Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

The Woodland Restoration Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving the grounds of Woodland Cemetery, is in the process of fundraising and renovating the Eastern Henrico cemeterys former chapel into a museum to house artifacts and memorabilia of those interred at Woodland.

Woodland Cemetery, established in 1917 and located just north of I-64 at Mechanicsville Turnpike, is the second-largest historically African American cemetery in the area at 29 acres, next to the 60-acre Evergreen Cemetery. Woodland was created two years before perpetual care in cemeteries was required legally.

Marvin Harris, the cemeterys owner and the creator of the Woodland Restoration Foundation, grew up in Jackson Ward. He volunteered first at Evergreen Cemetery because he was an alumnus of Maggie Walker High School, whose namesake is buried in Evergreen. He spent more than four years working there before moving to Woodland.

I would venture to say I knew about 1,500 people out [in Woodland Cemetery], or at least had heard their name, Harris said. Thats what really brings me back. To see this history go back to absolutely nothing, it really makes me get involved. Thats why Im out there and thats why as long as Im on this earth, Im going to make sure that we bring it back around to where it should be.

Harris became the owner in August 2020, around five months after he became involved with the cemetery, he said. Prior to his ownership, Henrico elementary school teacher Kathleen Harrell was leading the efforts to get volunteers involved with cleaning up the cemetery.

Arthur Ashe, a Richmond-based tennis icon, is interred at Woodland Cemetery. His family and friends have donated money to the cemetery in the past. Those who were close to Ashe are also donating memorabilia to the museum, Harris said.

Harrell first went out to Woodland Cemetery in 2018 after she discovered that Ashe was buried in Richmond through a documentary she wanted to show her students, she said.

I saw [Ashes] gravesite and it looked great, she said. His family takes care of it and makes sure that its well-manicured. Then I turned around and the rest of the cemetery was completely overgrown. You couldnt see headstones, you couldnt see much of anything. It just really shook me and I couldnt stop thinking about it.

Later in 2018, Harrell heard that a large number of pine trees had been dumped in Woodland.

That was kind of my one deciding moment, like I need to go out and do something about that, she said. Three weeks and 22 truckloads later, John Shuck (another volunteer), my kid and I had cleared the dumped trees. Then I was just hooked.

Since then, Harrell has gone to the cemetery on a weekly basis, she said. She and other volunteers started a Facebook page to document the clearing progress and recruit more people to help out.

Harrell is now a board member for the restoration foundation and is in charge of coordinating volunteer efforts, she said.

Restoration is an ongoing process based upon available funding, Harris said.

Right now, were getting volunteers to put in as much time as they possibly can and weve got some donations coming in, he said, citing a $25,000 grant from Henrico County last summer among others. [A]nd we just got notice that the Virginia Outdoors Foundation is giving us a grant, so were basically doing it as we get the funding.

The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation also donated $50,000 to Woodland Cemetery in November 2020 for its restoration efforts.

Long-range planning, including road construction and an eventual educational center, will probably take 10 to 15 years, Harris said.

We see a lot of youth that come out and they might have heard of Arthur Ashe, but they have no knowledge of some of the other people the pastors and doctors and lawyers that are interred out there, Harris said. And some of the family havent been out there in years because they moved away, or it got to the point where they didnt feel safe coming out there. We want it to be so that they can punch their relatives name in and itll tell them exactly where theyre located.

Roxie Lyons, treasurer of The Woodland Restoration Foundation, has been involved with the organization for almost a year and started volunteering because she has family members interred in the cemetery, she said.

My mother used to take me and my brothers and sisters out there as kids to clean off the graveyard because it was in such bad condition, she said. Over the years, it got worse to the point where you couldnt even get in there to do [clean up].

The foundation has been applying for grants, trying to set up a perpetual fund and also reaching out to relatives of those who are buried in the cemetery for donations and volunteers, Lyons said.

Woodland is important to Lyons on a personal level, but it also should be important to everybody in the context of identifying the history of African Americans in Richmond, she said.

