New Beginnings

Son of a Saint opens new Bayou St. John headquarters designed to help better serve fatherless young men in New Orleans

Quick Look

Years in Operation
Founded in 2011
New Offices Opening
June 2022
Square footage
15,846 square feet
Persons in charge
Ola Adegboye, chief operating financial officer
Architecture
Trapolin-Peer Architects: Matthew Buyer, project architect and Gabriel Virdure, associate
Interior Design
NANO and Trapolin-Peer
Furnishings and art
AOS Interior Environments


Bivian “Sonny” Lee III founded the nonprofit Son of a Saint in 2021 in honor of his late father, New Orleans Saints defensive back Bivian Lee Jr., and his mother, Cynthia Lee. When Bivian Lee died, his young family — which included Sonny Lee’s then 5-year-old sister — had to learn how to navigate life without him. Cynthia Lee sought the help of mental health professionals to help her son learn how to work through the loss of his father and placed him in sports leagues. Those opportunities, and the resultant relationships, inspired Sonny Lee to create Son of a Saint to help other fatherless young men find similar support and services.

In June, the organization moved into state-of-the-art headquarters on St. Phillip Street in the Bayou St. John neighborhood. Son of a Saint Chief Operating Financial Officer Ola Adegboye recently answered a few questions about the organization and its new facility, a converted circa-1908 ice storage warehouse.

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What were your goals for the design?
Ola Adegboye: What our organization has always needed was a building the boys could call home, where we knew they would feel safe and where our programming would be emboldened by the space itself. We knew the design had to be reflective of our core values and [had to] help give the boys a consistent environment to grow within as we continued to give them hope, vision and opportunity.

What was the biggest design challenge?
Adegboye: Son of a Saint provides a wide variety of programs and services for our boys, and these are constantly changing. We need spaces that can be set up for cooking classes, college prep, mental health sessions, training for large groups, as well as spaces where the boys can just feel at home and bond with their mentors or other mentees. This isn’t a common building type. The challenge for us here was to create a home that could facilitate all of this and also allow for the design to be flexible enough to accommodate any number of unknown potential activities in the future as the organization continues to find more ways to provide for the boys.

What is the standout feature of the design?
Matthew Buyer: The building was originally an ice warehouse built over 100 years ago, and some of the original features remain — such as a suspended trolley and rail system that used to transport large blocks of ice throughout the building. We liked the idea of highlighting the historic character of this building by contrasting it with a more contemporary addition and interior renovation. We feel that contrast ultimately gave both the “new” and the “old” added meaning.

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How would you describe Son of a Saint to someone unfamiliar with your work?
Adegboye: Each year, Son of a Saint selects a group of young fatherless boys ages 10 to 12 to join our program. Our goal is to graduate self-sufficient, independent thinkers who are leaders and give back to their community in the future.

How do you set yourselves apart from organizations doing similar work?
Adegboye: We do this by focusing on young men who are fatherless due to their father’s death, incarceration, deportation or single motherhood. Our holistic approach, using a network of volunteers and partner agencies, enable us to address every boy’s individual and customized needs.

How do you promote a positive work atmosphere for the staff?
Adegboye: We understand the importance of having a positive work environment so we encourage collaboration and communication. We create a relaxed and comfortable environment, keep our building clean, safe and comfortable, and also show appreciation to our employees several times during the year by taking them on staff outings, staff retreats, holiday lunches, free meals.

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What are your biggest challenges?
Adegboye: Managing a team of 30-plus employees and making sure that everything continues to operate smoothly, like a fine-tuned automobile.

What goals are you looking to meet in the next 12 months?
Adegboye: Hiring more staff, plus building processes and systems to support the addition of more boys in the future.

Tell me something you think readers should know.
Adegboye: I wanted to create a building with technology that James Bond 007 would approve and be proud of.

 

Son of a Saint 2803 St. Philip Street // sonofasaint.org
facebook.com/sonofasaintorg // @sonofasaintorg

 

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