Family of Seven Gets a New Start
We received a referral for a a family of 7 who lost everything in a fire. A fire is the thing that started the cycle of my mom and I being homeless, so I knew I wanted to take this client. I met with the family to see what their needs were, and got down to business.
Here are the before photos of the space:
Decorating for a family of seven is the most that we have done so far. Our biggest challenge is the fact that the bedrooms were not really big. Mom has a bedroom, the oldest daughter has a bedroom, the three boys were in one bedroom and the two girls were in the last bedroom. So, we had to work with the space that we had.
We knew that we needed dressers to store items like socks, PJs and underwear, so the search started for those. Our board member Cheryl Johnson donated this dresser, and we decided to use it in the oldest daughter’s room. Here are the before and after photos. I went to Home Depot and chose a paint color, and picked up some knobs from Hobby Lobby. I love how it came out.
We needed a dresser or the girls room, so off to St. Vincent de Paul I went. I loved the color of the wood, so I decided to just wipe it down and change the knobs on it.
We really enjoyed giving this family a space they can love.
Here are the after photos. I took more video footage than actual photos, so please check out our YouTube channel to see the footage.
Thanks so much to the WHD team (Cheryl, Dominic, Inger, and Linda) as well as our volunteers, Larry, “Lovebug”, Melissa, Sarah, Shannon and Todd.
See you on the next install!
April & the Welcome Home Dayton Team
Grant Writer Needed and New Client Update
Here at Welcome Home Dayton, we absolutely love what we do. With that being said, the passion and drive can only take us so far. We need money/donations to continue. We are in the business of bringing the design to life, and grant writing is not in our wheelhouse. So, we are reaching out to our community to see if any of you can help us out. If you are a grant writer and can give of your time, please let us know.
We have been putting in time shopping for our next client install, for a mom and her six children. They lost everything in a fire, so we are starting from scratch on this install. The install will occur on Saturday, March 11th. If you would like to volunteer, please make sure to sign up via our website, or email us at WelcomeHomeDayton2017@gmail.com
Wishing you all a phenomenal week!
April and the Welcome Home Dayton Team!
October Client Install | The Reveal
Our client’s bedroom.
On October 15th we did the install for our client, and he was over the moon excited when we revealed his space to him. He shared with us that he had been homeless for thirteen months, but now he’s home. In a text sent to our Board Chair Cheryl Johnson he stated, “I woke up this morning and had to remind myself this wasn’t a dream. You listened to me and made it great, bot you and your team. Again, thank you so much. God truly blessed me with friends”
Below are photos of the work we did in each room. It was our honor and pleasure to create this space for our client, and we look forward to future reveals.
Thanks so much to the team for coming out and making this reveal special!!!
Dominic, Linda, April, Cheryl and Inger
Thank you all for your continued support!
April and the Welcome Home Dayton Team
We're Now on YouTube
During the past installs we would post all of the photos on our social media pages. Over the past month we started to brainstorm and decided to start a YouTube page to get the word out about Welcome Home Dayton. I am new to recording and editing video footage, so please be gentle (and patient) with me while I work through the kinks. I am taking some Skillshare classes to learn about editing and creating a good story. Hopefully you will see the progress in the videos that we post.
We would greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe to the channel. Click below to go to the page.
Thank you all for your continued support!
April and the Welcome Home Dayton Team!
Welcome Home Dayton Merchandise Coming Soon
Sublimated Ceramic Mugs
We are planning to drop some merchandise to fundraise for Welcome Home Dayton. We love what we do, and we look forward to changing lives, one home at a time, for years to come.
As you all know, this takes money. Our current goal is to fundraise, do some strategic planning on our next steps, which will include workshops for our past, current and future clients.
Hoodie
We hope that you all will help us reach our goal when the merchandise drops. The goal is to have the merchandise out by the end of October. These items will make lovely gifts. We will also have tote bags and other items.
Gifts for the little ones in your life
The images in this post are mock-ups. We will have an array of colors available.
Sweatshirts
Thanks for your continued support!
April and the Welcome Home Dayton Team
Meet the Founder
Click on title to leave a comment.
April M Alford-Barclay, Founder
My name is April and I am the founder of Welcome Home Dayton. I am usually behind the scenes, but thought I should introduce myself to new followers on our page.
I started Welcome Home Dayton as a way to give back to my community. When I was 5 my mom and I lost everything that we had in a house fire, thus leaving us homeless. Two weeks later my grandmother past away. My mother wanted a new start so we left North Carolina and moved to New Jersey.
During the middle of my 6th year we became homeless again. We were homeless for over a year. There was one woman, a friend of my mother’s who was extremely helpful during this time. Because of her I made a vow to give back to my community when I was older.
In 2017, Welcome Home Dayton was born when I got the opportunity to complete a one bedroom apartment for a newly transitioning homeless woman. I partnered with Homefull at their River Commons Permanent Housing building.
At Welcome Home Dayton we believe that your surroundings/environment impacts your life in a major way. We believe that it impacts what you think and how you feel. That’s why it is our goal and mission to furnish and decorate homes for people who are transitioning from homelessness. We want our clients to be able to focus on work, education and building a strong family. The last thing we want them to worry about is how they will furnish their space.
If you would like to donate (monetary or furnishings) you can contact us here on the website, or email us at WelcomeHomeDayton2017@gmail.com