We know a lot about the Confederacy. We know a lot about the generals and soldiers and everybody in that, but what about people who were living under the laws of Jim Crow? What accomplishments did they make? Thats something that Woodland represents, Lyons said. It shows that people in this community, even though we were working at a major disadvantage, were able to accomplish wonderful things. Thats why I want [Woodland] to be beautified and made sacred again. I want it so that we can educate our children.

Patricia Bozeman, another board member of the restoration foundation, also grew up going to Woodland Cemetery. She re-visited the cemetery in her adulthood and decided to get involved when she saw its poor condition, she said.

For the group of founders, the original directors, who had the imagination and the skills at the time to make sure there was a decent, respectable burial place for African Americans in the Richmond area, its really important that story continues, Bozeman said. And then to find out who the people are who are buried there and their stories, thats something that my generation is going to lose.

Im not a spring chicken anymore and Im trying to make sure that my children and grandchildren are aware of the story and know where their families and neighbors are at Woodland Cemetery.

* * *

To learn more about the Woodland Restoration Foundation and Woodland Cemetery, or to contribute to the efforts to restore it, visit http://www.woodlandrestorationfoundation.org/

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Restoring history | The Henrico Citizen - Henrico Citizen

Softie Interior Renovation / OPA Architects

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Text description provided by the architects. Why cant architecture be more like nature -- changeable, varied, and uninhibited? Our client wanted to return home and feel a sense of private freedom, a release from the conformity of the world outside.

In this project, we softened her existing Modernist house by infusing it with an atmosphere of clouds. The clouds scatter freely throughout the house and dissolve and soften it in different ways.

The clouds erode and blur the order of the rational modernist grid, creating a sense of space that floats and drifts. Moments of softness are encountered unexpectedly the interventions are like a mist that has settled unevenly.

The softness dissolves the entry, melts the stairs, wafts through the house on all three floors, and a lonely cloud is trapped above a sheltered terrace.

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Softie Interior Renovation / OPA Architects - ArchDaily

MILWAUKEE (Feb. 11, 2021)NARI Milwaukeeis excited to announce the tradition will continue! The 59thannual Spring Home Improvement Show is back at State Fair Park with new dates for 2021. Thepopular show will be held May 2123 at the Wisconsin Exposition Center,8200 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis.

To say thank you to front-line workers, NARI Milwaukee is providing free admission (with I.D.) to the show. Each year, NARI offers free admission toretired and active-duty military personnel (with I.D.) and decided to expand the offering to recognize the front-line workers who have worked tirelessly this past year.

The Spring Home Improvement Show will once again include more than 200 NARI Milwaukee members. Exhibitors run the gamut of remodeling and home improvement services and products from design/build firms to specialized contractors for all areas of the home, including roofing, gutters, windows, doors, HVAC, electrical and more.For those who have projects in mind, the NARI Spring Home Improvement Show is the place to find qualified professionals who can do the job right.

Over the past year, homeowners have realized the shortcomings of their dwelling.They are looking for improved use of space and function in kitchens, bathrooms and basements.Exteriors are getting their needed maintenance with new siding, windows and roofs, while outdoor entertaining and play spaces are a must, says Diane Welhouse, CKBR, executive director of NARI Milwaukee. Homeowners are looking to hire experienced, local professionals and were ready to make those connections at our show.

Welhouse is confident the spring show will be a success. Last fall with COVID safety protocols in place, NARI Milwaukee held its Home & Remodeling Show in October at State Fair Park.

The NARI Milwaukee consumer shows are vital to the community. For those who have projects in mind, the NARI Shows arethe place to findqualified professionals who can do the job right. For the more than 600 NARI Milwaukee member companies, the shows support local small business.

Nearly 80% of our members are small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, says Welhouse.

NARI Milwaukee, State Fair Park and Valley Expo Services are closely monitoring the coronavirus and will implement applicable safety protocols as part of the show. A detailed Health and Safety Policies document is available atNARIMilwaukeehomeshow.com.

