I currently serve on the Board of Directors of our local IDS chapter as Past President, having served 2.5 years in the position of President. When my term was over, I was able to fulfill the next goal within that organization: to find a philanthropic partner and facilitate that partnership. We’ve selected an organization that helps families with their housing needs. The perfect tie-in for an organization of designers! The families this group helps have often times had to leave their previous homes under less than ideal, if not dire, circumstances. The Annie Ross House is a transitional housing program that gets families back in the position of having a safe and comfortable place to live. These homes are somewhat temporary from four months to a year or so, and aid the family in the process of getting back on their feet. The ‘things’ that are donated go into the homes and, in the ongoing effort to keep them housed, become the belongings of the homeowner. Our role in this partnership is readying homes for families in need to occupy.
But what does this mean? Is it enough to toss in some furniture and hope for the best? Or are we serving better by giving the same thought to the resident that we would give to our paying homeowners? Taking in the needs they may have physically, the people living in the home together and how they interact together. Possibly using our talents and our design to encourage strengthening the relationships.
We were given not much time to prepare for our first project. In fact, once we had confirmed the relationship between the organization and our chapter, we have four homes coming up in fairly short order!! The first one was the smallest – a two bedroom cottage. The team jumped right to it. Cheryl Belozer, took team lead, Brian Kemnitz handled the organization, set up and execution of the painting, while Susan Adams-Messmer, Sue Lass and John Thompson jumped right in. A wonderful warm neutral paint was selected to warm up the formerly stark white walls. Eventually, all the units will be similarly warmed up with the occasional accent wall thrown in to jazz up individual spaces.
Brian Kemnitz, our wonderful painter
Cheryl and her hubby Martin
John Thompson
Brian hard at work
Sue Lass
Day two of the project was load in and staging day. Again, Cheryl, Sue, Susan and me were on hand to transform and empty (but freshly painted!) shell, into a warm family home to welcome it’s new residents.
Our first project completed was for a mother & daughter. We had the opportunity to meet these two ladies while the painting was going on. The mother was gracious and grateful and the daughter was exuberant and even got to help with a few last minute paint touch ups, which thrilled her! The unit they have moved into is a very small two bedroom cottage – kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a bath. We pulled from what had been donated, and the end result looked pretty great, especially knowing everything was someone else’s castoffs! See our processes and successes below.
Sue Lass readying moms room
Cheryl & Martin getting the young girls room fluffed. Note the cute headboard…was plain white – now painted in the girls favorite colors!
Mom’s Room – a little shabby chic
Young girls room
As a final note, these homes have a constant need. If you have household items, decor items or furniture to donate, please contact me! I’ll connect you with this great organization.
Pam
