EskewDumezRipple, a New Orleans and Washington, DC-based architecture, interiors and planning firm, celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Friday, Jan. 12. The Day of Service is an annual, skills-based and hands on service program to support nonprofit community organizations in the New Orleans and the Washington, DC areas to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The program offers selected nonprofit organizations the opportunity to collaborate with a design team in a tailored process aligned with their mission. The collaborative efforts of these firms aim to make a lasting impact on the community and contribute to positive change.
The initiative involved an RFP process that closed in October 2023. Each selected project is then assigned a team of 5-10 people from EDR or other local design firms. This year’s nonprofit partners included KIDsmART, People's Housing+, Hollygrove Dixon Neighborhood Association, New Orleans Society of Dance Baby Doll Ladies, High Voltage Youth Camp, Eternal Seeds, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, VEGGI Farmers Cooperative, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Gethsemane United Methodist Church (based near Washington, DC).
Team members and their organization engaged in at least two planning meetings to get to know each other, and further define project scope and deliverables. The Day of Service took place Jan. 12, and involved a full workday dedicated to producing the deliverables as agreed upon during the planning meetings. Each team will present their work to the organizations and participants, with final deliverables to be provided on Jan. 26, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm.
This year's milestone event saw the expansion of the program to include nine additional architecture and design firms. Joining EskewDumezRipple in this initiative were Rome Office, CICADA, Bell-Butler, Albert Architecture, GOAT, Atelier Design, Mathes Brierre, and Chase Marshall. As champions of civic responsibility and sustainable design, these firms contributed their time and expertise to initiatives promoting equity in the design of the built environment.