Spring Home Improvement Show Hours, Tickets & Parking

Fri., May 21, 10 a.m. 8 p.m.

Sat., May 22, 10 a.m. 8 p.m.

Sun., May 23, 10 a.m. 5 p.m.

$10 in advance (online only at NARIMilwaukeeHomeShow.com); $12 at the door; Adults 60+ are $8 at the door; children age 17 and younger and retired and active-duty military personnel (with I.D.) are free. In addition,to acknowledge and thank front-line workers for their dedication and service, they will be admitted free into the show with I.D.

$6 for parking at State Fair; ample street parking is also available

For more information on the NARI Spring Home Improvement Show or to receive a free copy of Renovate, the 2021 consumer magazine and membership directory, visit NARImilwaukee.org or call 414-771-4071.

# # #

NARI Milwaukeeis an over 600-member strong organization that represents the best remodeling and home improvement professionals in the area. Since 1961, NARI Milwaukee has been a trusted resource for consumers. The non-profit promotes professionalism, ethical conduct and sound business practices in the remodeling industry and works to educate and inform Milwaukee-area homeowners. Consumers can have peace of mind and confidence when selecting and working with a NARI Milwaukee member. For more information on NARI and its members, visit NARImilwaukee.org or call 414-771-4071 for a free copy of Renovate,our 2021 consumer magazine and membership directory.

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National Association of the Remodeling Industry Milwaukee: Announces May dates for spring home improvement show - Wisbusiness.com

With the emergence of COVID-19 mandates in 2020, a Honolulu homeowner and his family discovered that their new residence, designed and completed a year earlier by Graham Builders, offered flexibility beyond their expectations.

The major project began with the teardown of a 60-year-old house, followed by a new design that maintained the aesthetics of the neighborhood. The primary goal was a residence in which the couple could gracefully age in place and accommodate family members. Having recently cared for elder family members, universal design was essential.

Little did they know that their design decisions would have a tremendous impact on their lives when the 2020 pandemic blanketed the globe.

STAY HOME, WORK FROM HOME

Shortly after the family moved into their new residence, COVID-19 became a national crisis. When Hawaiis first stay-home, work-from-home order was released last March, the homeowner found himself in need of a remote office space. His wife also wanted additional space to sew masks for loved ones.

Because the homeowners and their design team produced a plan that allows individual privacy, a bedroom on the second floor served nicely for his needs. The accessible mother-in-law suite on the lower level was repurposed as a sewing room.

The homeowner works in the IT industry, helping medical professionals, call center staff and other admin to work remotely.

Home design plays a large role in this transition, explains the homeowner. In order for physicians to see patients through telemedicine and for secure call center staff to receive calls away from the workplace, each employee is required to have an environment that is isolated from others, including their family.

This requirement spans other privacy-intensive (compliance regulated) professions such as legal, financial and insurance occupations. Even employees who process transactions on a credit card machine require privacy.

Ensuring client confidentiality requires an environment separate and secluded from the employees family members and other occupants. A securable, acoustically isolated guest room with high-speed internet connectivity can fill the need for a private office when there is need.

BUILT TO ADAPT

Designed to accommodate a diverse variety of occupants, this residence has proven eminently adaptable during the recent national crisis.

As working from home becomes the new normal, home designs should include spaces where functions can be adapted as needs change. This also broadens the ability for jobs, as no longer are we limited to jobs solely in Hawaii. Many companies list remote as a location for their job offerings. Many employers are seeing that with todays technology, the best candidate for the job may not be located within driving distance of the companies physical location.

The pandemic has many companies and organizations rethinking the need to invest in office space, observes the homeowner. I keep mentioning to people how fortunate we were to have our new Graham Builders home during the pandemic not only to have a space to make masks, but also because it allowed me to work from home comfortably and securely. Its a great space.

