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
Turning an Apartment into a Home for Mom and Two Children
On the last vlog post we showed pics of the space that we were going to make over for a mom and her two children. On September 17th, we did an install and turned this empty apartment into a space they are proud to call home. We partnered with Honey Rose Homes on this project, and we look forward to working with them again.
On Friday we took over all of the items that would be used in the space. We put together the sofa and beds and placed all of the items in the rooms that they would reside. That was quite a long process, as it takes quite a bit of time to put together a sofa and three beds. Thanks so much to Shannon for giving up her day off to help with this endeavor.
Saturday was install day. Thanks so much to the Board members, Cheryl, Inger and Linda for all of their hard work. Thanks to volunteers Larry, Melissa and Sarah for helping us make this space over.
We had an amazing time creating this space for the family, and their appreciation was evident. Check out the before, during and after photos.
As we have been doing these installs, I thought starting a YouTube channel would be an amazing opportunity for us to spread the word about Welcome Home Dayton. Please check out our videos, and also like and subscribe. Feel free to comment as well. We would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you all for your support!!!
Our next install is coming up on October 15, 2022. Stay tuned.
Install for Mom and 2 Children
We are so excited to announce that our next install with new a 3 bedroom home for a mom and her two children. The children are 12 and 14, and we cannot wait to see the look on their faces when they walk into their new home.
Here is a pic of the living room, dining room and kitchen area.
Stay tuned…
Studio Apartment Makeover
In June we created a new space for our client. The space is a studio apartment, and it was a very fun space to do. All of the team was away during this install, so I had to work it alone. Here are before pictures.
Once everything was brought into the space, I got to work on putting things together. I felt very disheartened when I realized that the walls were concrete and I did not have a proper drill.
The landlord came down and helped me get the mirror all the way into the holes that I started. The mirror is off center because some shelves were to go on the other side of it. But because the wall is concrete I had to pivot. We have since added some art to the other side of the mirror to balance it out.
I had so much fun working on this space, and the client is an absolute sweetheart. She is looking forward to paying it forward on the next install.
Stay tuned…
Making a Home for a Mom and Her Sons
On April 30th we completed an install on a two bedroom apartment for our newest client and her two sons.
We were not able to take her couch through the hallway because of the narrow space, so we had to pivot a little and take it through the window.
Outside of this one thing, everything else went smoothly.
Here are the before shots of the space:
And here we have pics during and after the install.
Thanks to the team!
We thank you for following along on this journey. Our next install will be in June. Please come back to see how that one turns out.
New Client
We have just received word that we have a new client. We have partnered with a local organization, and that is where our referral is coming from.
Our new client is a mom of two school-age boys who is moving into a two bedroom apartment soon. We are filled with excitement, and so ready to start working on a new space.
Stay tuned to watch how we make this apartment a new home that the family will love.
New Beginnings Project - April
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Our April project was done in the Five Oaks section of Dayton. Our client was a 32-year-old man who transitioned from a shelter to his new apartment. He had some ideas of things that he wanted in his space, so we worked out design around those. Two of those things consist of a Nipsey Hussle rug and a TV in the restroom.
The Nipsey rug wasn’t part of the plan, so we had to pivot. Then, a week later the rug came in and it was too small for the living room space, so we had to pivot once again. Check out the bedroom images to see what we did with the rug. We also chose to lean into the Nipsey vibe, and bring some other pieces into the decor.
I will break this post down by rooms. Each section will start with a before of the room.
The first room is the restroom. We chose to add another Nipsey image in this room to tie in the theme throughout his space.
We had to pivot in the bathroom as well. Our client was determined to put a television in the bathroom, so that took out the space that we had for the towel rack. So, we screwed draw pulls into the wall, and that gave him a space to hang his towels. Before and after pics below.
The next room is the dining room/kitchen. We utilized Facebook Marketplace quite a bit in this install, and we picked up some good pieces. We purchased the two dining chairs and chose to cover them with an African Kuba cloth fabric. We painted the dining table black and brought in some accessories for the kitchen.
I wanted to bring a nice DIY piece to the living room, so I used a chair that we had in our personal storage unit and decided to give it a try. I purchased a rug from Home Goods that had a nice ethnic feel to it , and decided to use that as the chair cover. Here are photos from that process.
