On about 6,000 square feet of concrete underneath a quonset-hut-styled roof about 45 minutes west of Houston, power-trowels whirled, epoxy was put down, and joints repaired, all by a group of contractors who were there as part of a concrete flooring training hosted by GranQuartz.
The floor for their demo? It was an old basketball court covered over many times with VCT and plywood. Underneath all that remained original concrete in desperate need of restoration.
Its revitalization was part of a win-win arrangement between GranQuartz, who needed a place to train a large group of Dallas-area contractors on a variety of concrete finishing processes, and Hangar Unity Center, an organization in Brookshire, Texas, that teaches and trains local youth on the trades.
The center is a facet of Eyes on Me Inc., a Christian ministry founded by Houston-area rapper Tre9. The way GranQuartz (a nationwide supplier of equipment and accessories for finished concrete) crossed paths with Eyes on Me is a story of chance.
When Ryan Orbin, who has been working for nearly a decade with Eyes on Me, happened to meet Bill Rains, a sales rep at GranQuartz, Rains had a proposal on behalf of his company: If Orbin would allow GranQuartz access to the Hangar Unity Center to train contractors twice a year, they would finish the whole floor for free.
“They pulled out the floor and completely refinished it,” Orbin said of the floor of the building, which previously was the gymnasium of a segregated school in the town. “It’s a totally different building. That building has turned into our trade building.”
Bruce Ferrell, Concrete Flooring Technical Specialist for PROSOCO, was one of the individuals on-hand representing manufacturers and training the group on how to pre-cut concrete with First Cut with Densifier, apply decorative colors and stencils with GemTone Stains, densify with Blended Densifier, and apply a protective treatment of PolishGuard.
Ferrell said it was remarkable to see the transformation from a “bare floor that was as ugly as can be,” into a finished concrete floor decked out with the organization’s logo stenciled into it.
Transformation is what Orbin is after.
His cause to help others in the small community in Brookshire, which was troubled by a tragic spate of youth suicides and drug overdoses in the early 2010s, began with his own transformation several decades ago.
“I was a meth addict for 17 years,” Orbin said. In the midst of his lowest moment in jail, Orbin heard a calling from God to turn his life around, and that he did.
“My mom had passed away, and my dad showed up on my court date and paid for me to go to rehab in Brookshire. I had never heard of the town. I said yes and spent 8 months in that rehab.”
After rehab, Orbin was newly inspired to help others where he was -- in Brookshire. That began with joining forces with Eyes on Me, elevating youth from despair and showing them the way to a brighter future.
Orbin sees the results of his work every day and is proud of how many people they’ve reached.
“We’ve grown into five other communities in about 10 years,” Orbin said.
The refurbished Hangar Unity Center is home to a variety of uses for people in Brookshire.
“We do free soccer leagues, fitness classes, mentoring programs, we feed 400 families out there, and we started a trade program teaching kids construction, electrical, welding and music,” Orbin said.
As Orbin and others mentor youth and give them the tools for success, including education and training in the trades, he watches with gratification at the youth who find better paths. Not every young person is ready to follow Orbin’s guidance, but each little victory is nonetheless one that matters.
“It’s still very challenging,” he said. “The world is a broken place. You turn on the news and see it every day. I wish we could say that everything is a success story. In this community, there’s been a lot of change, new leadership in the schools and police department, the city and new non-profits that have been birthed since we’ve been out here doing this stuff. God is writing the story of community transformation. We just want to be a vessel for love and catalyst for change.”