Founded in 1990, Graham Builders remains the only local general contractor honored with Better Business Bureau Hawaiis Torch Award for Small Business Ethics, and was also Oahus first design-build general contractor with a certified aging-in-place specialist on staff. You are invited to register for Graham Builders free Building Your Home for Life seminar, scheduled for Saturday, March 6, at grahambuilders.com/seminar, or call 593-2808.

GRAHAM BUILDERSCONTACT 593-2808ADDRESS 1144 Young St., HonoluluWEB grahambuilders.com

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Homes That Last - Graham Builders | Hawaii Renovation - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Home renovation trends are ever-changing. Renovations that might have been de rigueur 20 years ago may seem dated now. Recognizing the potentially popular trends of tomorrow is a great way for homeowners to give their homes a fresh new look and put themselves in position to capitalize on popular trends when they put their homes on the market. Thats especially so after 2020, a year when millions of people spent more time at home than ever before. All that time working from home and relaxing at home gave millions of homeowners ideas about what they like about their homes and what they hope to change. The following are some renovation trends that various experts suspect could emerge in 2021.

Multi-functional spaces: Homeowners asked a lot of their homes in 2020, as rooms were transformed into multi-functional spaces seemingly overnight. HGTV notes that spending more time at home showed homeowners that it may not make sense to dedicate entire rooms of a home to a single purpose. Renovations that can help homeowners transform rooms into multi-functional spaces figure to be hot commodities in the years ahead.

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Renovation trends that figure to be popular in the year ahead - Daily Herald

This report on Manufactured Homes, Modular Homes, and Mobile Homes market Added by Market Study Report, LLC, covers valuable insights based on market valuation, market size, revenue forecast, SWOT Analysis and regional outlook of this industry. The research also presents a precise summary of the industrys competitive spectrum, while drawing attention to the growth prospects and expansion plans adopted by key market players.

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The study also deciphers the business scenario in all its geographical and product segments. Moreover, it analyses the competition in this vertical by investigating the hierarchy of the top organizations. In addition, recommendations and conclusions for the measures that should be undertaken by businesses for dealing with the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are discussed at length.

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Contact Us:Corporate Sales,Market Study Report LLCPhone: 1-302-273-0910Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: [emailprotected]

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Latest Study explores the Manufactured Homes, Modular Homes, and Mobile Homes Ma - GroundAlerts.com

CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / February 15, 2021 / Significant demand and media attention has been brought to mobile home parks recently and for good reason. Mobile home parks were the top-performing real estate class in 2020 as stated by Green Street Data. Mobile home parks had a 12% increase in commercial property value when a majority of other commercial real estate asset classes struggled in 2020.

A worker earning the average wage does not have many other housing choices, with the national mobile home park lot rent at $375-425 range per month in a majority of the country. In comparison, the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment was $892 a month in 2017. Families have even fewer choices. A two-bedroom apartment was $1,103, according to the Fair Market Rents kept by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development according to Manufactured Housing Institute.

Important trends show a surge in the population aging into retirement increases the demand for affordable housing. The age 55-plus cohort in the U.S. will grow by nearly 1.7 million people in 2020, and through 2025, another 7.6 million will reach this milestone. As these residents retire, many will consider purchasing manufactured homes in age-restricted communities, boosting mobile home park demand even more.

Midwest Park Capital is a private real estate investment firm providing accredited investors with exclusive access to high-yield investments in the Mobile Home Park vertical. Our fundamental strategy is to assemble a diversified portfolio of low-risk, high cash-flow mobile home park assets with the goal of delivering capital preservation, consistent quarterly cash-on-cash income paired with equity growth. We achieve this objective by acquiring, then adding-value or repositioning under-valued, mismanaged, sub-performing, or improperly capitalized income-producing assets. Investing passively allows you to get the cash flow and tax benefits of owning real estate, without the headaches of being a landlord.

