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 “give back” 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 industry-related 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 | afterschool program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in the architecture, engineering, and construction, including skilled trades

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

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 seeks to highlight and support charities through a two-pronged approach: providing rewarding, fun, and well-organized opportunities for members and stakeholders to “give back” via tangible, hands-on activities at COAA events and supporting and raising awareness of charitable organizations, primarily those within the AEC industry. 

For the fall 2021 conference, the COAA Cares team identified a fun and meaningful project for attendees: building a “Happy Wheels” cart for a Vegas-area hospital on behalf of Ronald McDonald House Charities.  

The cart will be used within a Vegas-area hospital 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" through COAA Cares here.