Hydro Aluminum’s $30,000 donation to the Fr. Bradley Shelter For Women and Children will pay for much-needed floor, paint, walls and bathroom upgrades.
“We’re just surprised and grateful that Hydro Aluminum would be so good to us,” said Kendall Dean, the shelter’s executive director.
The donation is a part of Hydro’s Just Transition Program in which the company each year funds a worthy organization in each of the communities one of its factories is located, said Malia Sellers, the managing director of Hydro in Henderson.
Dean said Hydro representatives came to drop off toiletry and hygiene supplies around Christmas time, and at that time, she gave them a tour of the facilities.
Soon after, according to both Dean and Sellers, Hydro committed to provide funding for 11 bunkbeds and 22 mattresses. But before that funding came, the Preston Family Foundation gave money for the beds and mattresses. So, Hydro changed its grant agreement and dedicated the money for upgrades to Fr. Bradley Shelter, said Sellers.
The upgrades are needed, Dean said. The shelter can’t hire a person fully dedicated to building maintenance and it operates on a fixed budget so when something breaks, “It’s hard on us,” she said.
In the past several months, the building had a water leak in July and then another water leak in February, she said. The Hydro grant will help to repair the flooring that had to be removed to fix those leaks, Dean said.
The repairs are also part of a larger piece-by-piece renovation that the shelter is taking on, Dean said. Among other upgrades, the shelter has put in new countertop, new appliances and a new sink, she said.
“Slowly but surely” the shelter is making repairs so it feels “more like a home and less like a shelter,” Dean said.
She said the flooring repairs will start Tuesday and should be complete in two weeks. She said none of the current residents will be displaced because the contractor will do one section at a time, starting in the morning and finishing in the evening, leaving the section ready for use at the end of the day.
All the upgrades are planned to be completed by May, Dean said.
Through its Just Transition Program, Hydro works in close partnership with local organizations to address real community needs, focusing on inclusion, well‑being and long‑term positive impact, said a Thursday release from the company.
Sellers added that Hydro’s local representatives look at organizations around the community each year that are meaningful to the company to be a part of its Just Transition Program.
In the past, Hydro has also donated to Healing Reins, the Boys & Girls Club (funding for a van), local volunteer fire departments, the Volunteer Information Center, Henderson County Schools (funding monthly birthday parties at East Heights Elementary School), and Junior Achievement, among other organizations.
Dean said Hydro’s donation, along with donations from other organizations Rotary, Lions Club, Partnership Of Women and Deaconess Henderson, have been instrumental in keeping the shelter going this past year.
Dean said the upgrades will boost morale in the shelter.
“It will feel like a home,” she said.
