Hopewell Residential Communities doesn’t just build new communities — the developer enhances established ones as well.

That’s why the Hopewell Team headed to the inner city last week. Armed with hammers and nails, paint brushes and drills, the crew gussied up the Aspen Community Group Home, a charitable social service organization that houses youth between the ages of seven and 17.

“More than just contribute a paper donation, there was a strong desire on behalf of the entire Hopewell team to get personally involved on the ground and make a tangible difference with our time and effort for what we know is a very worthy cause,” says Scott Hamilton, Hopewell’s sales and marketing manager.

A new kitchen, new flooring and a fresh coat of paint have all gone into the Rundle home.

But it wasn’t just Hopewell who was lending a hand — Hamilton says without the help of dedicated individuals from the building industry, “the day wouldn’t have been possible.

“These people truly made it possible for us,” he says. “Brent McMillan at Trail Appliances, Amber Desilets at Superior Cabinets, Brent Fraser and Chuck Sunberg at Rock Creek Construction, Glenn Lytle at Moline Electric, Jordan Swenson at Imagine Installations, and Dean Brawn at ecocoat 100% Recycled Paint.”

Thanks to them, and thanks to the financial help and sweat equity from the folks at Hopewell, Aspen’s been officially revamped, refreshed and refurbished.

“It’s an honour for us to work with Aspen in helping make a difference,” Hamilton says.

How does that ol’ Madonna chestnut go again? Express yourself?

That seems to be the mantra at Shane Homes, where the Expressions Design Studio has gotten a major overhaul.

The 5,000-sq.-ft. selections centre allows Shane’s home buyers to express themselves through a newly expanded selection of interior and exterior finishings.

“We know that the kitchen is the hub of the house, so we devoted an entire area to cabinets and accumulated a wide selection of product samples,” says Shane Wenzel, senior vice-president of sales and marketing. “By installing actual products in kitchens, customers don’t have to imagine what they will look like installed. We’ve found through market research and by talking to our customers that it is easier to make selections this way.”

Easier and less time-consuming — driving all over the city with swatches in hand is a thing of the past as the design studio streamlines the finishing process by keeping everything in one place, and by offering the help of professionals to get a perfectly personalized look.

“Now that customers are able to make more selections at our Design Studio, it saves them the time and the hassle of visiting lots of different suppliers,” Wenzel says.