Story continues

As middle and lower-class families continue to be pressured financially, growing demand for inexpensive housing makes mobile home parks the most attractive housing option for the average American earner which currently is around $33k per year. Mobile homes will continue to be the best option for those unable to pay the high costs of conventional homes and ever-increasing apartment rents. Mobile home parks are typically 1/3 the cost of a single-family house or 1/2 that of an equivalent apartment building in the same community.

Due to increasingly burdensome zoning regulations, few mobile home parks are being built with approximately only 10 new parks developed in the past 20 years. These government regulations artificially constrain the supply of mobile home parks. In addition, profit margins for mobile home park developers are often inferior to those in the apartment industry. Finally, many parks are redeveloped or torn down every year for bigger real estate projects that bring in higher tax revenue to the community.

The cost of moving a mobile home is roughly $5,000-$10,000 along with the headache of hiring a fully licensed transporter driver and a licensed and insured technician team to disassemble all the utilities. This is too high of a cost for most of the residents in a mobile home park. Mobile home parks in which you rent the land to the homeowners have a much lower turnover ratio as compared to apartments as the average mobile home tenant stays 14 years in the same community. In most cases, once the home is moved into a park, that home will stay for decades. When residents decide to move, they simply resell the home which remains in the park and the new homeowner becomes a tenant.

For 5 decades, mobile home parks have outperformed other real estate sectors. Even outperformed other real estate sectors during the most recent recession by a large margin and were the top-performing real estate asset class even in 2020. Mobile home parks increased in value by 12% when a majority of other real estate asset classes went down in value during Covid-19. Demand for mobile home parks which are the only affordable housing and non-subsidized option actually increases as the economy tightens. The unique, favorable economics of mobile home parks produce superior risk-adjusted returns for investors in 2021 and the foreseeable future.

Looking forward to the rest of 2021, with the US facing a potential dollar collapse and the economy looking unstable due to Covid-19 restrictions and closures. Mobile home parks historically tend to do even better during economic downturns as they provide the only form of non-subsidized low-income housing and serving the 60 million Americans who need affordable housing. Factor in that the average household income for 20% of all Americans is under $20,000. Based on the government's suggested ratio of housing costs to total income about 33% of these families can afford around $500 per month. Mobile home parks are the only option for this large percentage of the US population. Mobile home parks are very well-positioned to outperform the markets and properly position to hedge inflation for the foreseeable future.

Contact:

Midwest Park CapitalJonathan TuttleInfo@MiwestParkCapitalFund.com833-MHP-FUNDwww.MidwestParkCapital.comwww.MidwestParkCapitalFund.com

SOURCE: Midwest Park Capital

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/629641/Why-Mobile-Home-Park-Investments-Will-Thrive-in-2021

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Why Mobile Home Park Investments Will Thrive in 2021 - Yahoo Finance

Sandie Hayes found her way out of a homeless shelter and into one of 30-subsidized units in the Solace Apartments in St. Peter in 2019.

The new setting provided the kind of housing stability her life was sorely missing. It helped Hayes escape a troubled relationship and aided in her pursuit of sobriety. She could easily tap into supportive services, including on-site Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and connection to mental health offerings.

Im alone now. I love myself. And Im not in a toxic relationship anymore, Hayes recounted recently. If I didnt have housing like Solace, that wouldnt happen for me.

Hayes shared those personal details with Minnesota lawmakers, who are searching for ways to replicate the success story.

Whether its people trying to get back on their feet or its companies struggling to expand because there are few places for workers to live, affordable housing is in critical demand.

Minnesota Housing, a state agency, estimated last year that more than 550,000 households devoted at least 30 percent of their income sometimes much more to housing. That benchmark is one measure of housing insecurity.

Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul and the chair of a legislative housing committee, said the problem has only grown more acute over the past year.

Housing was already a crisis. It has become even greater since the pandemic and jobs that were lost and people who are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their bills, Hausman said.

Sen. Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake and head of a Senate housing panel, hears much the same.

