Milwaukee's Grand Avenue Club gets interior makeover

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee's Grand Avenue Club just got a makeover. As the recipient of FLOOR360's Design for a Difference program, the nonprofit was given some upgrades to its meeting and workspaces.

Members and staff were invited to a reveal of the upgrades Tuesday. "Blown away, this is above and beyond anything we could have dreamed for, hoped for," said Ben Holt, operations assistant at Grand Avenue Club.

The redesigned space is used for meetings, programming, socializing and working. The organization was chosen for the makeover out of about 20 other nonprofits in the Milwaukee area.

Grand Avenue Club provides pre-vocational training, paid employment and supported education to adults who have experienced mental illness.

"I didn't have work skills, communication skills before coming here, and now I'm getting a degree in Human Services at MATC," said Grenesha Reed, Grand Avenue Club member.

FLOOR360 Design for a Difference Director Kelly Kuehn was thrilled at the feedback from everyone excited about the reveal.

"We chose Grand Avenue Club because of their mission and because of the space, we thought it was beautiful and we thought what we can contribute would be amazing for them," said Kuehn.

New designs, flooring, paint, and labor for the project were donated. One of the businesses that provided furnishings has been connected to Grand Avenue Club for more than 15 years.

Gail Komisar of BILTRITE Furniture says she is excited to be part of this project that supports a vital mental health resource in the community.

"We've had a transitional employee with us doing janitorial work for us and it's a wonderful thing to get people with mental illness back into the workforce, so we are very big supporters of the club," said Komisar.

Executive director Phillip Connelly says he appreciates the support. "It's absolutely crucial that this place flourishes, exists, I think it's such a key organization," he said.

Grand Avenue Club has 450 active members, many of which are happy to see the continued investment here.