Runway for Charity

A.K. Rikk's, Design 1 Salon Spa, Aura Cosmetics, The Matthew Agency and our firm, Visbeen Architects, are bringing Grand Rapids the must see fashion show of the summer, called Runway for Charity.  

All proceeds from the event benefit the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.  The last event in 2011 (formerly known as the Design 1 Fashion Event), had over 500 attendees and raised upwards of $25,000 for Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.  But they have upped the ante this year.  The goal is to raise $100,000, so the event is going to be bigger and better than all the previous years combined!  It will be held on Saturday, May 11 7:00pm - 10:30pm at A.K. Rikk's beautiful new location (6303 28th Street SE, Grand Rapids).  To purchase tickets to the event, please visit Helen DeVos Children's Hospital website.

And one of the best parts of this event?  An AMAZING "LIFE IS SWEET" raffle where ONE winner will take home a prize package valued at over $100,000!  What fantastic prizes are a part of this prize package?  Glad you asked...

• Case of Barons wine
• Watercolor of your home from Visbeen Architects
• Two watches from Juhas & Sullivan Jewelry
• Scott Group Custom Carpet rug
• Embellished mirror from award-winning interior designer Jeffery Roberts
• One-week stay in the Bahamas at a private residence (designed by Visbeen Architects, of course!)
• Rare Howard Miller clock
• A one-year Thousand Oaks golf membership as well as dinner & golf for a party of 8
• $2800 Bengtson Center for Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery Beauty Package: can be used toward Ultherapy, Cool Sculpting, Laser and Skin Case treatments
• Bekins leather theatre chair
• Two-year car lease from Todd Wenzel Automotive
• Broadway of Grand Rapids package
• Ruth's Chris dinner for eight
• Brioni men's wear jacket
• Founder's private beer tasting event with tour for 30 people
• Hudsonville Ice Cream party for 100 and 2 scrounds per person (what is a scround?  It is a container of ice cream that sort of round, sort of square.  Thus, scround :)
• Salvatore Ferragamo leather bag
• Two pairs of glasses (one prescription, one sunglasses) and an eye exam from Sight Optical
• Two Belstaff leather jackets
• Landscape Maintenance from GreenMeadow Group
• Haworth Furniture
• One-week stay in a villa in the Turks & Caicos
• An estate queen-sized mattress from Spring Air, Grand Rapids Bedding Co.
• $20,000 CASH
• Gift Certificates...
   - $5,000 to A.K. Rikk's
   - $2,500 to Design 1 Salon Spa
   - $2,500 to 4GR8 Food restaurants (The Omlette Shoppe, Sundance Grille, The Bagel Beanery, & more)
   - $2,500 to ShoreMate for a docking system
   - $2,500 to Accent Hardwood Flooring for hardwood floor restoration

Do we have your attention now??  The raffle tickets are $100 per ticket with only 1,500 tickets available.  You do not have to be present on May 11 to win and tickets are already on sale, so please contact Angela in our office as soon as possible if you are interested in purchasing one or more (616-481-0424 or angela@visbeen.biz).  They are going fast!

Remember, the $100 per ticket is tax deductible as a donation to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, so please help us make this a successful event in raising $100,000 for such a worthy organization!!

For more information on this event, please visit Runway for Charity's website or facebook page.  We will also be posting information to our facebook page, so stay tuned!

The Treehouse Community Garden

We recently were given the opportunity to work with The Treehouse Community on their plans for a community garden in the Baxter neighborhood.  The Treehouse Community is a group of individuals living in a home together that is focused on praying, sharing, growing and ministering to each other and their neighbors by attending to physical needs as well as emotional and spiritual ones.  Their vision is to create a shared green space in the Baxter neighborhood, where currently there are no sources for nutritious, affordable food within walking distance, making it an official "food desert."  Wayne was able to sit down with them and sketch design ideas for bringing their vision to life.  Here is what he came up with, as well as some photos of the drawing session....

 Site Plan

 Aerial Perspective

 Shed Concept A - Perspective

 Shed Concept A - Elevation

Shed Concept B - Perspective

The plans for the garden include twelve raised vegetable beds intended to be used by families in the area.  The Treehouse Community is also planning to partner with The Baxter Community Center to teach gardening, nutrition, cooking, and canning classes to all ages.


We were happy to partner with them and hopefully achieve their goal, as stated on their blog, to "see God's kingdom advance here on earth, starting with a few seeds, a bit of soil, some water, and the sun."


For more information on this project, please visit The Treehouse Community's blog - treehousegarden.wordpress.com.

Faith in Deeds Ministry Campus in India

We recently had the opportunity to work on a project with a ministry in India called Faith in Deeds.  Faith in Deeds Inc. is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization committed to the support of disenfranchised children of India by providing the children with a family atmosphere in which they can be discipled in the way of the Lord Jesus, by educating them in a manner that they can make properly informed life-decisions based on a Biblical world view, and by inspiring them to love each other and to share the love of Jesus throughout their community.  

Faith in Deeds was able to purchase a 5 acre parcel of land in Andhra Pradesh, India, and Visbeen Associates worked with them to design a new campus that includes a boy's dorm, girl's dorm, playground, community center & clinic, Christian school and green space for gardening and raising animals.  The first phase of the project will be the boy's and girl's dorm.

  Their current rented ministry location

 How the children currently sleep in their dorm rooms. Very typical in the local culture.

The crowded city

 Children from the FID home with the founder of the ministry, Thomas Mollhagen (originally from South India, adopted into a family from Grand Rapids, MI) and his wife Dana.

 Their newly acquired land for the new campus with a corn field on the border of the property

 The pump and irrigation pool on the property with kids from the FID home

 Taking a tour of the land with the kids on the day they dedicated it to the work of the Lord

 Our design concept for the new campus

We will keep you updated on the progress of this project here on our blog and on our facebook page, so check back!

For more information on the ministry, visit Faith in Deeds' website - www.faithindeeds.org - or facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Faith-In-Deeds-USA/339566304349?ref=ts.

Madie's Castle Wish Comes True

VAI Working drawings for the castle design

Madie celebrating the completion of her castle play house!

10-year-0ld Madie Flores

Under Construction

Helpers putting the finishing touches on the play house in Madie's backyard

Harry Miller holding VAI's drawings in front of the under construction play house