When I travel the state, thats the number one thing I hear from chambers and business people is they dont have enough affordable housing, Draheim said. They have a hard time attracting people because they cant find anywhere that is affordable.

A 2018 Housing Task Force estimated the need for 300,000 new housing units in Minnesota by 2030. While that figure covers all types and price points, the task force found the most significant need was for places where low-income families could call home.

Legislators from both parties are pushing bills to address the lagging stock of emergency shelter space, adequate multi-family housing at affordable rents and availability of entry-level, single-family homes.

Proposals range from increased assistance for rent or mortgage to state borrowing toward new housing development and building rehab projects.

Sen. Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake is head of a Senate housing panel.

Draheim has introduced legislation to redefine how Minnesota Housing chooses projects for funding. Under his proposal, state officials would prioritize projects that are ready to build over future planned projects. Minnesota Housing would also have a cost-per-unit spending cap where projects that cost more than the median cost of a house in the community where that project is being built wouldn't get funding.

"The premise of the bill is 'What can we do to get more housing units overall?'" Draheim told lawmakers Tuesday at a Senate Housing Policy and Finance Committee hearing.

Draheim would also like to see more state money divvied up throughout the state. His proposal includes stipulations that housing funding be split by congressional districts throughout the state.

Housing advocates and state officials agree with Draheim's premise, but several organizations took issue with the senator's proposal, fearing it would have unintended consequences and could make some Greater Minnesota projects more expensive.

Draheim told lawmakers he was willing to work with other groups to provide different language or exceptions as needed, but he would like to see the agency concentrate on getting as many housing units built as possible.

He said after the hearing that his proposal is meant to spur more action on the agency's part to address housing shortages, but the state needs to start tackling the problem with new approaches.

"I think this is a logical step in trying to use these resources the best that we can," he said.

Lawmakers are hearing from civic leaders, business owners and housing specialists from across the state Alexandria, Grand Rapids, St. Peter and beyond. Thats probably by design.

Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis, said it highlights how substantial the statewide need is. She chairs a House committee focused on combating homelessness.

Housing supply and affordability impact every single community across Minnesota, Gomez said. And I know were going to have to continue to beat that drum because there is this sort of mistaken impression that it just impacts the urban core.

Take Roseau as an example.

Todd Peterson, community development coordinator in the far northwestern Minnesota city, said there are seldom vacancies in its affordable housing stock a chronic problem he says has made it tough for the industrial area to fill job openings.

We just dont have the housing to house those people we need to bring in to work at those jobs, Peterson said. Weve tapped out our labor force and without additional housing we just cant move forward.

Dedicated workforce housing grants are among several proposals in the mix. Measures pushed by Gov. Tim Walz include $100 million in housing infrastructure bonds to foster more supportive housing, senior housing and manufactured home parks.

Since 2012, lawmakers have authorized $415 million in housing bonds that have supported $775 million in total development when local and private money is factored in. Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho says the return on investment is strong.

Thats jobs. Thats economic development. Thats getting people to work, Ho said. And its also creating or preserving over 4,700 units.

Program skeptics say the cost-per-unit is too high.

The reasons are many: The prices of lumber and other construction supplies are up. There are permit fees that builders say drive up their costs. Many government-subsidized projects come with wage requirements for construction crews.

Were chasing perfection with the cost of building a new home or a new unit, Draheim said.

He said the debate shouldnt be limited to how much the state antes up.

We have to look at zoning, energy code, building code, density, he said.

The housing construction discussion could get tangled in the brewing debate over what to do about evictions once a COVID-19-prompted moratorium goes away.

Key lawmakers say they hope to keep the two separate, but that might not be possible as the session goes on.

Mankato Free Press Staff Writer Trey Mewes contributed to this story.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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Drive for low-cost housing finds bipartisan buy-in - Mankato Free Press

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) As temperatures continue to drop across the High Plains, these colder temperatures could mean costly repairs if you dont prepare right.

