Community Service through Enabling Growth of Higher Education Facilities

Author: Denise Storaasli
Technical Contributor: Wiliam Fierst, PE

AHBL’s mission is to improve our communities and build collaborative partnerships one project at a time through innovative planning, design, and engineering affords us numerous opportunities to participate in community service.

Whether through our pro-bono projects for trade schools or partnering with clients that impact the community through their projects, we are dedicated to finding avenues to make a positive contribution in our communities. One area that AHBL has focused on as a business is providing planning, infrastructure design, and landscape design for Higher Education facilities that enable growth and greater opportunity for those enrolled in school and their communities.

Higher education programming enables students to learn new skills and earn degrees that provide for a greater future for the student and their families. Several of our recent projects impact more than just the students, but also provide affordable options for the greater Tacoma-Pierce County community.

Bates Technical College Center for Allied Health Education
The New Allied Health Center houses 11 programs including the college’s community health clinics which serve as a hands-on learning experience for students while providing the community with affordable health services. The Pierce County community is underserved when it comes to dentist availability. The Washington State Department of Health reports one dentist per 1,650-2,000 people in Pierce County, compared to one dentist per 900-1,200 in surrounding King and Thurston counties. Bates Technical College’s ability to provide affordable dental services provides a stopgap for lower income residents who might otherwise not receive dental care at all.

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Glacier Building
The Glacier Building at Pierce College is home to both dental hygiene and veterinary technology programs. These programs impact the surrounding community by offering affordable dental services and caring for 20-25 animals from local shelters that would otherwise require food, housing, and medical attention. Each year 15-25 students graduate from these programs and enter the workforce, in neighboring cities and counties.

As we live out our mission to connect with our communities and build something lasting in value we partner with all types of organizations from architects and construction companies to public housing authorities and community colleges. We value each partnership and project that gives us an opportunity to be of service to our communities.