Over the last two years, St. Mark Hope & Peace has engaged the surrounding community regarding the need to serve the area youth, particularly the students of DeLaSalle High School, a tuition-free Charter School for students between the ages of 14 and 20 in need of a non-traditional high school setting. While DeLaSalle does offer some afterschool activities for its students, the offerings are limited and do not currently fulfill the needs of the student body, many members of which have no one at home until later in the day, as their parents or guardians are still at work.

St. Mark’s Hope & Peace has offered their undercroft (basement) for H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People Engage), a youth afterschool drop-in center in hopes of fulfilling the needs of DeLaSalle students and other members of the surrounding youth community.

Participants of Eco Abet's 2013 Summer Design Charrette were asked to provide design options for a new youth center entry and a revised floor plan that will serve a program the students are currently creating.

To learn more about the efforts of St. Mark Hope and Peace:  http://www.stmarkhopeandpeace.org/

The design concepts and imagery were a result of the collective talent of Trudy Faulkner, Mark Neibling, Matt Kleinmann, Danielle Vevea, Patrick Bayer, Michael Luczak, Shannon Criss, Chris Richards, Charles Vega, Kelsie Kremer, Bill Mullins, Jennifer Lehmkuhl, Razia Molina, Zolfar Hassib, and Juan Trejo. Thanks to team sponsors J.E. Dunn and Price Chopper.