This summer, Colin Sampson from Boy Scout Troop 234 in Moraga, completed his Eagle Scout Service Project at one of Hope Solutions’ FISH households in East Contra Costa County. Families in Supportive Housing or “FISH,” is Hope Solutions’ permanent supportive housing program which houses 20 formerly homeless families with special needs. Colin brainstormed different ideas for his service project, finally deciding on a landscaping project at Hope Solutions. The goal was to create a space for children to play and a garden for the family to find peace.
Colin completed the project on the weekend of July 17th with the support of his parents, Kindra and Scott, as well as other family members. During the project, Colin and his team removed and relocated gravel to lay down a rubberized playground surface for the young children in the household to play on. In addition, Colin and his team created a peaceful space by building and staining two garden boxes. They filled one of the garden boxes with red hibiscus and the second with tomatoes and sweet peppers. In front of the house, they planted pots with lavender and sage. Colin also led his team to add succulents with mulch to the walkway leading to the front door. Colin provided a small outside table with chairs for the family to enjoy their garden.
After completing the landscape project, Colin went the extra mile to fundraise for the cost of materials. He manned a booth at his local Farmer’s Market and reached out to family and friends, Colin raised over $2,000 to cover expenses. Any leftover funds will be used to purchase bedding for new residents. Hosting the booth also allowed him the opportunity to share Hope Solutions’ mission and provide information about the homeless crisis in our county. When asked why he chose to partner with Hope Solutions to complete his project, Colin says “I thought that I should target one of the most important issues in our community by helping people in need.”