Our client already had a TV and stand in the living room, so it didn’t take much to finish off that space. Thanks to Teresa for creating the Nipsey Hussle Victory Lap quote piece. Our client loves it!
The bedroom is the last space that we needed to put together. This is where the Nipsey Hussle rug that was meant for the living room found a new home. We love it!
This was an amazing project to work on, and we look forward to our next project in June.
New Beginnings Project - March 2021
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We recently completed our latest project, and we are excited to show you all how it came out. Our clients were referred to us by a former caseworker. They lost everything in a house fire, and needed a new start. I met with the clients to discuss what they would like their new space to look like, and what particular items they needed.
Here are some of the before photos of their space:
After working on cleaning the space and getting it ready, we started the process of putting things together. Here are some of the during photos.
Our level of excitement grew once we started working through the process. We were ready to get it done and get the family home.
The family absolutely loved the space, and they both cried when during the reveal. We are so happy that they now have a space that they can call home.
Meet the Founder
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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
Solving Problems…
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Our client has a sink without a vanity in their bathroom. We want to incorporate as much storage as possible in their space, so we are going to go with the Ragrund from @ikeausa
Do you have any other suggestions for under sink storage?
Designing the Space
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Mood board for tHe entryway
As we go through turning the 2 bedroom apartment into a place our clients can call home, we will chronicle the journey on our social media accounts. We are currently in the planning stages.
There isn’t a huge entryway, but we want to make sure that there is a landing area for the family to put their shoes, and check their look before heading out the door.
What are your must haves in an entryway?
New Project
We have a young family who lost everything in a house fire, and we are preparing to transform their space.
For those of you who do not know, my mom and I were homeless when I was younger. We lost everything in a house fire, and we lost my grandmother two weeks later. The house fire was part one of our journey with homelessness. We also experienced it during the early stages of our move to New Jersey, and it lasted a little over a year. My mother passed away unexpectedly on December 28, 2020, so this new project is in her honor.
So, this new project touches my heart. It is my hope that you all will follow us on on our Facebook page @WelcomeHomeDayton to watch as we transform a two bedroom apartment into a place that our clients can call home.
Transformation Tuesday
September 24, 2019
We have started a new piece over on our Facebook page. It’s called Transformation Tuesday. Every other Tuesday we will feature an item that we have purchased from a Thrift Store, The ReStore, or a big box store and transform them into a new piece. Each piece will be donated to Welcome Home Dayton.
We picked up the chair below at the Habitat ReStore for $10. We really loved the color, so we didn’t want to mess with that. The cushion on the chair was very thin, so we chose to purchase some 2” foam from Joann’s. I had some leftover fabric in stock, and chose to use this colorful piece on the chair. We believe it gives it an afrocentric vibe.
We Love Decor
September 17, 2019
My family reunion was Labor Day weekend in North Carolina. My 16-year-old cousin recently moved in with my Aunt (her grandmother). She has been through a lot this year, so I wanted to do something for her. I decided to transform the bedroom that she would be staying in. Welcome Home Dayton funds were not used for this transformation, but I thought it would be nice to showcase what Shannon and I did with her space. We (Shannon and I) have a side gig where we decorate rooms. Our business is called Two Girls Design. So, we did this transformation under that name. There are before and after pictures here on this post. We had fun doing it, and look forward to doing other transformations.
Fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wing
September 9, 2019
On Thursday, September 9th we partnered with Buffalo Wild Wings here in Dayton to raise funds for Welcome Home Dayton. Thank you to everyone who came out to support our mission, as well as those who donated even when they could not attend. Your support means so much to us!
Our First Home - July 2017
RIVER COMMONS PERMANENT HOUSING
I contacted Carly at River Commons to see about partnering on a space in their transitional housing unit. The unit that I was given to work on was completely empty. I started a GoFundMe account and used the funds raised to furnish and decorate this unit at River Commons. In July of 2017 I started to work on the space. The day that I handed over the keys they had a client move into the space. When I checked in to see how she liked her space, I was told that she had her items in storage while she was homeless, but she lost everything because she could not pay. She did not know how she was going to furnish her space, so she was very grateful for the work that Welcome Home Dayton did for her.
