Students redesign public housing community room with help from nonprofit, support from local contracting firm

Forte Construction volunteers recently worked with students from the Roosevelt Houses as they redesigned their community room as part of a project organized by the Salvadori Center’s STEAM Innovators program in partnership with the New York Building Foundation and the Public Housing Community Fund.

Over the course of the program, participants created vision boards and prototype sketches of their designs after conducting interviews with people who frequently use the space to better understand their needs. These sketches evolved into three-dimensional models and technical floor plans. 

Forte Project Engineer Kristy Roberts, Superintendent Noor Taha, Safety Engineer Gary Collins, Assistant Project Manager Ansh Mehra, Project Manager Ferdinand Hernandez, Director of Operations Theodore Tsiokas and Chief of Staff Zachary Cardillo served as mentors where they provided feedback and professional insight. 

At the program’s final presentation, students showcased their completed designs to their families, Salvadori staff, Forte volunteers and representatives from the New York Building Foundation. New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport, who represents the surrounding community in Senate District 25, joined the event to see the students’ work firsthand.   

“The Forte Team is grateful to have participated in the Salvadori Center STEAM Innovators Program,” said Athena Pappas, director of philanthropy at Forte Construction. “We believe that building stronger communities means investing in people, creating opportunities, and supporting the next generation of STEAM Professionals.” 

Forte also welcomed students to their headquarters in Islandia. During their visit, students met with employees from several departments—including marketing, accounting, HR and estimating—to learn more about their work, the different career paths within the construction industry, and how each department contributes to Forte’s projects. 

“We are beyond proud of our latest graduates of the STEAM Innovators program. We look forward to seeing their design implemented and their growth into STEAM professionals,” said Trenton Price, executive director of the Salvadori Center.  “Our heartfelt thanks goes out to our partners at the New York Building Foundation and Forte Construction for helping to shape the next generation of STEAM professionals.”