“Whenever someone asks me where I see myself in five years, the first answer that I give is ‘fixing up spaces for those who really need it, not those who can afford it’. I feel in my heart that I want to spend part of my time giving back some of what’s been given to me. The mantra I have heard over and over in my head for months now is ‘there are real people with real needs who need real solutions.’ I talked it over with my hub, and we came to an agreement that we were going to reach out into our own community and find somewhere to help.
We called the Committee on the Shelterless (or COTS) to offer our services, and as with all non-profits, they welcome all the help they can get. We gave them some information, and told them what we had to offer. They ran a background check, and a week later, we adopted a house. The Alma House.
Historically, the act of almsgiving is a material donation to the needy. ‘Alma’ in Spanish means ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’. The name of the street where our first adopted house is located is Alma Drive. We deemed it a sign, and The Alma Project was born.
The Alma Project is the transformation of a fixer upper house into a comfortable functional home for women who desperately need it. Living inside the Alma House are single mothers, previously homeless, who reside for free on the condition that they are learning skills, stabilizing their lives, attending counseling, and remain drug and alcohol free. These mothers are saving their money from their part time jobs and raising their children as best as they can. They have no time or money to fix up this house. They are real women with real needs who need real solutions.”
You can read Kate's full post on year two by clicking here. I absolutely LOVE what Kate's doing and would love to find a way to do something similar in Williamsburg.
Look what they have already done with the kitchen:
This is what it looked like before.
How gorgeous is that? And can you believe that they did it for just $3680! Head on over to Kate's post where she has lots more photos of the transformation and also includes a cost breakdown.
They also have already transformed the playroom. Here's the before:
And here's the after:
And they did this transformation for just $885! How impressive is that?
You can see Kate's full post with all the details of this room and lots more photos by clicking here.
If you would like to donate directly to the Alma Project just head on over to Kate's Blog and on the sidebar on the right scroll down and you will find a link where you can donate through paypal. Or you can click here.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
