My Girlfriend’s House, a local nonprofit organization that provides aid and basic needs to those in various states of sheltered living, chose The Light House as their next Shelter Room Makeover Party recipient. The Shelter Room Makeover Party is a design competition that empowers women in the community with a flair for design, while also providing much needed support for local homeless shelters. On April 6th, after months of planning, My Girlfriend’s House will visit The Light House with over 100 volunteers that have been divided into 16 groups. Each group will have 5 hours to makeover their designated spaces with new paint, furniture, decor, and minor building repairs. Spaces being renovated include the entire third floor which has apartments for families and a common space/play area for children, the entire second-floor which has a men’s wing and a women’s wing for individual residents, the first-floor lobby waiting room area, cafeteria, and library. The makeover will begin at 10:00am and will be followed by the big reveal at 3:30pm. During the big reveal, residents are invited back into their spaces to see the results of this daylong renovation, and judges will vote to see who has the best design!
“Our residents, staff, and volunteers are all incredibly excited about this new partnership with My Girlfriend’s House,” says Light House Executive Director, Jo Ann Mattson. “2019 marks our 30th year serving our community, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by sprucing up these spaces that mean the world to our residents and community clients. The Light House is a place of belonging and hope for over 2,000 community members in need each year, and we’re grateful to have My Girlfriend’s House and their generous volunteers as partners in our mission!”
Last year alone, The Light House provided emergency and transitional housing for 150 individuals and 18 families, including 24 children. The organization also served over 38,000 hot meals, distributed over 99,000 pounds of food, and provided homelessness prevention and support services to hundreds of community clients. The Light House’s 10 Hudson Street location is a 24,400 square foot facility serving as a central location for their housing, employment, and support programs and services. The second and third floor shelters 45 individuals and 5 families with up to 20 children. The main floor includes a cafeteria, kitchen, pantry, and fresh market area for their food programs. The main floor also includes their employment resource center for employment training programs and career development services, and their Safe Harbour Resource Center which is a dedicated space that acts as a day center for community clients in need of case management services, free laundry, showers, clothing, and other basic needs.
About My Girlfriend’s House Shelter Room Makeover: My Girlfriend’s House is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower under-served teen girls to develop a positive understanding of self-worth while enhancing their leadership, academic and career skills. As part of their leadership program, they designed the Shelter Room Makeover Party to show the girls what “reality tv” looks like when a community of women come together to empower others in need. The Shelter Room Makeover Party is an outreach effort designed to uplift women and men living in homeless shelters by renovating their spaces and creating an oasis for residents. Every year through student and volunteer efforts, My Girlfriend’s House selects two area shelters to completely renovate and design including purchasing new home décor, painting, buying new furniture, and more. For more information, please visit their website at https://www.shelter-room.mygirlfriendshouse.org/about-us/ or on Facebook at @MyGirlfriendsHouseInc.