Matt Cobb, site manager with Carpet Tech Amarillo, said the last time they had a cold snap like this in 2016, they averaged 30 calls a day for the week of December 19th for flooded homes and they are anticipating a busy weekend ahead.

They are pretty frequent. Weve had quite a few this week and we are definitely expecting a bunch this over this weekend, said Cobb.

Cobb said to avoid your pipes freezing, you should shut off outside water spigots and set your interior faucets to drip to keep water flowing so they dont freeze.

Cobb said that homes that sit up off the ground such as manufactured homes or homes with pier and beam foundations can run a higher risk of freezing pipes.

Any home that is off the ground and that doesnt have a concrete foundation. If its a pier and beam home, if its a mobile home, a manufactured home. Any of those typically run a higher risk for freezing pipes just because they are exposed and not laid and poured into the concrete, said Cobb.

He said when a frozen pipe bursts it can cause serious damage.

Ive seen some pretty amazing things that water has done from a frozen pipe or a busted pipe or a thawing pipe. Its cold and then it warms up and then it just floods the whole house, said Cobb.

Cobb added, Hardwood floor, obliviously anytime wood gets wet it will expand or contract a little bit once it dries and then it will buckle. You may potentially have to remove the entire wood floor and have it replace. Carpet, there is a risk if you dont get those out of there and dry them properly of mildew smells or even mold.

Atmos Energy Friday also released some safety tips for warming your home during these bitterly cold temperatures.

Michael Gonzales, public affairs manager with Atmos Energy said to never use an oven or a gas stovetop to heat your home and to safely remove snow from vents for dryers and other natural gas equipment as both of these things can lead to a dangerous buildup of carbon monoxide gas in your home.

Gonzales also added if you think you smell gas to leave the area immediately and from a safe distance call 911 and the Atmos Energy emergency number at 866.322.8667.

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Getting your home ready for the freezing weather - KAMR - MyHighPlains.com

Born of a summer of racial-justice protests calling for systemic change at the University of Iowa, the universitys Reimagining Campus Safety Action Committee is moving forward on its goal to rework the UIs approach to campus safety.

The committee held two town hall meetings in February to gather feedback on three potential plans depicting how campus safety could be tweaked or overhauled. The plans were designed with specific attention to how safety affects people of color and other communities that have been historically harmed by police.

UI Vice President for Student Life Sarah Hansen, who chairs the committee, said the group will compile input from the town halls and other avenues, and she hopes to present a recommendation to UI President Bruce Harreld by mid-March.

The first model is focused on recruiting a diverse campus police force and heightening anti-racism and implicit bias training for campus officers.

UI Interim Co-Director of Public Safety Mark Bullock, who sits on the committee, said these forums have given the UI Police Department a chance to highlight steps that he believes many community members dont know the university has taken.

A lot of things that we do are behind the scenes, developing programs in our community and working with community partners, campus partners to create opportunities for non-law enforcement responses, Bullock said.

The committee suggested the creation of a campus wellness division as part of the first model that would respond to less imminent safety threats, such as mental health crises and substance abuse. Emergency dispatchers would decide who should handle calls for service.

The second model, the holistic approach, suggests a more dramatic overhaul of the universitys approach to campus safety. It would minimize UIPD presence on campus and divert service calls to other professionals, such as crisis and health care workers.

Under this model, the UIPD would only respond to more serious crimes and wouldnt be on campus unless requested.

The third approach suggests the creation of an oversight committee focused on police accountability and considers past actions from the campus police department and makes recommendations. It would be overseen by a presidents cabinet member.

Hansen said the three models are tentative, and the committee could combine any number of approaches in its final recommendation to Harreld.

One of the most important things is that even though theyre presented as unique, discrete models, there are elements of the potential models that could be broken down and reconstituted in different iterations, she said.

RELATED: Reimagining Campus Safety committee holds first town hall, unveils three prototypes for changing campus safety

Hansen said Harreld will most likely share feedback and discuss the effectiveness of each model with the cabinet, which includes the universitys vice presidents. She said the university could begin acting on those changes by this summer.

