We have no clue where she came from. It seemed as if she popped right out of the messenger app itself, as if she was a genie and we had rubbed the community too many times. Where ever she had been hiding in the community Sonia Flunder-Mcnair took us by storm! She had a grand idea and we listened. As we listened with quote in hand eager to begin our relationship with her as our client, we zeroed in on a phrase that she used over and over again. "Its for the kids" she would insist, and in every corner of her vision there were children. So as a company we decided that this would be our pro-bono project going into 2018.
At the start of the project we had quite a few obstacles to over come the largest of those being capital and a site that would fit everything Sonia's vision. She needed a central location that could act as a hub for an undeserved neighborhood while providing the ideal light for growing produce. As we searched and met with each other and various people within the community it seemed as if the skies had opened up for her cause, and Sonia was awarded the lease for two adjacent lots that met all of the criteria we needed. Following that she set out to acquire sponsor after sponsor it was a joy to watch her rip through Toledo as a crusader for the children she had spent years nurturing. They needed this project, and they deserved the Market. Sonia would have nothing less. She was relentless.
In March the baton was passed to our team. We are being challenged to provide; a greenhouse that is high performance yet cost effective, water and air tight while being completely able to be disassembled and reassembled, able to be transported via U-Haul and it has to look good, really good. It is a great honor to be able to be the design team behind an idea so simple and pure. The buzz in our emails are all about the new movement. The growing movement in the city that is youth centered and health focused. The movement that is powered by a desire to give our city's youth something they own and can grow with. One that is delivered through the lens of Sav'Ayn's design team and the mother of it all Sonia Flunder-McNair! Stay tuned for the update in Part 2 of this blog.