Colorful flyers and pamphlets lie scattered among sketchbooks and pencils near a wall bursting with achievement certificates. Nearby, a cluster of computers display a vibrant array of works in progress. The Graphic Design Impact Center at the Hibiscus Children’s Village is open for business and has already developed happy customers and some unexpected collaborative partnerships to boot.

The Hibiscus Children’s Center was awarded a $100,000 grant in April 2017 from Indian River Impact 100, and today the Graphic Design Impact Center virtually oozes with creativity and hope. The Design Center piggybacks on the organization’s Career Pathways to Independence program, funded in 2011 by Impact 100.

Tracy Savoia, HCC marketing vice president, says businesses, nonprofits and individuals are invited to invest in the future by letting Hibiscus students handle their design, print and copy needs. In addition to producing branding identities and logos, they can create a wide range of items such as brochures, pamphlets, save-the-date cards, invitations, flyers, posters, marketing materials, letterhead and note cards, and even oversized Christmas cards.

“We’re asking the community not just to bring us business, but invest in the kids,” says Savoia. “You’ll get a quality service out. You’re investing in the lives of children who may be your neighbors or go to school with your kids, so we’re really all in this together. We’re really asking more for partnerships than just becoming a client.”

The hope is that through career-oriented skills training and education programs, the residents of the 40-bed group home facility – for abused, abandoned and/or neglected teens ages 13 through 17 – will be better equipped to transition out of the Village, armed with the tools to live independent, productive lives.

More than 50 teens have participated in the Design Center program since its opening last November, working on projects from conceptualization to final product under the guidance of Kathleen Knowles, GDIC director.

Through a specially designed, four-module curriculum, students learn graphic design, marketing, development, software and branding techniques. There are also guest lecturers, independent projects, client interactions and excursions to the print production company, Ironside Press.

“The program is more than just teaching skills,” says Savoia. “It’s preparation for a business because hopefully, one day, they may be designers or own their own print shop.

“I already knew a little bit about Photoshop, but while being here at GDIC, I learned about other Adobe applications. I am naturally creative and this program helps me bring that out,” says one Hibiscus teen.

This summer, residents were all challenged to design their own logo for a competition; winners from each house were able to visit a local T-shirt shop to see their designs come to life.

“It’s a great opportunity. They see that when they really put out effort and focus, it pays off,” says Knowles.

Visits to Ironside Press have been integrated into each module, connecting the teens with real-world applications and giving them an intro into hands-on experiences.

“They see that what they may think is something simple that they’re doing on a computer is actually a whole line of business,” says Ironside Press owner Bo Forbes. “Hibiscus is an amazing organization. They’re constantly improving and evolving and figuring out new ways that they can empower these kids that have had essentially everything taken from them.”

Forbes feels that the teens’ own sense of accomplishment is essentially what motivates them.

“They’ve learned to do something that a lot of people don’t know how to do,” Forbes explains. “Even if they don’t pursue publishing, graphic design or marketing as a career, the self-worth that these kids get by accomplishing the learning modules and developing the skill set, may be just the thing to give them the courage to go for something even bigger. I think that that’s the bigger outcome of this program. It gives these kids an opportunity to see themselves succeeding, rather than just seeing themselves as victims.”

“We’re doing the same things I’ve learned at GDIC but on a much larger scale with better capabilities,” one teen explains of an Ironside visit to learn 4-color processing. “It was a great experience to see what I could do if I worked there.”

Several unexpected connections have developed, including some with fellow Impact 100 Community Partners.

A collaborative effort with the Youth Guidance Mentoring Activities program enabled YG enrollees to attend summer classes at the Design Center.

Peter Philips, Youth Guidance program developer, said the partnership was in line with their focus on S.T.E.A.M. (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math) programming, by having students engage with some of the latest technology while also developing their creative skills.

Additionally, Hibiscus has developed a relationship with United Against Poverty, a nonprofit organization working to lift people out of poverty through enrichment programs such as STEP (Success Training for Employment Program).

Design Center students worked to redesign the STEP Success Plan, a document used by graduates of the program.

“We love the earned-income model here. We believe that nonprofits doing business is a great thing,” says Annabel Robertson, UP executive director. “It’s a great tool for training.”

Robertson says she was pleased with the finished product – a multi-colored, staggered page document. “It’s more graphically interesting now,” she says. “We had a vision of what we wanted, and they worked to make that vision come to life.”

Knowles has also started a magazine called “Teens Talk.” Residents who may prefer writing to graphics can still become part of the design process by writing articles of interest for the magazine.

Graphic Design Impact Center hosts a monthly open house to demonstrate their capabilities to potential customers. For more information, visit HibiscusChildrensCenter.org or contact Kathleen Knowles at 772-205-9068 or kknowles@hcc4kids.org.