Home > Services > Architecture > Community Outreach

Community Outreach

Making a World of Difference

The earthquake that shook the Republic of Haiti on January 12, 2010 claimed the lives of over 250,000 people, injured more than 300,000 and left over one million people homeless.  It also devastated Notre Dame de Lourdes/Foyer des Filles de Dieu (Home of the Daughters of God) Orphanage.  Mdme. Paula Thybulle, the founder and executive director, is determined to rebuild on a new site in Croix des Bouquets, just outside Port-au-Prince.   Buffalo attorney Robert M. Greene, a long time volunteer at the orphanage, spearheaded a fundraising campaign for the reconstruction, and enlisted the aid of a group of Wendel architects and engineers, who have volunteered their time to design the new orphanage. You can learn more by visiting their website at www.haitianorphanagefund.com.

In addition to teaching a various local institutions (Villa Maria College, University at Buffalo, Buffalo State College), the architectural team has participated for the past several years in the Architecture + Education program founded by the AIA Buffalo/Western New York. The program brings increased awareness of the built and natural environment by school-aged children through integrating fundamental architectural principles into the grade school curriculum of the Buffalo Public Schools.