While generally celebrated as a season filled with joy, festivities, and gratitude, this time of year can also compound feelings of loneliness and isolation—especially for those missing their loved ones.

Sr. Superintendent Toby Bender has seen it firsthand. For the last few years, he’s spent the holidays at MorningStar Memory Care at San Tomas in San Jose, where his wife Bernadette works closely with the assisted living facility’s senior residents as director of memory care. Together, Toby and Bernadette have served snacks, played games, and simply listened to music with countless MorningStar residents who would have otherwise spent the holidays alone.

With the holidays quickly approaching, Toby and Project Manager Saurabh Bisen decided to organize a volunteer trip to MorningStar with their Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) Behavioral Health Services Center (BHSC) Exteriors team. Connecting with their local senior community was the perfect way to take advantage of Webcor’s annual volunteer hours, bond with their teammates, and kick off the holiday season.

“Every year, we enthusiastically support food banks, toy drives for kids, and winter clothing collections for the unhoused—all wonderful causes,” Saurabh says. “However, senior living facilities are usually less frequented during the holidays, despite being home to many who may be away from their families. We wanted to do something special for our cherished elders, so we organized our team visit to MorningStar.”

Meeting the Community’s Seniors

On Nov. 15, MorningStar staff members welcomed the Exteriors team at the facility’s front entrance before escorting them to their community room, where residents were eagerly waiting. The team wasted no time diving right into MorningStar’s activities—Sudoku puzzles, catch games, card games, group word puzzles, art projects, and lively rounds of ring toss and balloon tennis.

“The seniors embraced every activity with pure happiness,” Saurabh says. “Whether sharing a smile over a solved Sudoku puzzle, cheering during a lively game of balloon tennis, or watching their creativity shine through their paintings and keychains, it was heartwarming to share in their genuine excitement and enthusiasm.”

The Power of Connection

After the Exterior team’s visit, Bernadette and Morning Star’s executive director shared that they hadn’t seen the community room filled with so much palpable joy in quite some time. It was a refreshing change of pace for the seniors, who typically spend their days alone, with one another, or with visiting family members.

“We loved seeing their faces light up with laughter throughout our time together,” Saurabh says. “It was humbling to witness their gratitude and realize that small gestures of kindness can create meaningful bonds.”

To Saurabh, that was what stood out the most: the total ease with which they connected to the seniors. It didn’t matter that they were strangers from different generations; they were completely enraptured by MorningStar residents’ intriguing, often heartwarming stories detailing memories and adventures from decades past.  

Some may be uncomfortable with the idea of visiting an assisted living facility—they’re nervous they’ll fail to connect, say the wrong thing, or have no idea what to say at all. Saurabh advises anyone feeling that way to let go of that pressure and simply go into the experience with an open mind and kind heart. It will be more than enough.

“If you’re not sure what to say, start the conversation with simple, light topics like hobbies, favorite memories, or current events,” he says. “They love to share stories! Focus on being present rather than saying the ‘perfect’ thing. You’ll quickly find that your time and attention mean more to them than words.”

Shout-outs

“A special shout-out goes to Sr. Dept. Support Manager Diane Oliver and Sr. Field Administration Manager Jan Yi for their thoughtful contributions to our event!” Saurabh says. “They provided us with Webcor swag including stress balls, playing cards, and many other items that were an absolute hit among the seniors. The smiles on their faces as they played with all the swag items were priceless, adding an extra layer of joy to our visit.”

Only five people were permitted to visit MorningStar at once. Those five members from the SCVMC BHSC Exteriors team included:

• Sr. Superintendent Toby Bender
• Project Manager Saurabh Bisen
• Sr. Project Accountant Mona Pacheco
• Sr. Project Coordinator Alejandra Ayala
• Sr. Project Engineer Phillip Anderson

The Isle House team officially achieved temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) on June 7.

At the beginning of the year, Sr. Superintendent Maria Damas, who oversaw the TCO schedule with the project team's support, set a goal of June 7 to reach the milestone. She hit that date precisely. "A lot of things had to go perfectly to achieve that," says Project Director Ted Williams.

Ted shouted out other team members for their contributions:

• Superintendent Justin Schmitt was responsible for building out 250 apartment homes. By TCO, each home had an average of only 17 punch list items.
  
• Thanks to Superintendent Kelly Martz, who rotated into Core & Shell from his regular Webcor Concrete role, the project achieved State Elevator Final on schedule. Concrete built the elevator shafts so Kelly could transition from pouring them to installing elevators within them.  "That exemplifies what we're trying to accomplish with job rotations," Ted says.
  
