COAA Cares was created in early 2020 on the heels of a wildly successful event during COAA’s fall (2019) conference in Atlanta. Conference attendees constructed wooden rocking chairs for children in support of CHRIS 180, an Atlanta organization that seeks to “provide children, adults, and families with high-quality, trauma-informed behavioral health services and support systems.”

The popularity of this – and the broader sense that COAA and its events ought to incorporate similar “greater good” activities – led to the creation of COAA Cares.

COAA Cares aspires to:

• Provide rewarding, fun, and well-organized opportunities for its members and stakeholders to “give back” via tangible, hands-on activities at COAA events
• Support and raise awareness of charitable organizations within the AEC industry
• Develop a legacy of meaningful interaction that inspires COAA members to engage and become involved within their own community
• Increase COAA’s visibility and footprint by cultivating long-term relationships with such organizations

Did You Know?

Here are some of the organizations we’ve connected with and enthusiastically support.  Please take a few minutes to learn more about their mission and ways to engage.

ACE Mentor Program | after-school program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in the architecture, engineering, and construction, including skilled trades

Camaraderie Foundation | provides healing for the invisible wounds of war through counseling, emotional, and spiritual support for military service members, veterans, and their families

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta | Georgia’s leading pediatric healthcare provider that is consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report

Construction Angels | provides financial (and other) support to the families of workers killed on construction sites

iBuild Central Florida | builds partnerships with education, industry, and the community to provide pathways towards rewarding careers in construction

Jared Box Project | entertains and puts a smile on the faces of hospitalized children through boxes filled with the “gift of play” (toys, games, coloring books, etc.)

Promising Pages | collects new & donated books and distributes them to students and organizations, with the goal of eliminating the book desert and providing a free resource to those that need it most

Ronald McDonald House | supports the families of sick children by providing housing and other resources while their child receives treatment 

ShelterBox USA | provides emergency shelter, tools, and supplies to people around the world displaced by wars or natural disasters

Texas A&M Build | student-run organization that honors victims of the 1999 Aggie Bonfire by using storage containers to create portable medical clinics

Wish For Wheels | provides bicycles to 2nd graders in underserved communities

COAA Cares aims to support charitable organizations through a two-pronged approach:

• providing rewarding, fun, and well-organized opportunities for COAA event attendees to “give back” through hands-on activities
• promoting and raising awareness of charitable organizations, particularly those within the AEC industry. 

For both the fall 2021 (Las Vegas) and spring 2022 (Baltimore) conferences, COAA Cares volunteers constructed a “Happy Wheels” cart local children's hospitals on behalf of Ronald McDonald House Charities.  

These carts are used to ferry snacks, arts & crafts, reading materials, and other items to hospitalized children and their parents or caregivers.

Read volunteer Tina Montone's blog post about finding "unexpected conference joy" from these awesome efforts here.