16 August 2023
A decades-old Kansas City Southern caboose on the Ozanam Campus got a 21st Century makeover to give it new life and make it an asset for youth in our Build Trybe program.
Cornerstones of Care leaders and team members showed off the renovated train car at an August 3 ribbon cutting. The event highlighted the community, volunteer spirit, and “the stubbornness” of the Build Trybe program, according to Build Trybe Director Theo Bunch.
“The train car shows how a community of folks got excited about the project and built a place where people could have vision and ideas that will change lives,” Theo said.
Funded by grants from the Richard and Charlotte Orear Charitable Foundation and two family foundations that wished to remain anonymous, the sweat equity for the internal renovation and outside deck was led by Theo and the Build Trybe construction team.
Purchased at an auction in the 1970s by a patent attorney, the caboose sat on the attorney’s Kansas farm for several years as he decided what to do with it. Through a friend, he decided to donate it to the Ozanam Campus. It traveled on a flatbed truck from the farm to campus.
Over the years, the caboose served as office space before informally becoming a campus meeting space. Since children also liked to play on the train car as a gathering spot, leadership decided to build the ball field and pavilion around the caboose.
The ribbon cutting, which included food prepared through the Seed-to-Plate program with produce harvested from our gardens, was attended by members of the Build Trybe program, Cornerstones of Care team members, volunteers, supporters, Merideth Rose, and Ken Gerling, a member of our governing board.
Merideth said the train car is another example of the persistence and grit that is embedded in the Cornerstones of Care’s culture. “This project was driven by people with the heart and the vision to see it through,” she said. “It’s a symbol of the heartbeat and the love that goes into our work.”
Build Trybe team members use the space for educational purposes with youth on campus.