepro and why you chose to come onboard?

Cindy Kennedy: Well, we are the technology provider for a number of what we call AEC, or Architectural Engineering and Construction firms in Southern California. So our client base are the design firms and we are very aligned with anyone who understands both philanthropy and sustainability.

So, we were really looking for a new project that we could combine those two tenets, and our firm is so deeply rooted in those things. In fact, we’ve done, and many of the things Charlie spoke about, we have added PV Panels on our roofs, we’ve added occupancy sensors, we’ve changed out – we have no more water bottles in our office, we use a filter mechanism and we, in fact, are going to be adding a lot of new things to our facility. None of our equipment is contributing to landfills. Everything is all green and sustainable.

So our firm really believes that, again, you really have to practice what you preach and you have to continue to push the envelope in terms of sustainability and we feel that none of these things are difficult to do, you just have to start thinking about them and in fact, our employees have benefited because we have a flex schedule where employees can earn up to two days off per pay period by just staying at work, either coming earlier or later, and LPA is on a similar schedule, where you can reduce emissions for your employees driving to work.

LaFern Cusack: Oh wow! That’s fantastic! How do you guys initiate that, Charlie?

Charlie Williams: At LPA, part of what we’ve implemented is some strategies where we encourage bicycling to work, there are bike racks at your station, near our workstations that are accessible.

We also participated in a program with; I believe it was Ford, or Chevrolet that offered a fuel cell vehicle to us. And we were using that for a while. And participating when a project team would go to an offsite meeting, we’d try to collect as many people going to that same meeting and use that fuel cell vehicle. So that was a great opportunity for us to be involved with some innovative technology and also help the environment.

LaFern Cusack: And Rochelle, you’re just sitting there, like just happy that you guys are doing all of this. I love that you’re so excited and passionate about the environment and what you guys are doing.

Rochelle Veturis: Well, thank you so much. I just love Project Playhouse, I’ve known about it for years and I, actually former media. So when I first learned about it I was at a newspaper, so now to be at a firm that can participate, it’s really truly special.

LaFern Cusack: It’s like, Rock On!

Rochelle Veturis: Yeah. You heard about our – we’re really excited about our social media and what we’re doing and –

LaFern Cusack: Tweet!

Rochelle Veturis: And this is really fun, ‘cause this year we’re going to have a TweetUp and we’re going to have all these Orange County social media influencers around the playhouses and that has never been done before at any of the 20 HomeAid chapters nationally, so we’re really very excited and it’s a great cause and we’re happy to just be here and support.

LaFern Cusack: And Carolyn, what is the website and how can people take part?

Carolyn Baker: Again, it’s www.ProjectPlayhouse.org. And yes, we are also on Facebook, so look for us and become a “like” or our “fan” on Facebook, and if you are a Twitter fan, please follow us and re-Tweet and spread the message about all of our events.

LaFern Cusack: I follow. I follow.

Carolyn Baker: Thank you! We’re out there. Our hash mark is #projectplayhouse10, so spread the message and get it out there to everybody.

LaFern Cusack: Most definitely and your website for HomeAid Orange County.

Carolyn Baker: Is, www.HomeAidOC.org.

LaFern Cusack: And before we leave, Carolyn, you’ve been on this project for years and years and you’ve come to the show every year and I’m so happy to have you. Is there one house that you can remember, not including your guys’ house, right now that you can remember from the previous years that you were just totally shocked and amazed and it just brought you to a new level of wow! This is some passionate people that are really helping our community?

Carolyn Baker: That is so tough because every single year when the houses roll in, which is the most exciting night in the world, the houses come in. I am like, Oh my! I’m blown away. I’m like, there’s no one that can surpass this. So I can’t say that because every single year someone does. And every single one of our teams is passionate and dedicated. You can see that they put their heart and soul in these playhouses. So anyone who is fortunate enough to purchase one, or you win one at the auction, you are bringing a little home in your house that has been… has had a lot of love, sweat, and tears put into it. It just is. So when you step in your little house, know that many, many hours of love and compassion went into this for you.

LaFern Cusack: Well, I want to thank you guys for coming and sharing your story. And definitely check out Project Playhouse, www.ProjectPlayhouse.org for more information. Ms. Cindy Kennedy, President of ProRepro, Charlie Williams, Architect of LPA Inc., and a playhouse designer, Rochelle Veturis, yes I got that right, Director of Media and Public Relations for LPA, and of course, the one and only, Carolyn Baker, Director of Community Relations Public Affairs for HomeAid Orange County. Such a pleasure to have you guys on. You must come back, and I can’t wait to see your house. Congratulations.

Carolyn Baker: Thank you.

LaFern Cusack: I’m LaFern Cusack, we’re gonna take a break and when we come back, we’re going to be talking about the Los Angeles or the Long Beach Jazz Festival here on 710 ESPN.

Read more on external website

Back to Overview