On July 2015, the Washington, DC Harvey-Cleary family along with our subcontractor community had the honorable opportunity to join Make-A-Wish’s vision to grant the wish of every child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition. When Harvey-Cleary was approached by Make-A-Wish to join their team in granting a life changing wish, there was no hesitation on our part to accept this gracious opportunity to change the lives of kids.
Our mission was to make six year old Carlin’s Make-A-Wish dream come true. When Carlin was two years old her parents noticed that she was not walking and moving like other children her age. After finding out Carlin has a developmental condition that does not allow her muscles to form normally, they then found out that she was also diagnosed with leukemia. Between therapies, and treatments Carlin has been through more in her short six years than most of us have in our adult lives. Carlin knew exactly what she wanted when this life changing dream come true was granted, a garden playset in her backyard.
Hand-in-hand, the dream team of Architects, Make-A-Wish volunteers, and the Harvey-Cleary family made it a mission over the next 6 weeks to make Carlin’s dream reality. We engaged family, friends, and the subcontractor community in our mission. Six weeks later after hundreds of volunteer hours during the week and weekends our goal and Carlin’s dream came true.
The team transformed the family’s backyard from a wooded, small, and dark environment to a bright, playful, educational and therapeutic oasis. The transformation consisted of clearing the backyard of trees and shrubs and doubling the size of the fenced in area to allow for the construction of the elevated multi-level playground structure as the focal point. The structure was equipped with a slide, a monster web swing, and an elevated play area. It was surrounded by a sustainable porous pavement playground surface play area and bike path with see-saws, tunnels, swings, and other playground playsets. The landscape was transformed with new plantings and multiple planting gardens so Carlin can plant her strawberries that she so much loves. A deck along with concrete paver areas were also built so Carlin and her family can relax and enjoy the next chapter of their lives.
The dream team and all of the generous volunteers were able to fulfill Carlin’s dream with special efforts made by Joe LaFonte (Vice President), Steve Irwin (Superintendent), and Catherine Hall (Office Administrator). We are all honored to be a part of this special wish.