Transforming Lives with Compassionate Interior Design
After re-examining my firm’s goals and purpose early in 2023, we landed on our vision statement: Changing the world one home at a time.
And, after months of communication and details, that is precisely what we accomplished for a young mom and her son. Through my client work, I partly sponsored this incredible endeavor of an Up and Out, which moves a Heading Home family from a shelter into permanent housing and fully kits out the new home.
Heading Home has a special place in my heart. In the past, I have been fortunate enough to create tables and bar carts for auctions to benefit Heading Home to Dinner, a pre-Covid fundraiser headed up by Mally Skok, Kristen Rivoli, and Elizabeth Benedict. But over the last year, after redefining my vision for myself and my firm, I decided to find a way to give back using my unique skills and networking.
A Vision in the Making
I knew I could not do this alone, but I committed to a date, May 17th, without a partner despite the much-needed financial and physical help. But I knew that people in our Boston design community and friends would want to get involved. And rise to the occasion they did.
Everyone I contacted donated gift cards if they could not make the day or in the heavy lifting and taking on of working on individual spaces in the Heading Home’s client and securing furnishings or donating them. I was in awe. On May 17th, we embarked on a day of volunteering that would forever change the lives of a deserving family. Our task was to help move a Heading Home family from a shelter into their permanent housing.
A Generous Community
Our Up and Out group of volunteers went above and beyond in donations and their time:
The Living Room
Vivian Robins and Barbara Hirsch took on the living room. They were absolute rockstars and the masters of gathering donations. simpleHome donated and fully installed the TV.
The Bedrooms
Capello Home’s team, Tanya and Renata, completed the main bedroom. They generously donated furniture and so many additional items like art to make the room a beautiful tranquil oasis for our Heading Home client. Tanya is still collecting gift cards at her store in Wellesley. Holly Gagne and Phoebe Russel, longtime designer friends, installed a million little basketball player decals in his room in such a short time. I am still in awe of their dedication.
The Kitchen and Bathroom
Carolyn and Melissa of Blissful Interiors got their hands dirty and cleaned the bathroom and other areas before they could even spruce up the bathroom and kit it out and personalize it with everything the clients needed to make it pretty and functional. My longtime friend Katie and her mom Pat scrubbed and cleaned the kitchen to get it move-in ready, and they placed the multitude of kitchen supplies into a very tiny space.
The Wonderful Multi-Taskers
The newest JSD employee is Lori; we could not have done this without her. Her power drill skills saved the day. Two weeks into her new position and she was everything that I could have hoped for in a helpful, detailed, can-do attitude designer. And Calleigh of Heading Home kept us all on track as we whizzed through our room-by-room projects. Her empathy, communication, knowledge, and calm were inspiring.
The Heartfelt Reveal
When the client and her son arrived at 2 pm to see their new home, it was all smiles and amazement at what we had accomplished in a few short hours. After we handed over the keys to the mom, Kay and bid them farewell, the adrenalin was still running. Only after I arrived at my own home did the floodgates open. I realized what an impact we ALL had on the incredibly deserving family.
Kay’s son responded best when he whispered to Calleigh, “This is the best house in all of history!”
Our Heading Home Up and Out by the Numbers
2 weeks: We only had less than two weeks’ notice to get the apartment's address, the information on the client’s exact needs, and the size of the apartment.
5 hours: The total amount of time we had to clean, furnish and reveal the apartment
200: The total amount of people that Heading Home moves into permanent housing every year
13: The number of team members for 5 hours of implementation.
Special Thanks
A special thanks goes to the crew that made this happen but also the generous and numerous gift card and in-kind donations that were made by:
Elizabeth Home
Rachel and Co
The Motiv
Ana Donohue Interiors
Capello Design
The Desmond Family
The Plourde Family
Ghetta Hirsch
Jaymi Formaggio
Caroline Jordan
The Zimmerman Family
Eileen Ferraiolo
Meg Manion Silliker
Franny Osman
simpleHome
We can't wait to bring you along on our next Giving Back project in 2024! If you love supporting businesses that give back, we might be a great match! Reach out, and let’s get to know each other better!
Until next time,
Justine