• Also, on a rotation from Webcor Concrete, Senior Project Manager Kenny Hua joined the team six months before TCO. He took the extremely important and challenging role of managing the MEP trades during the drive to complete the apartment homes and start commissioning. As part of his rotation, he also wanted experience in managing and closing the project permits, which was critical in achieving TCO.
  
• Thanks also goes to teammates who were not only in the TCO grind but also making big contributions to the greater Webcor community at the same time:
  
  • Project Manager Karen Turcios is co-leading the entire summer intern program that started right at TCO.
    
  • Kristina Reyna is co-leading the New Engineers Will Build (NEWB) program that kick offs just over a month after TCO.

• Lastly, besides the individual recognitions above, it goes without saying that it takes a village. It's incredible to see a group of individuals come together under highly challenging circumstances and still find success and sincerely enjoy working with one another.

The project will reach substantial completion in mid-July, with the first residents arriving on August 1.

What they're saying: "This TCO doesn't happen without the extraordinary hard work of each and every one of our One Webcor team members," Ted says. These include: Maria Damas, Karen Turcios, Kristina Reyna, Cynthia Zolezzi, Lynn Bass, John Wilson, Pat Forbeck, Kenny Hua, Matt Moran, Kelly Martz, Justin Schmitt, Lucas Decasper, Ivan Chavez, Phil Nunez, BRENNAN TAYLOR, David Grattan, Mark Zherebnenkov, Erik Roggeveen, Rene Iriartborde, Tom McCue, Ivan Ramos, Jorge "Nacho" Equihua, Mario Saldana, Sergio Ruiz (and shout out to those that joined us for a portion of the project: Dave Thompson, Jocelyn Mezofenyi, Stephanie Azzolino, Erik Biczkow, Paulo "Porky" Munoz, Brian Kearney, Karl Jeppesen, Jan Yi, Jackie Cardera, Zak McKellips, and Mac Hammitt).

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Building 600, one of four buildings comprising the Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (BDFP), topped out recently, marking the completion of most of the concrete structure.

Why it matters: Building 600's unique design and construction challenges stand out from the other BDFP structures.

• The tallest part of the structure is the elevator core, which required pouring walls and ancillary decks, a departure from the norm, where the highest level is usually predetermined.

The team poured the last perimeter wall on May 21. While the metal deck and steel erection will continue into early July, the significance of this date was not lost on the team despite a planned reduction in crew size in the coming weeks.

Go deeper: The "tour route" observation area is a noteworthy feature of Building 600. This corridor allows visitors to view the processing activities from above, offering a glimpse into the project's operations from each floor. The architect deemed these areas to require a higher quality of finish. They were treated with the same care and attention as the building's exterior architectural concrete, ensuring a polished and professional look.

• The team continues to hear compliments about the exterior architectural walls. "They came out really great," said Webcor Concrete Superintendent Daniel Rinaldi (who has since left the company). "It's a testament to everybody on the team. We were lucky enough to have the same people pour every single floor. They're meticulous. They know it's important. It takes a talented group to pull this off."

Zoom in: One of the most complex coordination efforts involved the installation of three 63,000-pound hoppers on the level one slab. These massive pieces of machinery, essential for the project's operations, required 18 months of meticulous planning.

• Fabricated in Los Angeles, the hoppers were shipped in sections, welded together on-site, and hoisted into place. The team overcame numerous challenges, including delays, to integrate these crucial components into the structure.

The project began under challenging conditions, with late changes to the mat foundation and continuous rain during the foundation pours. The team had to adapt, working staggered shifts and starting early to avoid the heaviest downpours. Despite these obstacles, they managed to pour the 150,000 square feet of walls and complete the structure, maintaining a steady workflow and keeping the project on schedule.

• The team worked staggered shifts and started early, knowing rain would start by 10 a.m.

"It sucks to deal with rain, and it can suck to have people work in the rain, but it also sucks to have to reschedule pours," Daniel said. "We found a good balance for managing work during the rain cycles. Most days, it doesn't rain for 12 full hours, so you find the right balance, doing other work during the downpours."

• The irregularity of the interior and exterior walls on every floor added another layer of complexity. However, the collaboration and coordination between the Webcor-MWH and the subcontractors ensured a seamless sequence of work.

The backstory: Concrete work for the project began 18 months ago, with foundation work starting in December 2022. As the project progresses, the team remains focused on maintaining the high standards and quality that have characterized their work.

• The project's field staff comprised about 50-55 people, with eight additional office staff members.

The team held a barbecue prepared by the Webcor Craft barbeque team to celebrate the topping out. About 350 people attended. The event featured a few speeches recognizing the efforts and contributions of everyone involved.