The committee developed the three prototypes in response to initial feedback from the universitys cultural centers and diversity councils, Hansen said. Its also seeking campus feedback through a survey on the Division of Student Life website, she said, and it plans to give presentations to the presidents cabinet, staff council, and faculty senate in the near future.

She said the committee has focused on feedback from diverse groups that are more negatively impacted by law enforcement.

That was something that we felt was very important, knowing that certain individuals in our community are impacted differently by systems such as law enforcement, she said. So, we purposely started with those populations in order to make sure that their feedback was really heard.

The majority of students who attended the two town halls showed favor for the holistic model, which suggests drastically reducing police presence on campus.

Felicia Pieper, a graduate research assistant in the UI College of Public Health, said she favors the holistic model that is close to where we need to be going.

The thing about policing is its a structural problem, and so I dont think these reformist or add-on policies are going to do anything to actually get at the root causes of the problem that were facing, Pieper said. And so, the holistic approach gets to that by completely restructuring what safety looks like.

Pieper said the holistic approach could provide more opportunities for crime prevention by funneling funding into improving health and well-being on campus.

We know the police dont prevent crime. Police come after crime has happened thats the nature of policing, Pieper said. Social determinants of health, like good housing, fair working conditions, safe neighborhoods, along with strong communities, actually are what prevents crime, and thats what we see in this model.

While Bullock said UIPD supports what the university decides, he said he prefers a plan that keeps the campus police department involved in campus safety without cutting funding or staff.

When we talk about cutting staff, especially internally here, at the university Department of Public Safety, theres faces behind these numbers, he said. Theres families behind these numbers and the people that would be impacted.

He added that, first and foremost, the UIPD wants to serve the community and it would be disheartening to not have officers and public safety employees included in the process to make change and get on the right side of history.

Pieper said it was frustrating that UIPD did not mention its involvement in Iowa City protests that occurred on June 3, after the OIR Group, a California-based firm specializing in police oversight, released a report about it in late January. The lack of transparency within the committee is concerning to those who are wanting to see real change, Pieper added.

Its really frustrating that this is now the only point where the university is reaching out to the university community for input at the very end of the process, she said. They chose a hierarchical, bureaucratic response to that by creating an academic committee that was appointed Its not just something to be sour about, but I think thatll have direct impacts on how our community trusts this process.

Caleb Klipowicz, a Ph.D. candidate in the UI Department of Anthropology, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that he had never thought much about policing until last summer and he started educating himself and learning from the Iowa Freedom Riders speeches at marches.

He wrote that, as a Resident Assistant during undergraduate, he ever had an experience where police presence in the dorms unannounced made him feel safer.

For me, a safe campus is one where every student is cared for, he wrote. The holistic model was the only one I felt could make a real difference. The other two options either increased the budget for police (the opposite of what I believe we need) or created a worthless committee to give the appearance of reform.

UI fifth-year Jacob Heid said that he felt the UIPDs inappropriate response to protests last summer was not something they could just make up for with more trainings and oversight.

Theyll issue statements on saying what they stand with the black community. Theyll issue statements saying they stand with people of color with LGBTQ individuals, but then theres no action to substantiate those claims, Heid said. Theres been no desire to right the wrongs. Until there are actual attempts to apologize to reconcile to, you know, recognize that maybe police arent always going to be an appropriate option for whatever issues that may arise.

He added that the committees decision to give Harreld the final say in selecting an approach does not make sense to a lot of students who attended the meetings.

I would just hate for everyone to think that the holistic model is the best option. but then for it to be just sort of discarded because Bruce [Harreld] and his cabinet dont want to put in the work and dont want to allocate the resources, he said. So, I think there was really a big concern about that as well, which I guess we will see what happens, but I hope that good decisions are made.

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University of Iowa considers three models to change approach to campus safety - UI The Daily Iowan