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AMAAD Sustainability Workshop and Materials Consulting

The AMAAD Institute—Arming Minorities Against Addiction and Disease—reimagined its South Los Angeles space to better serve community members and fulfill its mission of “facilitating personalized individual access to programs and services that foster safe and supportive healthy environments for people to live, learn, and develop to their fullest potential.” Through a sustainability and well-being workshop and healthy materials consulting, Stok supported key project team members by identifying ways the organization’s mission of equity, wellness, and recovery could be represented in its physical space and day-to-day operations.

At a Glance

Designing in Color (organization has since sunset)
Watts, CA
Non-Profit
Designing in Color (Client)AMAAD (Owner)Designing in Color (Architect)
  • Sustainability and Well-being Workshop
  • Healthy Materials Consulting

The Challenge

The AMAAD Institute provides behavioral health, housing, HIV prevention, recovery, education, and re-entry support to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community members in South Los Angeles. As AMAAD renovated its space, the non-profit sought to create an environment that reflected its mission: safe, supportive, and rooted in equity. This meant incorporating aspects like sustainable materials, creating a healthy indoor environment, and using strategies that promote mental well-being under the project’s limited budget.

Through Stok’s Pro Bono Program, we supported AMAAD with:

  • Facilitating a collaborative workshop with the owner and architect to educate on, present options for, and help set specific health, sustainability, and equity goals.
  • Reviewing and recommending non-toxic, low-carbon, and responsibly-sourced materials to promote safe interiors and minimize environmental impact.
  • Assisting with manufacturer outreach to identify opportunities for donated or discounted sustainable products.
  • Shaping a well-being policy to carry health and sustainability commitments into AMAAD’s daily operations, as well as communication tools to articulate the project’s goals in grant applications.
“Stok’s facilitated workshop was eye-opening for our team. They created such a thoughtful, welcoming space and helped us connect the dots between health, wellness, and sustainability in ways we hadn’t thought of before. I truly felt like I was being educated in real time. It was an incredibly helpful springboard for the rest of the project, giving us clarity and inspiration for how to bring those concepts into our design.”

The Solution

DEFINED HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY PRIORITIES EARLY

Working with AMAAD and its design partners, Stok facilitated an early-phase workshop to uncover and outline the specific strategies that would best support well-being, sustainability, and equity in the new AMAAD space. The result was a customized set of Sustainability and Health and Wellness Guidelines that informed decisions from design through operations. 

INTEGRATED HEALTHY MATERIALS AND LOW-CARBON STRATEGIES

To support AMAAD’s commitment to healthy interiors and environmental performance, Stok provided ongoing material reviews during each design phase. Our team identified non-toxic, low-carbon products, developed custom specification language, and offered alternatives for non-compliant selections—aligning the final materials palette with AMAAD’s well-being and sustainability targets.

ADVANCED LONG-TERM WELL-BEING PRACTICES

Stok collaborated with AMAAD to shape a well-being policy rooted in industry standards like WELL Health-Safety Rating (HSR) and tailored to its operations. The policy, along with communications language developed for grants and outreach, extends the project’s impact by embedding health and equity into AMAAD’s long-term programming. 

AMAAD's reimagined space is situated in South Los Angeles.

Project Leadership

Kristen Hershowitz
WELL | LBC | Materials
Tatiana Gefter
LEED | WELL | Materials
Julia Chiado
LBC | LEED | Materials

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