The 46th Annual OC Home & Garden Show and Giving Pavilion February 25-26 at the OC Fair & Event Center
The 46th Annual OC Home & Garden Show will be celebrated February 25-26 at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. It will be the most interesting, fun, and informative home show in years complete with OC’s finest home improvement vendors, a beautiful garden display, hourly DIY, hourly prizes, and more.
And for the first time, Ultimate Events founder, Sylvia Andersen, will debut The Giving Pavilion, an entire building dedicated to promoting, teaching, and offering opportunities for guests to learn more about local nonprofits and charities. Free booths for nonprofits are available now. Email sylvia.ultimateevents@gmail.com, call or text 801.599.6664 to reserve yours today.
Andersen was inspired to create the Giving Pavilion after discovering that many seniors are vulnerable to homelessness. She founded her own non-profit, A Village for Bob dedicated to helping. “We, at Ultimate Events, believe in giving back to the communities we serve. We have a strong commitment to an under-served category of homelessness,” Andersen said. “We have found too many hard-working seniors who are self-employed or independent contractors suddenly aged out or due to illness find themselves without a job and homeless. We intend to help!”
A Village for Bob partnered with Houdini Housing which creates tiny homes that are premanufactured and “pop-up”, taking only a couple of days to erect and offering 400 square feet of living space, including a living, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom space.
Andersen discovered the brilliance and possibilities of tiny homes housing when she learned of a heartbreaking situation with one of the long-time exhibitors at her shows.
“Bob” an elderly gardener had been self-employed for most of his life and had presented at Ultimate Events garden shows for decades. During COVID, he became homeless at 84 and was living in his car. Prior to that, he had lived with his girlfriend for more than 20 years, but when she passed away, the home was left to her son, and it was sold.
Andersen realized vulnerable seniors can go unnoticed. “Many didn’t prepare for a time when they couldn’t work. One health issue and many seniors could be homeless,” she said. “I don’t believe we have looked at people who have worked hard their whole lives and suddenly find themselves homeless. I decided I was in a position where I could do something, so I started a charity called “A Village for Bob”. They will be tiny home communities and I will be building one in Utah and California.”
Villages for Bob will be communities of tiny homes for healthy seniors to live in when they find themselves homeless. They will be true communities, with a community garden and store, where seniors can live out their lives until health issues require them to move to an assisted living environment.
Nonprofits interested in being a part of The Giving Pavilion can reserve a FREE Booth thanks to sponsors; call or text today to reserve yours at 801.599.6664.
Information on A Village for Bob charity and Houdini Housing’s tiny homes will also be available at the OC Home & Garden Show.
Orange County Fair Event Center, Building 14 & 16, 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa.
