Community Engagement

Giving Back: Make-A-Wish’s Real Estate Council 

From meeting A-list celebrities to driving on a real NASCAR racetrack, Make-A-Wish has proven they can make even the most fantastic wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses. But without guidance from construction experts in the area, simple construction requests were a major struggle for the Make-A-Wish Metro New York chapter.

Knowing Make-A-Wish needed help in Structure Tone’s area of expertise inspired Dan Finnegan and colleagues Brett Phillips and Brian Donaghy to organize the Make-A-Wish Real Estate Council, a group of diverse industry partners committed to granting construction-related wishes in the New York area. “We’re all involved in lots of charities, but it’s not often we get to help by doing what we do every day,” says Finnegan. “We knew we could
make a real difference here.”

Between filing a building permit, understanding an architect’s drawings and coordinating subcontractors, the construction process is complicated, especially when it’s unfamiliar territory. The Metro New York Make-A-Wish team said it was often easier for them to send a child to China than to renovate a bedroom! Luckily, Structure Tone recognized Make-A-Wish’s need as an opportunity to bring the AEC community together for a worthy cause.

In the last three years, the Real Estate Council has added seven new members and collectively granted a dozen wishes. As the only construction firm in the group, Structure Tone has been involved with eight of them, the most recent being a full kitchen renovation for a family that loves cooking together but couldn’t afford to finish their home remodel.

Since it began, the council’s role within Make-A-Wish has transitioned from granting the wishes Make-A-Wish sends their way to helping the NYC chapter expand their reach throughout the city. At one of their quarterly meetings, Make-A-Wish explained the main reason it takes months to grant a child’s wish is there aren’t enough volunteers to handle the volume of wishes they receive, especially in outer boroughs like the Bronx and Brooklyn. “We would get a wish request and then find out that the child made this request last year,” says Finnegan.

To help fill this gap in volunteers, Structure Tone hosted a wish volunteer training session in its New York office. Trainees from across the AEC industry were taught how to meet with wish families, record the necessary information and act as wish facilitators. Finnegan, who became a wish volunteer himself, said the training was so successful that Structure Tone is already planning the next one. To continue to leverage that growing interest, the Real Estate Council also hosts an annual holiday fundraising event that has grown exponentially each year. Last November, the event raised over $170,000 for Make-A-Wish Metro New York.

Whether it’s transforming a basement into a movie theater, hosting training sessions or raising funds, the Real Estate Council plays a crucial role in giving sick children a bit of joy.

“For a sick child, it’s the simplest pleasures that take their minds away from their illness,’’ says Finnegan. “It’s a really humbling experience to be part of.”